Words! Words! Words!

Adventures afloat

FORMER Royal Navy officer Nigel Chambers is the guest speaker at North Cadbury’s parish church, on Saturday 15th March at 7pm, a fund-raising event organised by the Friends of St Michael’s. Nigel will describe various challenges from his career, including yacht racing across the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn, service at sea in ships…

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Rainforests teetering on the edge

EAST Devon’s Shute Festival continues its series of inspiring talks on 12th March at the Peek Chapel in Pound Street, Lyme Regis, with Julia Hailes, ambassador for the Rainforest Trust. She has recently returned from the Guyanas – British Guiana (as it was), Suriname and French Guiana – where the forests still stand, 83.5%, 93%…

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Folde in running for NIBBIE award

FOR the second year running, Folde nature bookshop at Shaftesbury has been named as a regional and country finalists in the British Book Awards. Last year the shop, at the top of Gold Hill, got through to the finals of the awards, which are known as the NIBBIEs. The awards are organised by The Bookseller…

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Grave Concerns – how our ancestors dealt with death

THE winter 2024 study day at Springhead, the environmental arts centre at Fontmell Magna, focuses on the ways our ancient predecessors dealt with death. Grave Concerns, on Sunday 17th November, features three experts, including the archaeologist and television presenter Julian Richards, who lives in North Dorset. Grave Concerns, which runs from 10am to 5pm, follows…

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Steve Backshall dives in

EXPLORER, naturalist, conservationist, broadcaster and passionate lover of all things maritime, Steve Backshall is back on tour this autumn with a new show, Steve Backshall’s Ocean, celebrating what he calls “the most exciting environment on our planet – the ocean”. He is coming to Bournemouth Pavilion on Saturday 26th October, Weymouth Pavilion on Thursday 31st…

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Uncovering history’s greatest cold case

PHILIPPA Langley, who came to national attention with her persistent – and ultimately successful – efforts to locate the remains of King Richard III (under a Leicester car park), comes to the Electric Palace at Bridport on Thursday 19th September with a talk about her latest historical investigations. Her talk, The Princes in the Tower,…

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From quarries to nature reserves

IT is easy to look at a stone quarry and see nothing but destruction – a great scar in the landscape. But Andy Littler, geologist, chartered engineer and quarry manager, has a very different story to tell when he comes to Sladers Yard arts centre at West Bay, on Thursday 29th August, to give the next…

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Michael Rosen’ golden jubilee visit to Bridport

FORMER Children’s Laureate, best-selling children’s writer Michael Rosen is coming to Bridport’s Electric Palace on Thursday 1st August, celebrating his 50th anniversaries of his live performances and the publication of his first book. The talks are at 11.30am and 2.30pm. One of the world’s best-selling writers for children, and a popular broadcaster, Michael, who was…

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Old Crockern and other Dartmoor tales

THE great West Country moors – Dartmoor in Devon, Exmoor in Devon and Somerset, and Bodmin in Cornwall – are steeped in history and myths. One significant area of Dartmoor is Crockern Tor, once home to the Stannary Parliament, and now the inspiration for a series of story walks, organised by Devon’s Villages in Action,…

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