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GENERAL NEWS

WELCOME TO NEW DUBBER EDITOR
We are very pleased to report that we have a new Editor for the Dubber. She is Angela Bell, a local Langton resident who trained as a journalist and has recently retired from teaching Communications in Further and Higher Education. The role of Editor is voluntary so please give Angela all your support. Roger Free of Harmans Cross has also stepped forward to be the Harmans Cross correspondent to coordinate news from there, and this offer of help is invaluable. We wish Angela and Roger every success in their new tasks.
We thank Richard Evans for editing this issue and also Chris Kwantes for his excellent stewardship of the Dubber until December and for creating the website. We wish Chris, and his wife Pam, good health and happiness in the future. Don Pratt

NEWS FROM NOWHERE
There is much talk about the massive changes proposed to the way our schools are run in Purbeck.I have no particular axe to grind for my children are (astonishingly to me) in their forties, but everyone I meet has a different view about what should happen and quite often quote contradictory facts, so I thought I would set out a short, perhaps brutally short, account of what the proposals appear to be to theordinary man up a muddy track like myself.
The main reason for the change is that there is a financial crisis.Overall schools are short of 1000 kids. With kids come money, without money schools have to sack teachers, but the payback on the new proposals is quite extended. They save £450,000 per annum but they necessitate a £50m building programme, so the net savings will be a long time coming.
There is also an educational crisis. Middle schools in Purbeck as elsewhere are reportedly under performing. Two of the four in Purbeck are in the bottom 10% of all middle schools nationally, whereas the first schools get exceptionally good offsted results as do the upper schools, so the Purbeck educational system apparently has a sag in the middle. There is also a curriculum crisis because the new courses - in particular the vocational and diploma courses designed to help the less academically inclinedchildren atkey stage 3 - cut neatly across the move from middle to upper at the age of 13.
One major element in the proposal is therefore to scrap the middle schools. This is already happening across the country. I remember when middle schools were first set up and were trumpeted as the great educational break through.Apparently like all miracle cures they have fallen out of favour. Middle schools are now a small and declining proportion of the total number of schools nationally. However if there are no middle schools, the kids thatgo to them have to be re-allocated. It is proposed to split them down the middle with two years worth, the 9-11's, being added to the lower schools and two years worth, the 11-13's,going to the upper schools. They say the Swanage firstschools have insufficient space and buildings to cope with the extra places, so it is proposed that Mount Scar and St Mark's will be housed on the old Swanage Middle School site and become one school, which might or might not be a denominational one. If it is decided to go for the latter, Swanage would lose its only community school. Roughly the same solution is proposed in Wool where the denominational issue is further complicated because both schools are faith schools but on different sides of the fence. One is C. of E. and the other is R.C. I don't know what they think about getting into bed together - maybe they are reasonably happy, for doctrinal differences can't figure very highly at that age range. However if they don't like it I can point out to them that the initial letters ChurchOfEngland and Roman Catholic Education neatly combine to form the wordCOERCE.
The timescale for settling this matter is quite fast. The present public consultation ends on 25th Feb and the County will then consider what the public have said and maybe amend their plans which again go out for consultation in July. The County then consider that response and either have the bottle to make a decision themselves or pass the whole can of worms to a Schools Adjudicator for a final verdict before the end of this year and I must say I would not like to be in his or her shoes. And what happens if nothing is done? Presumably the schools cope with falling incomes by reducing staff and where that is not possible, have to close. Remedial action is taken to turn round the middle schools and when the economy declines to the point that power cuts become frequent, the population starts to rise again. Problem solved.
If you wish to read the Proposals in greater and more accurate detail. Ring the County. Alternatively you can let off steam at purbeckreview@dorsetcc.gov.uk Tony Viney

ST GEORGE'S SCHOOL
The school continues to flourish. We are very grateful to Mrs Brown for her continuing leadership and care of the school and we hope to interview to for the Head Teacher post this month.
As many of you know we are in a consultation period about the future of Purbeck schools. The governing body is paying close attention to the information given through public meetings and to the published information. We have not yet reached a corporate response to the document but have raised a number of questions and concerns, not least about the care ofchildren in thesystem during theperiod of transition. To fulfil our responsibility to St George's we are trying to weigh up the risks and benefits to the school, and to the children, of saying either 'yes' or 'no'.
Copies of the consultation document are available in St George's church. Do send in your response on the forms provided by 26th February. Judith Malins

