August in Dorchester

What can you do in Dorchester when it rains? It depends on your age and interests, but there is lots to do and see. This months blog post will help to give some ideas that perhaps you may not have considered.

Have you been to all of our museums? Purchase a Gold Saver Pass and you can visit five for the price of two. There is a wide variety of interests here. If these do not appeal to you then perhaps The Keep Military Museum , Dorset County Museum or the Shire Hall courtroom and cells might be more to your taste. 

If it is not raining and is just dull, like it has been for the past few days then why not have a go at either the Dorchester Supersleuth competition or try out one or more of the Dorset Dialect Trails.

The Supersleuth photo competition has two age groups, 10 and under, and 11 - 16 years. You will need to collect a sticker album from the Tourist Information Centre in Trinity Street, then your mission is to search the town for photo clues. When you find them you will be given a sticker to put on your album. There are prizes for this competition and it runs until the 14th September 2015. 

The Dorset Dialect Trails help you to immerse yourself in some of our local history. There are six trails which have different themes. Placed around Dorchester are ceramic clocks, your mission is to locate the clocks and to record the word that is written in the clock. The word may not make sense to you, as it is a word that has been taken from a 'Glossary of the Dorset Dialect' that was used by the local poet William Barnes. 

Translating the words is fun as some of them are rather amusing. If you are a smartphone user and download the Aestheticode App, you can use it to scan the clocks, as each one has an embedded code in the face, which enables you to link directly to the glossary. I have tried this and it does work through glass, so you don't necessarily have to go inside for it to work. 

A set of playing cards with all of the words on are available from the Tourist Information Centre for £7.99, but if you do all of the trails first then they are available for a reduced price of £4.99.

So in the words of William Barnes if you have any 'Sluggards' in your family then perhaps these activities may get them inspired! 

Sluggard definition - A Sluggard's manner, idle in nature. "Lwoth to goo to bed, an 'lwoth to rise"

(There is your first clue to get you started) 

Have fun! 

The Shepherd o' the farm

 

I was stood looking at this plaque today in Durngate Street in Dorchester. I was thinking about the line 'An' when the evenen sheades be long'

 Changing the clocks last weekend into British Summer time indicates we are heading towards the season that William Barnes was referring to.

There are no warm evenings to enjoy yet though, the strong winds that we have been having over the past 48 hours have at least arrived before the blossom has come out on the trees. The fountains in Brewery Square are dancing in the wind!

The high winds must be challenging for those working on the tall buildings and cranes!

Some of the structures are changing the skyline of the town considerably.

There is lots of activity and refurbishment happening in Dorchester. The Junction Hotel has just had a makeover and looks very inviting! 

As always there is plenty of colour to be found in the town at Easter time. Look at all these wonderful goodies on display in Carluccios.

I like the look of this one!

Or these perhaps? 

As always there is often a talented musician or two to be found busking in the town!

Whatever your plans are for the Easter break, I wish you a happy one. I feel lucky to live in such a vibrant town that is constantly evolving! I am looking forward to those summer evenings that our local poet wrote about in 'The Shepherd o'the farm'.

Spending time in Dorchester looking for clocks!

I have been looking for clocks today in Dorchester with my eldest daughter. Visitors will see these beautiful clocks in locations around the town. We picked up a leaflet from the Tourist Information Centre in Trinity Street.

The new Dorchester BID project is called 'Hidden Language, Hidden Trails' and 2 of the 6 trails are currently in place.

We started with the 'Food & Drink Trail' and a map on our leaflet showed us where to find the first clock.

The clocks all show a word that written in the Dorset Dialect, taken from the words written by William Barnes. These words can be translated by looking on the Dorchester BID web site, where there is a glossary.

We also investigated the digital 'app' that has been created for use on a smartphone. This worked well and we were able to scan the clocks and were linked directly to the glossary!

So my daughter and I are now learning another language! 

Link to Echo article about the trails