MERR OTT MESSENGERbtckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site1271/Messenger/June...And I too in this...

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K e e p i n g i t g o i n g d u r i n g C O V I D - 1 9 r e s t r i c t i o n s

Daily Ditties 2

Sew and Sew Update

3

A Summer recipe 4

VE Day celebrations 5

Learning from Lockdown

6

Where does your lamb come from?

7

Progress at ARK at Eggwood

8

A three mile walk 9

Traced & Tracked 10

Lockdown Lingo 11

Our Sponsors 11 & 12

I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e :

Your editorial team:

John Bowman 74077

Marion Biggs 74170

Peter Bryans 78182

Jane Jackson 74162

Janet Lailey 271008

Eric Vose 351857

Paula Bateman 271175

E m a i l :

merriottmessenger@ gmail.com

The information and views in the Merriott Messenger are those provided by the named individual contributors and are not necessarily supported by the Editorial Team. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information given is accurate, the Merriott Messenger cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Copy date for the June issue is 12th June.

MERR OTT MESSENGER

Delivered free to 1,000 homes www.merriottvillage.btck.co.uk June 2020

1st Hinton St George Scout Group

The weekly meeting (Thursday evenings in the Merriott Tithe Barn) of the Scouts, Cubs and

Beavers, like most of life’s normal routines, has had to be put on hold whilst we navigate through the current pandemic restrictions.

Scouting calls on youngsters to experience and master a wide variety of life skills, both as individuals and as part of a team; thus, the Gov-ernment instruction to socially isolate/distance has resulted in the need to investigate and be imaginative with alternate ways in which the Scouts can continue to develop.

Our Group Chairman (Garry Osborne) has sparked great interest in activities that the youngsters can do near and within the confines of their homes, whilst interacting with each other through Facebook. Some of the activities have

even been driven by a wider challenge that sees Scouts throughout the country working as one through virtual activities such as camping and a ‘walk to the moon’. The camping plan is to achieve a world camping record, whilst the walk to the moon sees the Scouts all walking as far as they can with individual bits being recorded and added up to see if the distance from Earth to the Moon can be achieved. The photographs below offer a little colour to some of these activities – regrettably not all the youngsters could be captured here, but the pictures perhaps convey a little of their energy and focus.

Scouting welcomes both boys and girls – and parents who would like to offer a little of their time to help out. If you’re interested then please contact Debra Cummings on 07966 047953, e-mail [email protected] to arrange for a visit to the Scouts and to see if it is some-thing you’d like to be involved in.

Steve Bateman

Clockwise from top left: JJ & Monty under canvas, Sam & Jamie cooking, Daniel cooking, Rowan indoor camping, Seth & Sol ‘walking to the moon’, Emma ‘hiking to the moon’, Will getting to grips with gardening, Patrick & Adam ‘walking to the moon’

and James in the kitchen

H e l p i n g t o p u t p e o p l e i n t o u c h Tracing the history of a 1962 Hillman Super Minx led its current owner to contact the Merriott Messenger for help. See full story on page 3.

Earlier this month, the Merriott Messenger was contacted by an Australian relative of a Merriott resident. See full story on page 6.

mailto:[email protected]

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D a i l y D i t t i e s

During lockdown Claire Pike (nee

Rumsby) has been entertaining and uplifting Open Group members with extracts from the auto-graph books of her mother and grand-mother.

She has written this piece about them and their life and included her favourite from each of the books.

Ivy Rumsby nee Lansdown

My Grandmother. She grew up in Lincoln and trained as a milliner, she at one time worked for Plummer Roddis in Reading. She met my grandfather in Lincoln where he served as an apprentice engineer with Ruston Hornby. They got

married in 1920 and lived in Southamp-ton and Bridgwater then finally came to Merriott the family home when my father was 9 years old:

Your album is your garden plot, Where all your friends may sow, And I too in this quiet spot, Will sow the seed Forget-me-not 26th January 1912 L. Wadsworth

Muriel Ida Rumsby nee Smith

My mum was born in London and then the family moved to Swanage when she was 11. She trained as a nurse and came to work at Crewkerne hospital (why Crewkerne we really don’t know!). It was during her time at Crewkerne Hospital

that she met my Dad who was there very poorly with Peritonitis, this was in 1941. They got married in Swanage in 1946 and lived in Merriott. The rest is history!!

Speak pleasantly always and you will be blessed, Harsh words a hindrance and cause you unrest, When speaking and thinking if thoughtfully done, Will bring sunshine and happiness to everyone, Just try it and see? B.W. Richardson 19th February 1936

Claire Pike

M e r r i o t t M e s s e n g e r

P A G E 2 [email protected]

OPEN

GROUP

Gardening quote of the month

"I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in

rainbow clouds."

Robert Bridges ‘The Testament of Beauty;. Sent in by Mo Frampton

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A p p r e c i a t i o n fo r t h e N H S People have been finding innovative ways to make a noise for the NHS on Thursday evenings.