SWANAGE SOS... SAVE OUR SCHOOLS!
Dubber readers who are not close to the current consultation by Dorset County Council (DCC) on plans to restructure schooling in Purbeck may initially feel relief at news that St George's First School is not currently threatened with closure. I fear such relief would be misguided as the wider proposals threaten the future viability of Swanage and the surrounding villages as sustainable living communities.
If the planned restructuring is permitted to go ahead, with the forced closure of Swanage Middle School and the restructuring of the 4 local First schools into 3 enlarged Primaries, then all children from age 11 will be obliged to leave the area to continue their education and make a 20 mile daily round trip to an enlarged Purbeck Secondary School in Wareham. How many parents will entertain raising their families here knowing that the area cannot meet their educational needs beyond the age of 11?
The 'review process' run by DCC late last year that led to the current proposals had many deficiencies. No attempt was made to seek any proper input from local parents, teachers, community leaders and businesses. No serious consideration was given to any solution other than a foregone conclusion of changing from a 3-tier to a 2-tier system of schools across Purbeck. No allowance whatsoever was made for Swanage's particular issues and geographical isolation (the same 'one-size fits all' solution is proposed for Swanage as for Wareham, where the Middle School is just 100 yards from the Upper School).
In financial terms, the plan makes no sense. DCC officers' own figures project the capital cost across Purbeck of school closures, modifications and rebuilding at some £75 million. Other informed sources believe it could be double this. Yet DCC forecast resultant annual operating savings of just £450,000 or less than £10 per pupil per year (a payback of 167 years) and even these figures were produced before the worst of the current economic crisis.
Most disappointing of all, we risk passing up the opportunity for a proper enlightened debate, taking input from the entire community of Swanage and the wider Purbeck, regarding long-term educational needs in the area and the best way to deliver against these. Around Dorchester there is a long-standing Area Schools Partnership (see www.dasp.org.uk) where the Upper, Middle and First schools operate very successfully under a formal partnership agreement to reduce costs by sharing resources, expertise and facilities, yet such an approach has simply been rejected by DCC for Purbeck.
Time is fast running out already to 'Save Our Schools'. DCC has set a very tight deadline of 25th February to receive public comments on its proposals. You can help to reject the current DCC proposal and force a new genuine public consultation by :
1) Completing the online questionnaire at www.dorsetforyou.com/purbeckreview.
2) Emailing purbeckreview@dorsetcc.gov.uk with your comments.
3) Writing to the Director for Children & Young People (ref. RP/CC), Dorset County Council, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, DT1 1XJ.
4) Writing to your local County and District Council representatives, your MP and the candidates of the other political parties.
By the time you receive your Dubber you may already have missed the only local Public Consultation Meeting that DCC has seen fit to organise in Swanage (on Wednesday 28th January, 7.30pm at Swanage Bay View Caravan Park) but please don't let this stop you from adding your support to the campaign to'Save Our Schools'. Steve Tooley

REVIEW OF PURBECK SCHOOLS 1
As you are probably aware Dorset County Council is holding a review of the schools in the Purbeck area.
How they plan to re-organise our local schools is as follows:
St George's School and St Mary's School would become Primary Schools, each taking two extra years of pupils. St Mark's and Swanage First School would merge to make a large 'Swanage' Primary School and occupy the Middle School site.
Swanage Middle School would close and there would be no school provision in the Swanage area past the age of 11. All our children would be bussed to the Purbeck School at the age of 11yrs, which would have a new capacity of 1950 children.
This proposal has caused much concern amongst parents and local residents regarding the effect this major change will have on our children's education, the environment and the sustainability of our community.
If the proposal goes ahead, St. George's School and the residents of Langton would need a guarantee from DCC that the same resources and facilities would be installed in the new St George's Primary School as there would be in the newly formed 'Swanage' Primary. Our village school is a major lifeline in our community and it cannot be competitive if the council does not share its funds equally. In time we too may find our school is facing closure, and we can all imagine what that would do to our village.
Many people feel that alternative ideas should have been presented, and that the review could have been an opportunity to be creative and find ways of improving our local schools rather than tearing them down. Additionally the information available doesn't give any costings or any indication of where this money will come from. In summary there seems to be many flaws. Nicky Glassock

REVIEW OF PURBECK SCHOOLS 2
Anyone got any fight left in them?!It seems that lately in Purbeck we've been fighting for our hospital, fighting for our Day Centre in Swanage for the elderly, fighting for the dump and next on the list is our schools!
Many may have heard about Dorset County Council's new proposals, but many may not have.It seems that change is necessary, some schools are to be closed, some are to be made into Primary Schools and the Purbeck School in Wareham is to be expanded to take all our children from the age of 11.Perhaps we should all move to Wareham to get funding for facilities?!
Seriously, we live in a beautiful part of the country and Purbeck attracts people because of its uniqueness. Why then do the councils seem to be so short-sighted about taking funding out of this area? Should we not have more vision, acknowledge our uniqueness and be creative with our funds to add to Purbeck's qualities?The current schools proposals should be doing just that and if change is necessary we should take this as an opportunity to review options and build the best education system for our children in this area.
This is not just about saving St George's School, we need to be looking at this as a community and build on the positives, not stealthily take them away. I'll stop there and leave you with your thoughts and hope for your support. Jo Tatchell

MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT
For many years I have received a similar Christmas present from my big sister, Peggy - a Christian book. But then Peggy still sees me as her little brother in need of guidance (which, of course, I am!). It has become a standing joke over the years for members of my family as I open her carefully wrapped, but impossible to disguise, gift.
Although I cannot honestly say I have finished every book, there have been some very good ones over the years which still have a place in my bookcase. This year her gift was an amazing book and one I wanted to share with everyone. It is called 'The Shack' by William Paul Young, and I am not going to spoil the surprise by giving you my interpretation of it. Suffice it to say it is about God's love for us all. Don Pratt

