Miscellany

Autumn talks at the Museum of Somerset

THE autumn and winter talks programme at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton continues on Remembrance Day, 11th November, with Richard Cooper-Knight talking about the Commonwealth war graves of Somerset. Richard published Death and Service which explores some of the stories behind the 800 First World War graves found across the county. Somerset Wildlife Trust’s…

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Cathedral peregrine finds her own parish

FLO, one of the 2021 Salisbury Cathedral peregrine falcon fledglings, has set up home in the centre of Hertford, 90 miles from home as the crow (or the falcon) flies. British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringer, Nigel Jones contacted the Cathedral peregrine team to let them know that Flo (named for Florence Nightingale to mark…

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Chinese drama at Tollard Royal

TOLLARD Talks return to the village on Cranborne Chase on Friday 14th October with an unusual and exciting event, Chinese Boxing, a performance by Mark Kitto, an expert on the vast but mysterious country. The play is also being performed at Martock’s beautiful parish church on Thursday 13th October, at 7.30pm. The event is organised…

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Helping the planet in Dorset

SLADERS Yard gallery at West Bay and Dorchester Arts are joining the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis in an ongoing series of events on the theme of Help Our Planet, beginning on Tuesday 27th September with Saving Butterflies and the Amazon. Proceeds of the event, which begins at 7pm, will go to the conservation charity…

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Inspired by Hardy

THE autumn programme at the Dorset Museum in Dorchester explores how writers, poets, musicians and filmmakers have been inspired by Thomas Hardy. The  talks continue onThursday 13th October withThe Real Woman Behind Tess of the d’Urbervilles, an online event at 7pm. Gill Donell will be joined by panellists Professor Angelique Richardson, Lady Edwina Grosvenor and…

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Angela Hughes Reserve opens at Bere Marsh Farm

A NEW reserve at the Countryside Regeneration Trust’s Bere Marsh Farm, near Shillingstone, has been opened in memory of the pioneering farmer and conservationist Angela Hughes, who died in 2009. Angela was a dairy farmer who championed wildlife-friendly farming and was committed to protecting and conserving the natural world. She owned East Farm at Hammoon,…

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Ringing the Cathedral fledglings

THE four peregrine chicks that have been hatched at Salisbury Cathedral have been ringed, reading for their imminent fledging. The chicks, that hatched in the nestbox on the South Tower balcony, were ringed by Nigel Jones from the British Trust for Ornithology, assisted by Phil Sheldrake, the Cathedral’s nature conservation adviser. The two females and…

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PJ Harvey’s gifts to Dorset Museum

DORSET-born singer-songwriter, musician and poet PJ Harvey has visited Dorset Museum in Dorchester to present a hand-corrected proof of her dialect poem Orlam and a photograph showing her wearing traditional Dorset buttons. Accompanied by her mother Eva, she spent an afternoon at the museum, starting in the library. Here she presented the interim director Elizabeth…

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Tourism award for Dorset Museum

THERE was a double boost for Dorset Museum on Thursday 7th April with wins in both the South West Tourism Awards and the Dorchester and Poundbury Business Awards. After receiving a silver Dorset Tourism Award, the museum received bronze in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category at the South West Tourism Awards at…

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