The BV: from the heart of the Blackmore Vale

From neighbours to award-winning booksellers: FOLDE’s founders Amber Harrison and Karen Brazier talk to Terry about their 'pandemic-induced mid-life crisis'. FOLDE, in Shaftesbury, has won the British Book Awards Independent Bookshop of the Year competition for the South West, organised by The Bookseller magazine and judged by a prestigious panel of industry specialists, authors and journalists. It’s a remarkable achievement for a business started during the pandemic by two women who had never sold books. They're justifiably proud and deeply happy with their 'small but mighty, and slightly fighty' bookshop. From bingo halls to community calls – Shaftesbury’s Rotakids are a new generation of community champions, leading the charge in innovative community charity work. Peter Sale is president of Shaftesbury Rotary Club, and he chats to Jenny about the work of the group, and the benefits not just to the local community but to the kids themselves. The barriers are gone – for £1.3m ... Dorset residents had almost forgotten what Sturminster bridge looked like – but finally the bank stabilisation work is complete. April's BV is OUT NOW ... grab a coffee and jump in to the Dorset-ness. News, opinion, people, wildlife, art, farming, what's on, SO many horses ... and frankly stunning photography. Did I mention it's FREE? Why *wouldn't* you want a flick through? (*don't forget, we're proud to be purely digital. The only way to read us is right here online!) You can click here https://bvmag.co.uk/Apr24 to dive straight in. Frankly, it's so jam-packed with Dorset goodness, it'd be rude not to. The BV is the 'glossy' rural monthly digital magazine from Dorset, shortlisted in the 2024 Newspaper & Magazine Awards for 'Best Regional Publication in the UK'.

In the first of the April BV podcasts, we of course start with all the letters – including editor Laura's exciting news. Then, in his monthly round up, Chris Loder MP takes a look at how rural Dorset will gain from the latest NHS dentistry reforms, and the latest record funding of £408,022 for Adult Social Care reforms in the county. For the Green Party, Ken Huggins takes a sideways look at the blurred lines between party funding and policy making, offering an alternative to those disillusioned by their usual voting. Gary Jackson of North Dorset Labour says when you look at the water companies, it's double the sewage, and triple the stink. And Gerald Davies of the LibDems looks at how Dorset Council’s housing policies are failing local people. In the May issue, Andrew Livingston reported on one Sturminster Newton farmer’s dramatic response to a lamb’s death by dog attack. It fuelled a viral online debate – and a call for prosecution Lastly, Jennie chats to Jules Bradburn – circuit judge, event organiser and whose market empire expands to Dorchester this month as it becomes the latest Dorset town to benefit from a new 200-stall monthly artisan market. April's BV is OUT NOW ... grab a coffee and jump in to this month's Dorset-ness. News, opinion, people, wildlife, art, farming, what's on, SO many horses ... and frankly stunning photography. Did I mention it's FREE? Why *wouldn't* you want a flick through? (*don't forget, we're proud to be purely digital. The only way to read us is right here online!) You can click here https://bvmag.co.uk/Apr24 to dive straight in. Frankly, it's so jam-packed with Dorset goodness, it'd be rude not to. The BV is the 'glossy' monthly digital magazine from Dorset, shortlisted in the 2024 Newspaper & Magazine Awards for 'Best Regional Publication in the UK'.

available on pre-order, and publishes on 11th April The March issue of the BV is out now, you can read it here: Inside this issue are good people, good dogs, good motorbikes, good books (and good booky people) ... and a foal with the zoomies (he may or may not be good, it's under review). Frankly, it's so jam-packed with Dorset goodness, it'd be rude not to. The BV is the 'glossy' monthly digital magazine from Dorset, shortlisted in 2024 for 'Best Regional Publication in the UK'.

One in three of us yearns to throw in the day job and set up on our own. In this month's Letter from the Editor, Laura mulls over the realities of running your own business – who on earth would actually do it, and why do they love it? The reader's letters are rather dominated by the reaction to the suspension of the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt story the BV ran last month. In politics, Simon Hoare MP’s varied March musings include championing British farming, lambing season, community advocacy and Government collaboration. Ken Huggins writes for the Green Party, and is calling for us all to protest, protest and again protest. Gary Jackson, the North Dorset Lib Dems candidate, is calling on the government to act with prudence, and urges it to do no more harm. And in his final column for the BV, Pat Osborne of North Dorset Labour is keen to point out that the county's much-vaunted new second home tax is a pointless cash cow policy. Lucy Nolan, Dorset’s only Accredited Pet Gundog Instructor (APGI), chats to Jenny about her work and the dogs she helps. It's not about training gundogs for work - there's a huge rise in working dogs being kept as pets, and as Lucy points out 'With working breeds you must give them a job, otherwise they go self-employed!' • Lucy runs Adhara Dog Training – https://www.adharadogtraining.co.uk/

find it on Amazon hereaudiobook version is on Audible herehttps://bvmag.co.uk/DarkSkiesDorset

Experience the unique camaraderie of cold water swimming in one of England's highest (and coldest!) towns, and unravel the mystery of polecats with wildlife expert Jane Adams.