OUR BENEFICE NEEDS A NEW CHRISTIAN AID CO-ORDINATOR
After overseeing the Christian Aid Collection and Coffee Morning for the past 7 years I would like to pass on the baton. During that time the team of collectors who collect donations from the whole benefice, combined with the coffee mornings at St George's Langton, have raised in excess of £11,370 for Christian Aid. Thank you one and all!
This is not an onerous job as there are lots of helpers, but I feel that a fresh approach is needed so if there is anyone who would like this very rewarding job PLEASE contact me or at becca@woodstudio.co.uk.
Please also put the date of the 2009 coffee morning in your Diary, it's Saturday 9th May 10.30am-midday at St George's Church. Becca Charron

PLOUGH SERVICE

We had a lovely Plough Service at St George's Church in Langton on Sunday January 11th and over 50 attended, a mixture of farmers from quite a radius and local people and £175 was given for the work of Farm Crisis Network.
Peter Jack, Blandford farmer, said that God had provided him with security through the ups and downs of fifty years of farming and had never let him down.
Many thanks are due to Peter, Rev Judith for her enthusiastic support, Rosemary for playing the organ, Alfie at Putlake for lending the 'plough' (it was actually a potato-ridger but never mind) and Phil for collecting it. Nick Viney (Dorset Coordinator Farm Crisis Network)

ARTSREACH
The next Artsreach performance in Langton Matravers Village Hall will be on Saturday 21st March at 7.30pm when The Ministry of Entertainment presents 'Goodbye Mrs Chips'.
This upbeat, energetic and inventive production, laced with true stories of the era, comes highly recommended.
After nearly 60 years of sterling service, dinner lady extraordinaire, Mrs Chipping, is finally hanging up her potato masher, egg mallet and gravy sieve for the last time. In this sequel to the ever-popular 'Mrs Gerrish's Guest House', the Ministry of Entertainment team tackle the thorny subject of school dinners - watery cabbage, steamed mullet, lumpy custard and all.
Please phone Judy Cook for further information.

CHERBOURG LIGHTS... AGAIN!
Are my maths suspect or am I missing an Important point? Dick Bellis wrote in the January issue of the Dubber about how to calculate the horizon distance (D).He gave the formula as 1.5 times the square root of the height (H) above sea level of the observer;ie. D = 1.5 x ÷H.But his worked example shows he used a formula being the square root of 1.5 times the height (D = ÷1.5 x H.)
These two formulae give different answers to the same set of conditions. I calculate, using his original formula, the horizon distance from worth car park as 1.5 x ÷425 = 1.5 x 20.615 = 30.92 n.m. Please can we have a definitive answer to settle the matter once and for all and put me out of my misery and end my sleepless nights? Ciff Turner

PURBECK CHAMBER CHOIR CONCERT
You are invited to join us in a musical flight through the ages enjoying music from Tudor Queen Mary's Chapel Royal by Shepherd and later compositions by Purcell, Brahms, Vaughan Williams, Harris, Britten and Whitacre (American 21st century classical composer).
The director, Tim Crosley, lives and works in London and conducts a choir and orchestra who perfom regularly at the Barbican. As a boy he went to school in Purbeck during which time he formed a lifelong attachment to the area.
We are holding this at 3pm on February 7th at St James' Chuch, Kingston so you can go home afterwards and put your feet up by the fire! Tickets £5 at the door or call Annie Campbell.

BURNGATE STONE CENTRE
Part of the Keystone Project
The New Year is bringing lots of exciting developments at the Burngate Stone Centre, Langton Matravers. Six different local tutors will soon be delivering courses in Masonry, Carving, Sculpture and Lettercutting and there'll be things going on during the week as well as evenings and weekends.
Introduction to Stone Carving
Try your hand at carving a flower or a fish etc. We'll supply a selection of templates and you can see what you can achieve in a day! Monday 16th February, price £45.
Introduction to Masonry
Learn how to apply a variety of traditional architectural finishes to a piece of stone. Sunday8th or Friday 27th February, price £45.
Improvers Classes
These sessions are intended for those who have either previously attended one of our courses and wish to continue working on their stone from that course (or perhaps another project of their own), or for anyone who would like to work on their own piece under my guidance and making use of the Centre and its facilities (including our tools).
The sessions will run between 6pm and 9pm on Monday evenings from the 19 January onwards (until further notice) and will cost £10 per person. Please email or phone me in advance to informally book their place. Tea, coffee and biscuits included!
Saturday April the 4th will bring the official opening day of the Centre so watch this space for more information on that as that date gets nearer!
Burngate will also be a part of Purbeck Art Week this year (23rd to 31st May) which will be another great reason to come and look around then, with works on display by local artists and examples of stonework by some of our tutors.
And lastly as a special inducement to get people up here and using the Centre, during the whole month of March I'm offering the use of our covered banker space completely free of charge for local people to come and do their own thing! If you want to make use of this limited opportunity then get in touch by email at info@burngatestonecentre.co.uk.
David Callaghan, Centre Manager

A WELL KNOWN ATHEIST PUTS IN A GOOD WORD FOR GOD
I've always been a fan of Matthew Parris who writes in the Times and his warm, pleasant voice is often heard on the radio or TV.
He worked in Margaret Thatcher's office before becoming a Tory MP in 1979. He then left active politics in 1986 to become the presenter of LWT's Weekend World. However having listened to him talk about himself, I get the feeling that he may have left the Conservative Party just before the Party left him! There's inevitably a twinkle of humour in what he writes or says and rarely does he echo the conventional view. He is a self confessed atheist and being gay there is an understandable tension in his view of religious bodies.
He was born in South Africa and spent some of his childhood in what was Southern Rhodesia. On returning from Malawi to find out more about one of the Times' Christmas charities he wrote an article on the Saturday after Christmas entitled "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God." I read the piece expecting it to have a sting in the tail, but the whole article supported the title and it was heartening to read. Not for any self satisfying reason but to learn from someone who has been there, with utterly unbiased eyes, that Christianity is having a positive and empowering effect on the people Matthew Parris met. Which is, after all, what we should absolutely expect. This is just a short extract from the article - the whole piece is on the Dubber website and is well worth reading.
"It (Pump Aid) inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too, one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.
Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good." Chris Meadows

THE TIMES SATURDAY DECEMBER 27 2008 17

As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God
Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people's mindset

Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work. It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity change people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding- as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine; but what counted was the help, not the faith.