During lockdown Martin Davies has been renovating a Humber bicycle that was built in the 1930s. Here he is using an oil can and monkey wrench used in the renovation to “clap” for the NHS and carers.

Chris Biggs has made a wooden football-style raffle to join in with the neighbours and make a really loud noise to show support for the NHS. Photos courtesy of Steve Roberts and the Western Daily Press. Marion Biggs

Beautifully coloured in by Sophie Churchill, aged 6. Thank you Sophie.

THE MERRIOTT HERITAGE TRUST WHAT CAN IT DO FOR MERRIOTT ?

If you are interested in the history of Merriott, in conserving its old buildings, preserving its wildlife sites and even maintaining its footpath network, we may be able to offer financial help with the cost, for example, of restoring

stone-work, iron railings, gates and date stones, planting trees and maintaining signposts and stiles. We are keen to rescue documents, such as house deeds, and photographs to prevent their loss and are already building up a

collection. All this has been made possible by the generous legacy from the late Cathy Herriman. Please contact us if you think we can help you or if you can help us.

E mail: [email protected]

M e r r i o t t a n d A r e a R e t a i l O u t l e t s In the May Messenger there was a table of the opening times and contact

details for local shops in Merriott and Crewkerne. These times and details

are regularly revised. The most recent information can be found by looking

at the Parish Council website – merriottpc.org As soon as you are able, do support our

sponsors, as without their support

there would be no Merriott Messenger.

And do remember to mention where

you saw their details.

Thank you.

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P A G E 5 [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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To the Merriott Sewers,

I just wanted to write and say a huge thank you for the hand sewn, washable headbands and uniform bags. When I ran the idea past my mum (Sue Wicks) and she said ‘send me a pattern’. I didn’t quite expect the response that followed…

The uniform bags are a huge reassur-ance when trans-porting worn uniform from the hospitals so that they can be thoroughly and safely washed at home. The head-

bands are quite literally ear savers! All staff are required to wear surgical masks when on the wards and they loop over the ears with thin elastic strips which are really quite uncomfortable and sore. The headbands allow staff to hook

the elastic on the sewn on buttons, thus saving the ears.

Everything was so beautifully made and the speed at which you produced them was amazing. To date the items you’ve made have been distributed to Somerset Neurological Rehabilitation Centre (Musgrove Park Hospital), the county wide Speech and Language Therapy team and to doctors, nurses and therapists working on various medical wards in

Musgrove Park Hospital.

I can person-ally vouch for the comfort of headbands and feedback

to you that they make wearing all the PPE a little more bearable. I’ve had lots of feedback from staff asking me to ‘Thank the lovely sewers”. The bright colours and patterns have made quite a talking point and we’ve had numerous

smiles and compliments from the pa-tients we treat!

Many thanks for your generosity, time and speed of response – its been hugely appreciated, and its been really touching to feel so supported by the local community

Emma Wicks, Speech and Language Therapist (Clinical Lead Neurorehabilitation)

U p d a t e To date, 610 Headbands and Scrub Bags by 23 Sewers have been distributed to the following locations: Chard, Yeovil, Taunton Musgrove, Dean Barton Neuro- Rehabilitation Unit, Wincanton Hospi-tal, South Petherton Hospital and Moor-lands and Careford Lodge Care Homes in Merriott .

Great job sewers - we mustn’t forget those in the village who have also gener-ously supplied the sewers with material, cord & buttons. Thank you. Paula Bateman

S e w a n d S e w U p d a t e

I am appealing for information on the history of my car, a 1962 Hillman Super Minx, origi-nally registered 399 SYB. It was owned by Edward and Florence (née Warry) Parker of Church Farm, Church Street, Merriott,

and I would very much like to speak to friends and relatives of the Parker and Warry families, or anyone else who may remember Mr and Mrs Parker. I have reason to believe Mr Parker retained the Super Minx until very late in his life; in any case, it has an MoT issued by the Merriott Service Station from

1990 but had a new owner by 1998. Sadly, the new owner sold its original registration and reregistered it as OSJ 655. I would also be very grateful to hear from anyone who has information regarding Dunn's Motors of Taunton, which supplied the car new. At 58 years old, the Hillman now looks somewhat scruffy but continues to give excellent service as my everyday car.

If anyone is able to help, please get in touch on 020 8777 6821, by e-mail to [email protected] or by writing to: 104 Oak Avenue, Shirley, Surrey, CR0 8EG.

Zack Stiling

A v e r y s p e c i a l 1 9 6 2 H i l l m a n S u p e r M i n x

M e r r i o t t H e l p U p d a t e - The Merriott help

group is now firmly established, and up to now we are offer-ing help to 30 families across Merriott. This has been in the way of shopping, picking up prescriptions, dog walking and distributing food. I think it would have been more if it wasn’t for the excellent services provided by local companies in and around Merriott, that have enabled people to have their own independence. As always, we are worried that there may be vulnerable people “slipping through the net” so please, if you think someone may be struggling, do not hesitate to contact us, sometimes people don’t like to ask. You can make contact at [email protected], or 07887 871 467.