Claire Allen’s Epic Walk: 'I’m surprised I’m still here!’ Terry briefly interrupts Claire's year-long journey walking Britain’s entire coastline to find out how she started, where she is - and how it's going MP Chris Loder confronts the Post Office’s leadership, offering unwavering commitment to the Horizon scandal victims He graduated from Cambridge and, to his father’s consternation, went straight into the family plumbing business. Robert Cowley, MBE – magistrate, volunteer and plumber – talks to editor Laura as he selects his Dorset Island Discs

In the first of 2024's BV podcast we have all the January letters and politics, and Jenny talks to Fanny Charles about the rights and wrongs of the planned creation of the new Bonham Forest near Stourhead. on the website here You can read the full January 24 issue of the BV magazine here – jam-packed with incredible Dorset folks doing magnificent things. There's also farming, wildlife, a huge Dorset food & drink section... and if you like glorious photography you'll be a fan. Did we mention it's FREE?

https://bvmag.co.uk/huntinghumans You can read the full December 23 issue of the BV magazine here – jam-packed with incredible Dorset folks doing magnificent things. There's also farming, equestrian, wildlife, food & drink... and if you like glorious photography you'll be a fan. Did we mention it's FREE?

We start the month, as always, with the Letters to the Editor, before listening to a Brecon Cathedral bellringer at Hazelbury Bryan Primary School. Jane Adams chats to Jenny about the fascinating (no, really!) world of lichen, and lastly we hear from International harpist Gwyneth Wentink. In her letter this month, editor Laura is looking back to a specific shopping list she once saw on Twitter which has stayed in her head ever since. Following the letters to the editor, we move on to this episode's features:

In this episode Terry gets to grips with some of the biggest issues currently pressing Chris Loder MP, Cllr Spencer Flower gives us a peak into his personal life, Penny Nagle talks to Jenny about a new producers market and Terry discovers the fascinating men behind award-winning Orris Leather in Wimborne. You can read the full November issue of the BV magazine here – jam-packed with incredible Dorset folks doing magnificent things. There's also farming, equestrian, wildlife, food & drink... and if you like glorious photography you'll be a fan. Did we mention it's FREE?

We start the month, as always, with the Letters to the Editor, before moving on to a slice of seriousness – along with the usual political columns we have the first part of Terry’s interview with Chris Loder MP as he answers the open post bag from this month’s Q&A. Finally Jenny chats to BV columnist and Nutritional Therapist (and podcast favourite) Karen Geary. In the first part of Terry's interview with Chris Loder, he talks in more depth around his answers to the reader's questions sent in last month. Included in his comments are subjects as diverse as access to a local NHS dentist (he’s 'not convinced the NHS is prioritising this enough') and planning ('communities need to assess if the time a Neighbourhood Plan takes to draw up is ultimately time well spent.') And finally, Jenny chats to Karen Geary, who has some great and timely tips on how to eat healthily on a tight budget and also how what we eat can help us to stay well in the winter months through flu season.

Tune into a candid conversation where soil meets soul, with Fifth-generation local farmer James Cossins. Delve into the trials and triumphs of this year's difficult harvest. Discover a world where the crunch of fresh produce and the rustle of golden fields meet business savvy and environmental stewardship. James opens up to Jenny about the delicate act of juggling profitability with passion for animal care and land conservation. It's an enlightening insight that foodies, farmers, and eco-enthusiasts alike will not want to miss. rawstonfarmbutchery.co.uk See the BV feature on Steve and Eight Arches Brewery herecradletogravewillowcoffins.co.uk Read the full October issue of the BV magazine here – jam-packed with incredible Dorset folks doing magnificent things. There's also farming, equestrian, wildlife, food & drink... and if you like glorious photography you'll be a fan. Did we mention it's FREE?