But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that, matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.

First, then, the observation. We had friends who were missionaries, and as a child I stayed often with them; I also stayed, alone with my little brother, in a traditional rural African village. In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined. We could see a fusion of Nike, witch-doctors mobiles and machetes its converts, their faith appeared to
have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall.

At 24, travelling by land across the continent reinforced this impression. From Algiers to Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, then right through the Congo to Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, four student friends and I drove our old Land Rover to Nairobi. We slept under the stars, so it was important as we reached the more populated and lawless parts of the sub-Sahara that every day we find somewhere safe by nightfall. Often near a mission. Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people we passed and spoke to: something in their eyes, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man, without looking down or away. They had not become more deferential towards strangers - in some ways less so - but more open.

This time in Malawi it was the same. I met no missionaries. You do not encounter missionaries in the lobbies of expensive hotels discussing development strategy documents, as you do with the big NGOs. But instead I noticed that a handful of the most impressive African members of the Pump Aid team (largely from Zimbabwe) were, privately, strong Christians. Privately because the charity is entirely secular and I never heard any of its team so much as mention religion while working in the villages. But I picked up the Christian references in our conversations. One, I saw, was studying a devotional textbook in the car. One, on Sunday, went off to church at dawn for a two-hour service.

It would suit me to believe that their honesty, diligence and optimism in their work was unconnected with personal faith. Their work was secular, but surely affected by what they were. What they were was, in turn, influenced by a conception of man's place in the Universe that Christianity had taught.

There's long been a fashion among Western academic sociologists for placing tribal value systems within a ring fence, beyond critiques founded in our own culture: "theirs" and therefore best for "them"; authentic and of intrinsically equal worth to ours. I don't follow this. I observe that tribal belief is no more peaceable than ours; and that it suppresses individuality. People think collectively; first in terms of the community, extended family and tribe. This rural-traditional mindset feeds into the "big man" and gangster politics of the African city: the exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader, and the (literal) inability to understand the whole idea of loyal opposition.

Anxiety - fear of evil spirits, of ancestors, of nature and the wild, of a tribal hierarchy, of quite everyday things - strikes deep into the whole structure of rural African thought. Every man has his place and, call it fear or respect; a great weight grinds down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People won't take the initiative, won't take things into their own hands or on their own shoulders.

How can I, as someone with a foot in both camps, explain? When the philosophilcal tourist moves from one world view to another he finds - at the very moment of passing into the new - that he loses the language to describe the landscape to the old. But let me try an example: the answer given by Sir Edmund Hillary to the question: Why climb the mountain? "Because it's there," he said.

To the rural African mind, this is an explanation of why one would not climb the mountain It's ... well, there. Just there. Why Interfere? Nothing to be done about it, or with it Hillary's further explanation - that nobody else had climbed it would stand as a second reason for Passivity.

Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosophical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.

Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the know-how that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.

And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.

NEWS FROM THE PURBECK ESTATE
So February is already upon us and Christmas and New Year already seems a world away. This month we are taking the opportunity to tell you about some of the new activities we are undertaking across the estate as well as explaining some of the ongoing countryside work.
One of the things you might have noticed are bonfires on the hillside opposite the castle and wondered what was going on. As part of the Purbeck ridge, West Hill is greatly valued for its chalk grassland flowers and insects, such as the Adonis Blue butterfly that can be seen along the southern slopes on hot summer afternoons. There are two ways to keep the hillside in good condition for wildlife; the first is by grazing animals, such as cows and sheep to control the competitive grasses and the second is to control scrub growth to prevent the loss of chalk grassland. We are currently cutting and burning a limited amount of gorse on the steep slopes. It is important that we do not clear all the scrub as it has its own value in providing shelter from the wind for insects and nesting sites for birds such as Stonechats.
The Studland Visitor Services team has just completed a new interpretation project aimed at discussing some of the issues facing us at the beach, particularly coastal change. The climate change beach hut is sited between the Visitor Centre and boat park at Knoll Beach. Photographs, diagrams and audio displays detail what is happening at the beach, explaining our policy of managed realignment. This is the policy by which we are attempting to work with, not against, natural processes - in this case, the sea.
You may have seen two of our staff, Doug Whyte and Emma Wright on BBC television over the Christmas period when they were explaining the issues concerning loss of visitor facilities and important wildlife habitats relating to coastal change at Studland. These interviews followed the publication of the National Trust's Shifting Shores South West document designed to raise awareness of coastal change and the probability that change will accelerate as our climate changes. The document emphasises the need to plan ahead for this change and to ensure that all stakeholders and local communities are involved in this process. If you are interested in having a copy of this document, then please contact me.
The displays in the beach hut describe how the beach is eroding (and along some areas of the beach, increasing) and the factors that are aiding this and how this will affect people, wildlife, fauna and flora. A timeline shows how Studland peninsula has changed over the years and how it might appear in the future. There are alsophotographs showing changes since the start of the 1900's and visitors, beach hut owners and National Trust staff share their thoughts and experiences of the beach and how it has changed. In addition, it tells you how other parts of the UK could be affected by climate change.
We are asking people to share their memories, experiences and photographs of Studland, which will be displayed in the hut for everyone to share. So do get in touch if you have anything to add. The climate change beach hut will be open everyday during the season and is currently open every weekend. If you would like to visit the hut but find it closed, please contact the Estate Office at Middle Beach or at studlandbeach@nationaltrust.org.uk.
At present we are looking at how we can communicate better with our local communities. It would be very useful if you could tell us what you would like us to do to keep you informed and how we can involve you more in the management of the Trust's Purbeck Estate. I would love to hear from any local groups or individuals who would like to input ideas into this process. If you are involved with a local group or society and would like me to come along and explain my post, feed into the changes we hope to make and share ideas, then please do get in touch. Mandy Jarvis (amanda.jarvis@nationaltrust.org.uk)