As the situation continues, and looks likely to do so for some time, none of us know how we will be affected either individ-ually or as a community.

My thanks again to all of those looking out for others, either as part of Merriott help or just off their own backs, we are making a difference. Stay safe. Sue Wright



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We’ve received two lovely emails this month from appreciative

Merriott Messenger readers:

Thank you to the editorial team for putting together another excellent edition (May) despite the difficult circumstances. Very informative and entertaining, as always. Many thanks, Jon & Rosemary Evans Good morning to Merriott Messenger Team

I would like to thank everyone, for the dedicated time and valued work that is done by you all on behalf of this special village and also the adjacent local ones.

The copies delivered to me by my kind neighbour are kept as great information and reference use. They are also beautifully printed and a joy to read.

Friends wondered why four years ago, I had moved to a place where I knew no one, but I have not regretted it for a moment.

This is now my true home, I was coming back to Somerset, where most of my childhood holidays were spent with relatives of my parents and grandparents.

What an excellent village to be in a lockdown! Walking around on Friday it was party central. The spirit of VE Day, relived with the same meaning as it was 75 years ago. So lovely to see fami-lies and neighbours joining up (specified metres apart !) even during this strangest of times.

Three cheers for the Merriott villagers and our Union Jack.

Ann Stear

Topping • 25g unsalted butter • 2 tbsp self-raising flour • 1 tbsp caster sugar

• 2 tsp ground ginger • 1 tbsp icing sugar, to dust


M e r r i o t t G a r d e n i n g C l u b Another month gone in the gardening calendar but an interesting and lovely time of year for the gardens. In this unprecedented time it is lovely to be in our gardens, espe-cially now as they are looking their best. Do take a photo of the area of your garden which inspires you the most to remember good things are still here even at this horrid time. Here is my contribution - such a joy when the May tree comes into full bloom.

We have sad news as Neil Lovesey, owner of Picket Lane Nursery, South Perrott, has passed away after a long battle with cancer. Members will remember him as a cheerful, knowledgeable gardener who regaled us with his witty and informative talks at many a club meeting. He will be sadly missed - he was one of a kind. Our Club's condolences have been sent to Neil's family.

The Club will keep you informed as to when we will be able to begin our meetings again - hopefully, not too long now.

Barbara Byford

N u m b e r C r u n c h e r a n s w e r p a g e 1 0

A s u m m e r r e c i p e : R h u b a r b C a ke Ingredients:

• 300g rhubarb • Juice of ½ lemon • 165g self-raising flour • 175g unsalted butter, softened

plus extra for greasing • 175g caster sugar • 3 large free-range eggs • 2 tsp vanilla extract Method Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Grease a 18 x 24cm cake tin and line with baking parchment. Trim the rhubarb and chop into 3cm pieces. Place in a bowl with the lemon juice. In a separate bowl, beat together the flour, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Fold in half the rhubarb and spoon the mixture into the bottom of the tin, spreading it out with a spatula. Scatter over the remaining rhubarb. For the topping, rub the butter into the flour, then stir in the sugar and ginger. Don’t worry if this is quite solid. Sprinkle (or roll into small balls & scatter) over the cake mixture and bake for 40-50 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin. Dust with icing sugar, then slice into squares. Paula Bateman

As we were unable to deliver to every household last month, if you did not pick up a copy, it can be viewed on the Merriott village website: merriottvillage.btck.co.uk

S o c i a l D i s t a n c i n g V E D a y C e l e b ra t i o n s i n M e r r i o t t


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War-time Recipes, 6d net, 1941

This is the title of a booklet – the 14,000 edition - a copy of which I found among my

mother’s cookery books. 200 recipes ‘Collected, edited and recommended’ by Ambrose Heath, who was a well-known cookery writer by the time of the last war. As we were reminded during the coverage of the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the end of the war did not mean the end of scarcity and of rationing. Churchill himself commented on a list of the ration for an individual, that it was certainly very little for a day, and was amazed when told that it was actually a list of one person’s allowance for a week.

Ambrose Heath was the cookery writer for the Morning Post from1933. He had published 4 books before 1939 and dur-ing the war he wrote over 100 pamphlets and articles, with titles such as ‘What’s Left in the Larder’ 1940, ‘Vegetables for Victory 1944, and, reminding us that

some rationing went on till 1953 ‘Small Meat Dishes’, ‘Little Cheese Dish-es’ 1953. Meat was rationed by price, so cheaper cuts were better value by volume. I remember my mother trying to dissuade her cleaning lady, Mrs Thake, from giving the entire family’s weekly meat ration to Mr Thake as a piece of steak on Sunday. Presumably she and the children just watched him eat it.

I have copied out, in their original words, a few examples of the making-do recipes that the housewives of the day had to use their ingenuity to provide. Despite the shortages, we who were young then survived to healthy adult-hood, for the most part. I can’t imagine how I would have managed if I had been the mother of a growing family in those days.