It's a mixed package for the first of the October podcasts. After the usual start with the letters, we delve straight into the politics columns. Then Jenny has a fascinating conversation with Dorchester Literary Festival's co-organiser Janet Gleeson, and Terry talks to Pauline Batstone who's currently in Bridport ... the one 11,000 miles away in Tasmania! As usual we start the month with the letter from the editor, in which Laura looks for the goodness of humans - and shares an only-Laura tale of four cheese – as well as all the BV’s reader’s letters. In politics this month, newly-elected MP for Somerton and Frome, whose consituency encompasses the western end of the Blackmroe Vale, sets out her plan of activity for the coming months. Ken Huggins from the Green party looks at Dorsets first COP - and the inspirLabour's Pat Osborne ing positivity surrounding the event. Labour's Pat osborne is raising an eyebrow at the rising NHS waiting list - and looking at the far-reraching consequences of them. West Dorset MP Chris Loder has launched a campaign to make the stretch of A30 between Sherborne and Yeovil (a stretch he calls an 'unofficial racetrack') safer. Jenny sat down with Dorchester LitFest owner Janet Gleeson to look at some of the highlights of this year's much-anticipated festival, with a round up of authors from Victoria Hilsop returning for a third visit to first-timer Lemn Sissay, one of Janet's personal favourite poets. Together they discuss the appeal of non-fiction authors at literary festivals, how unpredictable the success of any talk can be ... and also to hear about the nuts and bolts of running such a large, popular literary event. Lastly, Terry chatted to Cllr Pauline Batstone who is currently 11,000 miles away - just outside Bridport, near Weymouth. I'll leave her to explain how...

In the second of September's podcasts – still in the new longer format which has proved popular – Jennie talks to Jane Adams about how we welcome (or don't!) bindweed, dandelion and ivy. And don't miss Terry's brilliant interview with Alex Stevens of the NFU, shedding a lot of light on the modern dairy farming business.

In the first of September 23's episodes of the BV podcast:

In the second of August's podcasts – still in the new longer format which has proved popular – Jennie talks to both Jane Adams and owner of Little Waddon Vineyard Simon Priestman

As usual we start the month with the letter from the edfitor, as well as all the BV's reader's letters. The red kite is a popular conservation success story, and Jenny talks to Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Adam Woolcott about his love of the birds of prey, who – despite their rising population numbers – are still at risk from poisoning. Simon Hoare MP asks whether every town needs a town centre - he thinks it does. MIke Chapman of the LibDems says it's time for a change – and time for the grown ups. Labour's Pat Osborne condemns the governments recent decision to grant new oil and gas licences. Ken Huggins of the Greens talks about the good, the bad ... and the downright ugly. In part two of Jenny's fascinating conversation with the Co-Director of the Bournemouth University Duropolis Dig, Paul Cheatham, you can hear about the 'monsters' found in the pits – and paul also discusses the compelte lack of human remains from the Iron Age settlements.

Admittedly a chimpanzee-studying lady in Africa may not have been everyone's childhood hero, but for editor Laura – an animal-obsessed girl growing up in a big Essex town – the life of her dreams was being lived by Jane Goodall, the renowned ethologist and inspiring conservationist. Even at 89 Dr Jane Goodall remains a powerhouse of action, and her answers to this month's Random 19 questions are everything you could hope for – from Lord of the Rings to an evocative stream of memories of a life lived in the wild (there's also a controversial opinion on biscuit dunking). Rachel Rogers provides some specific advice around what to do when a package holiday goes wrong! Talking to Terry, she provides an interesting look at the work of Dorset's Citizen's Advice – no longer the CAB, the organisation does a lot more than is widely understood. In an engrossing interview, Paul Cheatham, the geophysical survey director responsible for the archaelogical digs at Dorset's 'Duropolis', effectively gives us a personal guided tour of the site that was discovered in 2007, and what the team have found in the subsequent 12 years of digs as they explore the hillside. He admits that everywhere the team survey they find a new settlement to explore – whether Iron Age, Bronze Age or Roman, from the Mesolithic to the late Roman era, the Dorset hillsides are covered in remnants of early communities. During the medieval period people moved into the valleys and finally left the high grounds, but counter to perceived wisdom, Paul explains that early man did not in fact choose hilltops for defence purposes – and he also talks Jenny through Iron Age fridges.

You can never say the BV provides a predictable array of subjects! In the politics columns this month, Simon Hoare MP agrees that climate change is all around us – but he is confident that it is being acted on by the government. He also takes time to discuss vaping – our next public health crisis? In a mock exam for politicans, Mike Chapman of the North Dorset LibDems has a long list of questions he'd like to see someone in the government provide serious, grown up answers to. In a seemingly endless line of rage-inducing news items, Ken Huggins from the North Dorset Green Party has found a brighter story to cheer about. And Pat Osborne from North Dorset Labour is similarly positive about a local cricket club. In the light of national news around racism and classism in the sport, he's proud to share the hard work that has gone into making grassroots local clubs thoroughly inclusive. Jenny talks to Julie Hatcher, Dorset Wildlife Trust's Marine Protection Officer, on their new campaign Save Our Wild Seas, raising both awareness and funds for practical steps to reduce the pollution on our beaches. Julie discusses the importance of our seagrass nurseries in Dorset in particular. Artist Philip Sutton RA is now 95 and lives – and still paints – near Bridport. Author and journalist Fanny Charles talks to Jenny about the renowned colourist who has never followed fashion, but has led a fascinating life.