VALENTINE FOOD AND BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOUR
I came back from the Purbeck Products market with the boot bulging with food that I'd swapped with the other stallholders.For supper, I started with whelks dipped in mayonnaise, followed by a crab pâté on home-made bread.My son, John, thought that this meal was the absolute pits and cooked himself bacon and eggs. I still have a shoulder of lamb and vegetables left for a midweek meal.
The fish came from Jeff Lander, bacon from Phil Samways, lamb from Kath Best, eggs from Claire Head, flour from Christopher Lees and the vegetables from Karen Welsh. If you have never been to this market, if you are interested in your food and where it comes from, if you are never eaten some of the best food that Purbeck has had to offer, you must give yourself a Valentine's Day treat, the next market is on February 14th from 10am-2pm at Putlake Adventure Centre, Langton Matravers.
On Sunday, I delivered a load of manure to a neighbour.While driving back, I wondered just how many laws I had probably broken to get the manure to him.The manure is stored in a huge leap on one of my fields, we leave it over the summer to rot down and spread it the following spring.As our natural fertiliser to help the crops grow. It probably should be covered with a sheet of black plastic to stop the rain water running through it and reaching out the nutrients. I however, want the rain to keep the heap moist, because this aids the breakdown of straw, keeps the temperature up which kills pathogens and weed seeds. The laws relating to the storage of manure, the slurry and dirty water in an NVZ (nitrate vulnerable zone), are legion.
But even before this I have probably broken several laws. The field from which I took the manure is close to the farm, but it does require me to travel on the road for approximately 50 yards. The trailer in which I transport the manure is elderly, and in truth, I could not say that the brakes or lights are always in the best condition and there are times when the manure drops out onto the road. I took the manure to my neighbour in the front bucket of my Loadall, I'm not sure I'm allowed to do that, and I reversed out of his drive onto the road.It's frightening to think of how many laws and regulations, one might break just by being neighbourly.
I have however stopped feeling guilty. My neighbour was so grateful to get his manure that he gave me too much money, which I put into the collection at the Plough Service in Langton Matravers in aid of Farm Crisis Network.FCN is a charity that helps farmers get through financial and emotional crises, such as when the police, DEFRA or health and safety officials come knocking.You never know when you might need a service like this!
So remember, February 14th is Valentine's Day, and the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and one way to prevent heart attacks is to eat properly.We hope to see you at Putlake.

TEAM TRAVERS TACKLE THE 2009 MOONWALK!
In 2007 my sister and my Dad (Les) completed the moonwalk (the London Marathon route, at night, wearing a bra to raise money for women's cancer research). After the sadness of both our parents passing away last year we decided to enter a Team Travers into this years marathon in their memory.
After talking to various other family members we have recruited Ian and Karen Travers, Pamela and Bryn Matthews, Charlotte Travers, Jo and Joe, Teresa Bower, Gemma Hunt and Gary Wells to join Brian, Claire and I to pound the streets of London.
We have begun training twice a week already, so should you see a group of Travers' out walking, an encouraging beep or friendly wave will always be welcome! Most importantly as the date in May gets closer we will be putting sponsor forms around the village. Having lived here all their lives Mum and Dad were known by many (the touching attendance to both funerals confirmed this) and if you could spare any sponsor money to the team it would be appreciated and for such a good cause!
Thanks also to the other team members, we are all proud to be TRAVERS (and honouree Travers') but we'll be even prouder after 26 miles! PS I told you I'd make it into The Dubber! Becky Travers

WHERE AM I IN PURBCK?

The sign says that we will be over the border in three quarters of a mile, but I can't smell any haggis - so where exactly am I?
Last month's picture was of an old Purbeck gatepost, which I drew about 10 years ago. Sadly since then some bright spark stole some tools and knocked the top off it, so it looks a bit sad. This one you can get to by walking straight out to the coast from the Ship in Langton, over the Priest's Way and it is at the entrance of the first gateway to your right just after the sea comes into sight. There is another stone like this actually in use, which you can see if you walk from Spyway Farm towards Langton, just the other side of the Priest's Wayat the entrance to the field which borders the path going down to Langton House. There are more so it is worth keeping an eye out for them as you walk around the area. Chris Meadows

BEST-SELLING AUTHOR LESLEY PEARSE
Will be at The Mowlem on Tuesday 10th March at 2.30pm to speak about her life and literary career. Tickets £5, to include tea and cake, are available from Purbeck Press.