Imitation Tomato Soup

Take water in which a marrow has been boiled. Put in seeds and inside of marrow, plenty of pea-pods and outside leaves of lettuces. Boil. Sieve. If liked, add 1 spoon of tomato ketchup. Thicken with roux to which a little onion has been added.

Meat Pudding

Make a suet pudding, and instead of putting fruit as for Spotted Dog, put in

minced beef, and steam. Have a nice gravy with it. All children like it very much, and it requires much less meat than for a stew.

Potato Scones

These have got to be made after lunch while the potatoes are still warm. Simply salt them and mash them, and roll them out on a floured board very thin. Cook on a hot plate, and pile them up under a napkin as they come off the griddle.

Steamed Chocolate Cake

1 b flour; 2 tbs Treacle; 2 heaped tbs Cocoa; ½ tsp Carbonate of Soda; 4 oz Fat (Margarine, Lard or Dripping); Milk to mix.

Blend all dry ingredients, rub in the fat, and mix with the treacle and milk to a stiff batter. Put in a greased tin, and tie a greased paper over. Steam for 1 ½ hours. NB – The cake must not be cut until the next day.

The other problem for many households was that people had often had cooks, pre-war, and ‘posh’ women were learning to cook for themselves for the first time. ‘How on earth am I supposed to steam a cake?’ you can hear them wailing! I wouldn’t know how to do it either.

Janet Lailey

West Bassetts Higher Street Notification of intent to carry out tree sur-gery works to 17 trees within a conservation area.20/01277/TCA Status: Awaiting decision

11 Higher Street Demolition of existing single storey lean-to and erection of a single storey extension 20/00271/HOU Status: Approved

Land West of Ebonite House Beadon Lane Change of use of land to Equestrian (personal use only) 19/03226/COU Status: Approved

Land at Pye Corner Demolition of existing steel open sided barn and change of use of site to residential. Conversion and extension of existing stone barn to a single storey dwelling with new detached garage and the construction of three two storey detached houses and garages with associated courtyard, park-ing and garden areas. Development to provide a total of four dwelling units. 19/01021/FUL Status: Approved

5 Higher Street Application for a Non-Material Amendment to planning permission to allow Sandtoft clay modula tiles as replacements and on all new roofs 19/02279/HOU Status: Refused

Lindum House 33 Broadway Installation of window at first floor 20/00545/LBC Status: Withdrawn

Higher Easthams Farm Notification of intent to construct an access track for agricultural purposes 20/00617/AGN Status: Decided

10 Lower Street Part change of use of ground floor café to residential to tie in with existing dwelling 19/03247/COU Status: Approved

Land at Tail Mill Tail Mill Lane Erection of 2 commercial buildings with provision for car parking, access and turning areas. 19/00810/FUL Status: Refused Marion Biggs

S w e e t P e a s t o Ke e p S u m m e r A l i v e

Sweet peas – they may look, simply, charming, but their collective willpower is inexorable.

They swarm up the rigging like pirates, cutlasses between teeth, sighting a galleon.

Tendrils like tentacles grasp their fellows and bend them, stalks, leaves, buds, to their own support.

The first flowers are decorous, delightful, long-stalked, fragrant, flounced, mother-of-pearl delicate.

But the row grows into a vertical thicket of stems tough as rawhide. Pick every day -- even so, furry pods proliferate in the tangle.

Gales and drought cannot defeat them, neither their pervasive perfume , nor their tough silken petals.

Not worth picking by now – myriad single flowers on stumpy stalks? Just find the right vase. Spread the scent! Light up the house!

Keep summer alive a little longer….. By Janet Lailey


L e a r n i n g f r o m L o c kd o w n At a time when we have a bit more free-dom to go out and do things, I find myself reluctant to leave the house. It’s strange what we get used to. I have certainly learned a few things

about myself and the world from this ‘lockdown’ experience, some of which may resonate with you: it’s been an important reminder that we are not all the same – we respond very differently to stressful situations and being told to stay at home.

For some of us enforced isolation has been incredibly tough. I hope that a positive outcome from all of this is that we carry on keeping in touch with our

neighbours. For others, whose lives tend towards hectic, I heard several say how much they’ve enjoyed a slower pace and a less crammed diary. I have certainly found more time to reflect, read and pray and I have felt better for it. I have also made more of an effort to contact some friends, which has been wonderful.

As a parish priest I have really valued being in touch with a wider group of people; kind volunteers, neighbours in need, people of faith who I haven’t met before. It has all been a welcome eye-opener. But I do miss being with others in church and leading services. There is a great joy in sharing Communion, cele-brating marriage and spending time with people face to face. I have missed those aspects of my role very much.

I know many of us share a concern for the natural environment and have taken a great deal of comfort from it during this anxious time. I hope we don’t rush straight back to all of the habits which are harmful to wildlife and climate. May-be we will appreciate that we don’t have to travel and shop as much as we used to.

And finally, it would be great if we con-tinue to value and appreciate the many who provide for our everyday needs, not least the health workers.

I will be very glad when this pandemic is finally over, but I am hopeful that we can take something positive from the lessons we have learned.

Revd Julia Hicks

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W h e r e d o e s y o u r l a m b c o m e f r o m ?

You may not have been aware, from the quality of British lamb you have purchased, that the methods of produc-tion, particularly the breeds of sheep involved, have changed markedly over the last 70 years. In the middle of the last century there was a well defined ‘stratification’ of the sheep industry. This was designed to make good use of differ-ent types of land to produce purebred stock for breeding or crossbred ewes for mating to produce the lamb you eat.

This stratified sheep industry is illustrated in Figure 1. The poorest quality land on the mountains and hills produced either purebred rams and ewes to maintain the stock on this land or ewes for sale to farmers on better quality land on the uplands and lowlands. These mountain ewes were crossbred with rams such as Border Leicester on better quality land to produce more fertile ewes for sale to lowland farms. There they were mated in turn to rams of meat type breeds to pro-duce the lambs for slaughter. This is the lamb you bought for the Sunday roast. The end of life and surplus rams and ewes were sold as mutton to be used for good quality stews.

This ‘stratified’ structure made good use of breeds matched to the type of land on which they could survive. In the 1950’s in

the UK there were about 60 breeds of sheep which fitted into this structure with particular favourites for different parts of the country.

In the 1960’s some breeds from Europe began to be imported into the UK as they were considered to be either more fertile or have better meat qualities than the breeds already here. Such breeds began to displace UK breeds. Between 1971 and 2003 the number of breeds in the UK rose from 60 to 106. Some of these imported breeds did not find favour and by 2012, 5 of them had disappeared from the UK.

Those UK breeds which have become less popular and severely reduced in numbers have been saved in case they are needed in future by the advent of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The Trust is storing semen and eggs from the rarer breeds as well as encouraging farms to keep the

rare breeds.

The imported breeds have either been used to replace UK breeds or, by cross-breeding with domestic breeds, have

been used to create new synthetic breeds. One example is the Meatlinc which was developed by intermating two UK and three imported breeds in the

1960’s and then closing the flock to any new introductions in 1975. Since then it has been a closed population and has become very popular as a replacement

for Suffolk rams.

This stratified structure is likely to change markedly in the next few years for two reasons. Farmers, and hill farmers in par-ticular, have been supported financially by the European Common Agricultural Policy on a land area and the number of sheep basis. This will cease over the next 3 years and the UK Government has indi-cated that in future financial support will be for public goods such as maintaining the countryside for recreation, water and scenery management and energy sup-plies. The second reason is that in order to combat climate change the world needs more trees. The UK is the second least forested country in Europe and needs to plant many millions of trees. Many of these trees will go on poorer quality land in upland areas. Changes in financial support and forest development are likely to have a marked impact on the sheep industry. The consumer will still have lamb to eat but the breeds used and the farm locations where it is produced are likely to change.

John Bowman

F i g u r e 1 - t h e U K S t r a t i f i e d S h e e p I n d u s t r y Land Type

Example Breeds Main Output

Mountain and hills Poorer quality land

Scottish Blackface Welsh Mountain Swaledale

Purebred replacement rams and ewes and young ewes for sale to better land

Uplands and lowlands Better quality land

Ewes from mountain and hill farms crossbred to Border Leicester Rams

Crossbred ewes for sale to lowland farms on good quality land

Lowland farms on arable and good quality grazing land

Crossbred ewes mated to Suffolk rams High quality finished lambs for meat

Meatlinc rams – a new ‘synthetic’ breed

Border Leicester ram

Suffolk ram



P A G E 8 [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We hope you are all staying well and have had some time to enjoy your gardens and walking out in our beautiful countryside. Although this is

a difficult time for everyone, we think you will agree that we are very fortunate to live in such a picturesque part of the world!

Unfortunately, as you are aware, we have been thwarted by a few setbacks over the last year or so, not least the COVID-19 pandemic, which has meant that we could not welcome our first clients who were booked in for March.

However, on a positive note, we have had beautiful weather that has enabled us to make progress on our site, albeit with a very limited crew, which funda-mentally, is Simon! We have opened our fields and wood to some vulnerable people, who have needed a safe, sani-tised space to themselves (some people with autism and their carers, foster chil-dren who just needed ‘space’, families with vulnerable children).

As you can see from the photos Simon has been making the most of the great weather we have had during 'lockdown'. He has put the cover on the polytunnel and built a lovely pond, which now has its first frog! Over the next few months we hope this will become a haven for

wildlife and an area to relax and ‘ponder’ over life. The wheelchair accessible path is almost finished; we are just waiting for tarmac to become available to finish it off.

We’d like to thank Leo Bonning, a local farmer, who has ploughed and rotovated the growing area for us and Nick and Claire Bragg from Frogmary Green Farm who donated 60kg of seed potatoes and given us plants for the pond. We now have plenty of potatoes in the ground amongst a whole raft of other vegetables and flower seeds are just waiting to be direct sown. The polytunnel is now full of seedlings waiting to be planted out later in the month.