NEWS FROM
KINGSTON

KINGSTON NEWS
We still seem to be catching up from Christmas. There was a record congregation in St James for the Christingle Service on Christmas Eve. There were 198 children and parents. Everyone was taken by surprise. No one had expected so many but by careful juggling everyone got at least a share of an orange. Well done Peter, Fiona and Greta and all those who helped to prepare the oranges and worked behind the scenes. The bell ringers extended Christmas into the next week by successfully ringing a full peal. This compensated for the fact that they were unable to ring on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. There are just too many churches and not enough ringers.
Just before Christmas I discovered something very special going on at Lower Scoles Farm. They had produced a limited edition of Crimbo Pudding Ice Cream. It was amazing and should, in my opinion, replace the real thing. But then I am hardly an arbiter of fashion. You might be lucky and pick up a tub at the Langton Post Office or Clealls. Hurry, hurry, while stocks last. There are new flavours coming out in February, but they are under wraps at the moment, but do go and look for them. During the year Purbeck Ice Cream have won two gold medals at TheGreat Taste Awards for their Banana and Crimbo ice creams; this was a National Competition, the food equivalent of the Oscars. At the Taste of the West they won a silver medal for their Stem Ginger. Well done!
This may be stale news, but it was sad to hear that Lord Lichfield had withdrawn his bid for Encombe House. He would have been an ideal owner. We gather that the property has been taken off the market for the time being.
Audrey Duffy is still staying with her sister in Swanage, but is gradually improving and has been up a number of times to check on her house. We hope she continues to improve. She certainly sounded quite perky on the phone.
Last month we promised we would write more about

NEWS FROM
HARMAN'S CROSS

JACK FOLEY
John S. Foley - 'Jack Foley' to everyone who knows him - celebrates his 100th birthday on February 7th 2009.
Jack was born at Slepe near Lytchett Matravers, and has lived most of his life in Dorset. In the early 1930's, he and his father built a garage at Harmans Cross; the garage has been enlarged several times, traded as Foleys for over 70 years, and is now known as Moonfleet Garage.
For many years, Jack lived next to the garage, but later moved to a new bungalow at Woodside, where he still lives today.
In the early days, Jack purchased an old army hut which he erected in his garden and was able to use as a place of worship for adults and children. In the late 1950's, with the help of gifts from local residents, he was able to build Woodside Chapel where regular services were held until recently when it was taken over by Swanage Baptists, now loaned to the charity 'Besom'. There are many local people who still remember the scripture verses and choruses which they learned at Mr. Foley's Sunday School.
Jack has four daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, not all of whom can be with him on his 100th birthday as some are living abroad. Monica lives in Devon, Winifred in the USA, Mildred in Canada, and Jocelyn still lives next to the garage right here in Harmans Cross.
These days, especially when the sun shines, Jack is often seen sitting on the seat on at Harmans Cross, watching the world go by and talking to his many friends.
We wish him a very happy birthday.
Joan Hollister

MODEL RAILWAY GROUP

Click here for more pics
About 25 people came to our meeting on 2nd January. Our next meeting will be on Friday 6th February. Robin Brasher

HARMANS CROSS VILLAGE HALL 50/50 AUCTION
Local Residents in Purbeck are being offered the opportunity to sell unwanted items - does cash in the attic strike a bell? - on Saturday the 7th March when the Village Hall will be 'hosting' a 50/50 Auction.
Bring along the jewellery you no longer wear, collectables you no longer collect, or that bike that you no longer ride! - and turn them into cash. It will only cost £2 to enter a lot (max 10 lots per household), or £3 if you wish to place a reserve on it. Whatever the hammer price you get 50%; the other 50% - plus the entry fee - goes towards the New Hall Fund. Unsold items to be returned to owner or donated to charity.
Items should be 'deposited' for cataloguing by 2pm on 7th March, for viewing from 6pm and sale starting at 7pm, when bargain hunters can bid for the products that they wish to buy.
The evening promises to be a lot of fun especially as a well known auctioneer will be raising his hammer, plus the well stocked Residents Club bar will be open on the night! Enquiries to Robert Steel.

HARMAN'S CROSS VILLAGE CLUB
The AGM of the Village Club was well attended and our speaker Nick R Thomas was on excellent form and enjoyed by all. The club's 8th birthday was celebrated with a cake and tea as usual. Annual membership subscription remains at £8.50, and a varied and interesting programme is planned for this year.
The next meeting of the Village Club is on 26 February at 2pm in the Village Hall. This will be a 'hands on' demonstration of pewter work with Pauline McKay and promises to be interesting and informative. Members only please. Tea/coffee and biscuits as usual.
Once again we would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Hew Year despite the doom and gloom in the newspapers. Jane Rogers

COFFEE MORNINGS ARE BACK
Saturday the 17th January witnessed the start of a new series of Coffee Mornings and Table Top sales at the village hall and - judging by the attendance and results - it was a welcome return for all concerned.
Our thanks and appreciation are due in no small measure to Judy Robson who has run these events for many years - often without the support that was evident on Saturday! This was organised jointly by Shaun and Helen Williams and Alan and Olive Stephenson, who used the event to offer an introduction to the soon to be formed computer club. Another specific date for which was Saturday 24th January.
It was good to see many Village Hall Committee Members present and a number of new stall holders too, who it is hoped will attend the next morning on the 7th February, when Theresa and Rob Steel will be running the show.
Thanks again to Shaun's family members who made the delicious cakes and staffed the refreshment 'redoubt' ! Clearing and cleaning up was well shared too.
In all a great morning, especially as there was a great community sense of purpose and fun! Even the takings of £106, which go towards the New Hall, were not to be sniffed at! Alan Stephenson

GRAND BOOK SALE - SATURDAY 14 MARCH
Hardbacks and paperbacks, books for children, biographies, novels and non-fiction including sport, gardening, cookery, travel etc, will all be in the huge book sale at Harmans Cross Village Hall on Saturday 14 March. In all, there will be about 2,000 books and they will be for sale at just 20p each. Everything must go as the old book store is to be demolished to make way for our new village hall.
The Grand Book Sale will open at 10am and close at 2pm. A licensed bar will be open from 10.30am until 2pm as bargain hunting can be very thirsty work! All proceeds, of course, will be going towards our new village hall.
Please note that we do not need donations of books for this sale. Do keep them for our August Bank Holiday Book Stall at Field Day - more details nearer the time.
Jo & Nigel Edmonds

SWANAGE RAILWAY EVENING AT HARMANS CROSS VILLAGE HALL
On Wednesday 4th February at 7.30pm we have a slide show and talk about Swanage Railway from Peter Foster, our Station Master. The Railway's General Manager, Mick Dean, will also be here to provide us with an update and answer questions from the audience. There will also be a model railway display in the hall.
Tickets are available from Nigel & Jo Edmonds at £5 each, which includes a ploughman's supper. The bar will be open from 7pm and there will be a raffle. We will make a contribution to the Swanage Railway Trust, but otherwise profits will go to the new village hall fund, so this is a great way to supporting both. Nigel Edmonds for Harmans Cross Village Hall Management Committee

HARMANS CROSS RESIDENTS' CLUB
February 27th sees our first anniversary Club Night. A free glass of mulled wine will be available and there will be crisps and other nibbles on each table. Talking of tables, our new bistro tables and chairs have been well received by members and those who attended the hall's coffee morning on 17 January.
Please make a note of the following Club Nights: 30 January; 27 February; 13, 20 and 27 March and 10 (Good Friday), 17 & 24 April - all are Fridays from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Nigel Edmonds Chairman of Harmans Cross Residents' Club Committee

NEW VILLAGE HALL NEWS
Since the last report Planning Permission for the revised plans - with a slightly larger Meeting Room and changes to the internal layout - has been granted.
The New Hall Team are busy putting together applications for funds. A grant application has now been submitted for funds to provide external doors and windows and a rainwater harvesting system to reduce our water consumption. The rainwater will be collected and used for toilet flushing purposes. We are also applying for grants for installing the complete kitchen and for the design, provision and installation of a renewable energy heating system. This will use a ground source heat pump to extract heat from long lengths of pipe buried in the ground. This, together with high levels of building insulation, is designed to provide comfortable all year round heating and will always be operational, so there will be no need to get to the hall early on cold days to switch the heaters on.
Following the digging of trial holes for foundation investigations, our Professional team are now working on the detailed design and drawings for submission for Building Regulation approval and preparing the documentation for going out to tender. We are getting closer to our target with fund raising, however, we still need a further £130,000 from already identified sources to reach the estimated cost. Unfortunately some of our recent grant applications have been unsuccessful but we remain hopeful that, given the present conditions in the building industry, when tenders are returned they turn out lower than expected.
However we cannot rely on these grants so we still NEED your help to ensure we can start the build at the beginning of July.
We are very grateful to those who have already promised or given support, but if you are able to offer that vital piece of extra help please call Alan Stephenson or Martin Howell.

SURFS UP IN HARMAN'S CROSS
It is pleasing to receive a growing amount of interest from residents in Harmans Cross who have a computer or are thinking about getting one, but are either confused or a bit daunted about the whole subject. While we can't guarantee to turn everyone into the next Bill Gates, we do hope to be able explain the basics and help take away some of the mysteries computers and the internet can pose.
We will be at all the regular coffee mornings planned in the village hall if you'd like to drop by and will in addition run dedicated open access sessions.
Current dates for your diary are: February 2nd 10am-12 (Computer Club) and February 7th and 28th (Coffee Morning).
For further information please telephone Shaun Williams or Alan Stephenson.
Thank you this month goes to Rob Steel, who has kindly donated a second computer, which greatly boosts the equipment we have available.

NEWS FROM
LANGTON MATRAVERS

LANGTON MATRAVERS VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AGM
The 40th Annual General Meeting is to be held on Wednesday 4th February at 7.30pm in the Village Hall. All Village residents aged over 18 years are invited to attend the meeting. Please come and join us, we need your support!