We have been very lucky to have re-ceived some kind donations; not least from Tracey and Jordan who have pro-vided funding for our storage area and handwashing station, The Rotary Club of Crewkerne for our field kitchen, Somer-set Community Foundation for site maintenance and ongoing support, and the Resonance Health & Wellbeing Challenge Fund for ongoing support through Covid-19.

We are extremely grateful also to Zsofi and Robyn from Dorothy’s Tea Rooms in Hinton, who nominated ARK as their worthy cause for their weekly coffee and cake takeaway; also to all of the cake bakers and the community who support-ed them and us – they raised an incredi-ble £342.23 – Thank you so much!

We are thrilled that we have now received funding from Somerset County Council Adult Social Care for our Dementia Project, which we will be starting to work on, once the current restrictions are lifted, for people with

dementia/memory loss and their carers.

Jackie Parsons, our volunteer coordina-tor, has been working hard in the back-ground trying to keep our merry band of volunteers on board and she hopes to welcome you all back very soon…. and perhaps a few more??? One of our vol-unteers, Alison Templeton, has kindly agreed to help us improve our bio-diversity and wildlife, giving us advice on planting schemes and ways in which we can improve the flora and fauna on site.

It is lovely to see how much progress has been made, despite the current situa-tion. As soon as these restrictions are relaxed, we look forward to finally greeting people onto our site, whether they be clients, volunteers or supporters. We would like to think that our site can be used to help our community to be strong and thrive after the lockdown period and we welcome any suggestions that you may have that can help us to achieve this.

If you would like to get in touch, please visit our website www.arkategwood.com or call Nigel on 07974 658 782.

Also please follow us on Facebook, Insta-gram and Twitter ‘ARK at Egwood’ where you will find our most up to date infor-mation and see some of Nigel’s not so great footage of the nocturnal activity of our badgers and foxes!

Amanda Bell

M u c h p r o g r e s s h a s b e e n m a d e a t A R K a t E g w o o d C I C

L y n a s h N u r s e r y The Nursery is open for Shrubs & perennial plant sales by appointment only which is proving popular. Please contact us for an appointment to visit the nursery to view the plants on offer. The information is also available on Facebook. Ashley Wallis, Lynash Nurseries, Boozer Pit, Merriott, TA16 5PW 01460 76643, or 07768 615253, www.lynash.co.uk Ashley Wallis

http://www.arkategwood.com

https://www.lynash.co.uk/

P A G E 9 [email protected]

1. Leave the Feed Station and go down Sandy Hole for about 400 yards to the footpath post.

2. Turn left and go through both gates - the rusty one and then the newer one. Then bear right and head across the field (see PIC 1) crossing a stile to reach Egwood Lane.

3. Turn left along Egwood Lane for about 200 yards until you reach the next foot-path post.

4. Turn right here and go through the gate. Follow the path along the side of the field. You then cross a short bridge with a stile at each end. Carry on across the field to the gate which opens onto Niddons Lane.

5. Go along Niddons Lane past Lopen Business Park (despite the name some of it is actually in Merriott). Keep going along the Lane until you appear to be faced with a gate. Fear not, here Niddons Lane turns left becoming a nice

green lane (PIC 2). Keep on along the path which becomes narrower. (All alonghere the ditch on your right marks the Merriott boundary with Hinton).

6. Shortly before you reach the farm turn sharp left onto Egwood Lane. There is no footpath post but you will probably find confirmation if you find a large puddle to circumnavigate (which seems to live there). Keep going along Egwood Lane and you will soon enter a lovely stretch called the tree tunnel (PIC 3). After this you will pass again along the short section you walked earlier, but continue along the lane until you reach Sandy Hole/Garstone Lane junction.

7. Cross the road and go through the gate in the field corner. The path is easy to follow across the field as the farmer is obviously a considerate chap (PIC 4).

Go over another double stile and then turn slightly more to the left heading for a stile through the hedge near the foot of the slope. After the stile bear slightly right and after a short distance you turn right.

8. Your right turn takes you to some steps and a stile. Climb up and over these and at the end of the path you have a choice. If you want to go to Townsend Corner and Higher Street turn left through the gate and goodbye. If you wish to return to the Feed Station turn right and follow the path which brings you back out onto Sandy Hole. Turn left and Hey Presto! you are back at the Feed Station.

Peter Bryans

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A t h r e e m i l e f i g u r e o f e i g h t w a l k f r o m t h e Fe e d S t a t i o n , S a n d y H o l e

2

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4

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P A G E 1 0 [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tra c e d a n d t ra c ke d v i a t h e M e r r i o t t M e s s e n g e r

Imagine my surprise when I received a note from Jane Jackson and an email from John Bowman telling me that the Merriott Messenger had received an email from someone in Australia who was trying to locate me. In fact, to quote it in part, he says “…….I am curious if John is still alive to make a brief contact with him……”. I was able to reassure them that it was not a scam because I recog-nised the person’s name immediately and would make contact with him.