PLASTIC RECYCLING IN LANGTON MATRAVERS
For those residents who may not have already noticed, the Plastic Recycling bank, which was in Crack Lane, has now been relocated to the Parish Council offices next to Putlake Farm. The bank can be accessed by using the paved path towards the offices/toilets.
At the site there are two Parish Council parking spaces which may be used when stopping to use the recycling bank. Please note that the bin situated within the Putlake Farm carpark is privately owned and is not a recycling point! In addition, for the safety of customers of Putlake Farm, please do not use their car park for turning in.
Should you have any queries regarding recycling in Purbeck, please contact the Environmental Services team at Purbeck District Council on 557279.

UNDER TREE SCHOOLS
On Sunday 18th January we were very pleased to welcome the Revd Joseph Ayok-Loewenberg (pictured above with Judith in St. George's) to our services in Langton and Worth. He was on leave from Southern Sudan to be with his wife Karin and their twin daughters for the Christmas period. He was able to report that the building of the girls school was nearing completion and that they hoped to open it to just under 300 girls on !st April. Classrooms have been built, houses for eight teachers have also been constructed, so teaching will soon begin. The aim is to produce well educated young girls with practical skills so that they can contibute to the community. Work will still be on going after the opening and they will need help for some years to come.
The other good news was that the Mennonite Church in Canada has offered to send out two people to help manage the school, which would relieve Joseph of the day to day running responsibilities. Their concern is to teach peace and reconcilliation, which is exactly what is needed in this area which has been at war for so long.
We will have another opportunity to support UTS during Lent when it will be one of two charities featured at our Lent Lunches. Chris Meadows

LANGTON MATRAVERS LOCAL HISTORY & PRESENTATION SOCIETY
The next meeting will be on Thursday 19th February at 7.30pm in the village hall when David Saville will give a talk on 'The Dorset Novelist and Poet, Thomas Hardy'. All welcome, members £2.50, non-members £3.50. Rosemary Stevens

ALLOTMENTS - GRANT AWARD FROM 'ACRE'
The Parish Council are very pleased to announce that they have successfully applied for a grant of nearly £6000 from the Community Aggregates Fund (COMMA) to assist in the costs of creating the Parish Allotment Gardens at Coles Ground.
The grant was awarded by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) after the application, by the council, was put forward by Dorset Community Action (DCA). The money for the award comes from Defra's Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund which is intended to assist in community projects in areas that are affected by aggregate extraction. Martin Kirby, Chairman

THANK YOU!
It seems an age since Christmas, but not too late to say a huge thank you to all the very kind ladies (and some men!) from the flower rota who helped to decorate the church so brilliantly on Christmas Eve. This is a busy time for all and I'm sure all will agree that the results were exceptional and the greenery, picked from individual gardens, was the mainstay of all the arrangements. Thank you also to those who mad a donation towards the flowers for Christmas, it all helps enormously.

NEWS FROM
WORTH MATRAVERS

THANK YOU
Jan and Barry Gray at Glencoe, Worth Matravers, who were married in Salisbury on January 23rd would like to thank all their friends for their lovely cards and best wishes!

WORTH AFTERNOON CLUB
Our January meeting began with a short AGM followed by a fascinating talk. Viv Endecotes' knowledge of and enthusiasm for the work of Enid Blyton made her talk most enjoyable and it was amazing to hear that the prolific author penned over 700 books, often influenced by local places and characters.
The next meeting is on Wed 11th Feb at 2.30pm and should appeal to all members. Liz Prest is a colour consultant with a company called First Impressions and she is going to talk about which colours best suit us. Make a note in your diary. Visitors welcome (nominal charge at the door). Rachel Seaton

FROM THE RECTORY
Dear Friends,

What a cheerful occasion the Plough Service was, reviving an old country tradition, asking a blessing on the fields (and allotments) as ground preparation gets under way, and recognising the contribution of farmers and land workers to community life. An event to be repeated next winter.
Candlemas is another ancient festival, Dating back to 350, it probably gets its name from the blessing of the candles which were carried in the procession celebrating ‘the presentation of Jesus as a young baby in the temple’. Perhaps the ceremony we have retained, closest to this, is our christening or baptising of young children and people new to faith. We have decided to say thank you for baptism, with a short service and celebratory tea open to everyone, on February 22nd, especially for people who have been baptised at one of our village churches, or to people who are thinking about taking the plunge (no pun intended) and making a positive choice to belong .
However first we will be celebrating the Candlemas story at Hosanna and, as we remember how two very old people welcomed the baby, we will be saying thank you for the important part grandparents and older people play in our communities, not least in handing down faith to the next generation .
Which brings me to one of the most significant issue for our community this month, the future of our schools and our children’s education. It would be completely inappropriate for me to use this space to lobby for my own personal view, but I do think I can make two comments; one is to urge everyone to read the proposal (a copy is in St George’s church) and send in your response to the consultation. The second is an observation, emotions are running high for understandable reasons and where that happens, and where differing views are expressed, there is always a risk of damaged relationships and possible divisions along the fault lines. All I would ask, in this and in any other circumstance on which we differ, is - however mistaken we feel our neighbours’ views may be - that we offer each other the respect and courtesy which starts with the assumption that their views too are sincerely and thoughtfully held.
And on a much lighter note, praise -be. My snowdrops are up !

Best wishes

Judith
Judith Malins Priest in charge, Kingston, Langton Matravers, and Worth Matravers.