It turns out that it was my nephew (by marriage), Laurie Cranston (my late wife’s maiden name). He and his family live in Perth, Western Australia. I now know that in early March he and his wife went across to New Zealand for a two week holiday during which he met up with his NZ cousins. He just made it home before the lockdown started over there. With time on his hands now he decided to investigate his family’s background.

He quite simply just keyed my name and the word Merriott into Google and up came quite a few options. The one he opened was the Merriott Local History Group Archive. In that he found an article in the Merriott Messenger mentioning my name and my connection to All Saints Church (I was Church Warden at the time). The site is hosted by Sue Osborne

who has never been to Merriott and lives in Brisbane, Australia, (this I did know). He made contact with her and she recommended that he email the Messenger direct.

The background to all of this is that my late wife, Edith, and I returned to England from New Zealand in April 1988. We bought a campervan and toured the South West for three months (Somerset, Devon and Cornwall). We wanted to be off the road before the school holidays started in July so at the end of that month we swapped the campervan for a car and a caravan. We parked up in a farmer’s field just outside Henstridge planning to stay there for two months

while I looked for work. By the beginning of October I had a job at Denners (now Beales) in Yeovil. We wanted out of the caravan before the winter set in so we looked for a house to rent temporarily and found one in Hollywell, East Coker.

There we stayed until the spring of 1989 and in April of that year we started house hunting ending up buying the cottage that is No. 12 Lower Street in Merriott. During the process of moving in May, Laurie and his father, Frank, (my brother-in-law) turned up. Laurie was then 24 years old, had just finished university and was setting off on a two year trip back-packing around the world. He arrived just in time to help us with the move. After a few days he left us to carry on with his travelling.

That was the last I heard of Laurie until the Merriott Messenger became his vehicle to track me down. So as you can imagine the emails are flying backwards and forwards catching up on 31 years of news! I won’t go into all the details here but he did get back to Australia in January 1991 and started work in Perth in the mining industry.

Thank you Merriott Messenger!

John Stuttaford

Dinner at the Kings Head, Merriott - May 1989

l to r: Laurie Cranston aged 24 (my nephew), Frank

Cranston, Laurie’s father (my brother in law), myself

and Edith Stuttaford (my late wife & Laurie’s Aunt)

N u m b e r C r u n c h e r A n s w e r

01460 271598 café@thefeedstation

merriott.co.uk

P A G E 1 1 [email protected]

More sponsors

Printed by Parish Magazine Printing, Northmoor, Whitstone EX22 6TD

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L o c kd o w n L i n g o

Are you fully conversant with the new termin-ology? Here are a few terms to get you in the groove:

Coronacoaster The ups and downs of your mood during the pan-demic. You’re loving lockdown one minute but suddenly weepy with anxiety the next. It truly is “an emotional coronacoaster”.

Quarantinis Experimental cocktails mixed from whatever random ingredients you have left in the house. The boozy equivalent of a store cupboard supper. Southern Comfort and Ribena quarantini with a glacé cherry garnish, anyone? These are sipped at “locktail hour”, ie. wine o’clock during lockdown, which seems to be creeping earlier with each pass-ing week. Le Creuset wrist It’s the new “avocado hand” - an aching arm after taking one’s best saucepan outside to bang during the weekly ‘Clap For Carers.’ It might be heavy but you’re keen to impress the neighbours with your high-quality kitchenware.

Furlough Merlot Wine consumed in an attempt to relieve the frus-tration of not working. Also known as “bored-eaux” or “cabernet tedium”.

Getting on your Wicks Vexing noise levels from neighbours doing their daily workout with Joe Wicks, the Body Coach. Star jumps and burpees sound like a stampeding herd of buffalo.

Caught between a shop and a hoard place The dilemma of needing to purchase basics but not wanting to be accused of stockpiling. I'm not stockpiling, I usually buy this many tins of beans.

Mask-ara Extra make-up applied to "make one's eyes pop" before venturing out in public wearing a face mask.

Doom ’n’ Zoom The feeling spread by the most miserable or pessimistic participant in a videoconfer-ence, aka the “Zoommonger” or “lockdowner”.

Co-runner virus An infection potentially spread by selfish fitness fanatics taking up an entire path by jogging two abreast.

Covid-10 The 10lbs in weight that we’re all gaining from comfort-eating and comfort-drinking. Also known as “fattening the curve”.

…and finally, finally: One sentence to sum up 2020, so far: At one point this week, 1 loo roll was worth more than a barrel of crude oil!

Sent in by Mo Frampton

W h a t ’ s i n s e a s o n ? June means the official start of summer, even if the weather doesn't always agree. Here's what’s in season: Vegetables:

Garlic, asparagus, chard, carrot, cucumber, chicory, onion, green bean, broad bean, courgette flower, lettuce, early potato, nettle, tomato, pea, rhubarb, radish, rocket, celery, dandelion , courgette.

Fruits:

Apricot, black cherry, cherry, strawberry, melon, pear, plum, peach, nectarine, raspberry, currant, gooseberry, rhubarb and some tomatoes varieties.

I’m privileged in my life to see Swifts in summer flying free Across the glorious azure sky At speed they twist and swerve and cry For just three months these treasures stay To nest, rear young then fly away Five meters high beneath some thatch They zoom with infants insect catch Such birds could only bear this name Who mesmerise our eyes in game In awe we try to understand These featherlings not formed to land Pray they may fly forevermore That mortals see the swoop and soar. Ann Steer (2002)

S u m m e r V i s i t o r s

Church St Merriott TA16 5PR Tel: 01460 78912

also on

The Barn Self Catering

Accommodation 32 Church St

Merriott TA16 5PS

01460 351857 07879 066012

[email protected]

Find us on

T h a n k y o u t o o u r s p o n s o r s f o r t h e i r s u p p o r t

Secure self storage & removals Competitive rates, easy & flexible

01460 243100

[email protected] www.beehiveselfstorage.co.uk

Serviced Offices To Let

More on page 7

Able Alex Ltd Landscaper & Handyman

07852 135 795 [email protected]

www.ablealex.co.uk

Merriott Social Venue •open every evening

•spacious function room available for hire

01460 74376

[email protected]

Allen Computer Services

Sales, Repairs, Servicing, for Home & Small Business,

Cloud Backup and Laptop Screen Repairs

01460 298036

www.allencomputerservices.co.uk

Robert Frith Optometrists

your local independent Optician

FREE emergency appointments under the NHS Somerset ACES

service Chard 67771

Crewkerne 72964 Yeovil 01935 478463

All Electrics & Security CCTV & Intruder Alarms

01460 279 279 www.stokespartners.co.uk

Heating Engineers

Boiler servicing and changes Lpg / Oil / Gas-Safe

Laurel Cottage, Shiremoor Hill 07970 279778 / 07738 632746

Ansaphone: 01460 76000

[email protected]

Chris Martin Interiors Ltd

Specialising in installation of kitchens and bathrooms

01460 76612 07976 848 677

Ever thought of Fostering?

Call: Nigel Bell Mob: 07974658782

www.fusionfostering.com

Jays

Complete Property Maintenance

Over 20 years experience No job too small!

01460 78891 07865 700 760

Moorlands Residential Home

Moorlands Road

Quality care for the elderly

Contact Jayne: 01460 74425

[email protected]

Merriott Pharmacy

Free prescription collection & delivery

01460 72222

merriottpharmacy @hotmail.com

Charlotte Hamlin Merriott Childcare

OFSTED & PACEY registered

Full/part-time hours Early years funding

Between 6.00am & 6.30pm www.charlottehamlin.co.uk

01460 73361 07721 018 335

16 South Street Crewkerne TA18 8DA

01460 200666 5% off our advertised price for

people of Merriott

Merriottsford Minibus

01460 76029

Taxi Alliance 01460 75089 / 01935 414444

D R I V E R S W A N T E D

J K n i b b s

General Builder

01460 73671

07976 597762

Manor Farm - Your local farm shop

Lower Street, Merriott TA16 5NP Tel: 07963 102258 nigel.witcombe@

gmail.com

Careford Lodge Residential Home

Church Street

Contact Laura on 01460 75592

carefordlodge@ hotmail.co.uk

R. A. Wicks Ltd

Fireplace Showroom, Flue Lining, and Multi Fuel

Stoves 01460 74612

Merriott Parish Council

merriott-clerk@ hotmail.co.uk

07821 372 886

@MerriottParishCouncil

Kevin Swain

Electrical Contractor

Free Estimates Tel 01460 73260

Tom Merrick

Electrical Contractor

Agricultural & Industrial

No Job too small

NAPIT approved contractor

01460 72757 07980 686 160

All aspects of tree and garden work undertaken

[email protected]

01460 77605 / 07799 331 805

Veterinary

Crewkerne

your local vets

01460 72443

Letting, Investment and Property Management for

S Somerset & W Dorset 01935 420555

[email protected] www.martincoyeovil.co.uk

Merriott Service Station and

Premier Shop

Bakery, groceries, stationery, BBQ products and fuels

Post Office services Shop and PO 01460 78716

IAN CROSSLAND PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

Tel: 01935 411813 Mob: 07811 070 498 Interior and exterior

decorating, Household carpentry, External lime

mortaring, Restoration work

Sally-Marie Shearing Beauty Therapy

Relaxing, Revitalising,

Beauty Treatments

Tel 01460 73957 Gift Vouchers available

Unisex hairdressing, eyebrow tinting, waxing & threading.

HD Brows Lower Street, Merriott.

01460 74811/07803 572642

Merriott Village Hall Parties, weddings, community groups

welcome 01460 72508

merriottvillagehall @gmail.com


http://www.beehiveselfstorage.co.uk/





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