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! 

Dorchester Library

Dorchester's library is an excellent community resource, not just for reading but for accessing many different forms of information, education, and leisure activities. My daughter has been volunteering as a helper for the summer reading challenge. Children aged 12 and under are invited to take part, and are offered stickers and medals as incentives. I visited the library myself this morning and saw many enthusiastic young readers heading towards the very well stocked children's section.

I had a reserved item to collect. Recently I have taken advantage of the digital audio book loan, using the Overdrive app on my i-phone. The service has improved since I first started using it some years ago, and now offers a far better selection of titles. I was able to download several audio books to take away with me whilst travelling.

I was extremely surprised however to learn that the free dance class offered to children age 7-12 was not well attended this morning. I was always very glad of any quality supervised activity for my children when they were younger, and often paid for them to attend classes through the summer holidays.

Dorchester Police also have a contact point at the library on Mondays and Thursdays from 10am until 2pm, and offer services such as free bike marking events.

I shall be supporting the Dorchester BID by doing a few ambassador shifts throughout August, it is good to hear from visitors how welcome they feel when visiting the town. There is another free activity organised for young people this summer. The Super Sleuth quiz is good fun for the family. An entry form can be collected from the Tourist Information Centre in Trinity Street, the quiz involves photo clues around the streets of Dorchester.

Blondes have more fun

I will be 50 years old in August. My birthday as a child always fell in the middle of the school holidays and my parents hobby, sailing usually meant I spent my birthday in a pair of damp jeans, with only my sister and them for company.
My husband has arranged a special treat for my birthday this year which also involves a boat, but it will not be on the sea, and hopefully I will not be wearing wet trousers, although I do remember several very wet birthdays.
My 40th for example, when I arranged for friends and family members to celebrate with a picnic on Brownsea Island. Everyone who came will remember it clearly, as it rained continually all day, and was cold dull and very very wet!
In preparation for the big 50, I decided about a month ago that I wanted to have blonde hair instead of the red that it has been for quite some years!

My decision was encouraged by my Dorchester hairdresser James from Thomas J William, who are now based in Brewery Square. Such a radical change involved many chemical processes, which took quite some hours. I was treated to refreshments and the attention of many of the staff, who are always cheerful, conscientious and extremely skilled in their profession.

It has been about 1 month now since I changed my hair colour, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience! I still have not got around to changing all of my profile pictures on my digital accounts.

I wonder what colour my hair will be next year? I haven't tried purple yet!

Link to Thomas J William Facebook page

Vacant Vicar

Both my husband and my daughter sing in the choir at St Peter's Church in Dorchester. My daughter recently enjoyed singing with the other choir members at the top of the tower at 7a.m on Ascension Day. My husband had work as excuse, he would of enjoyed being accompanied by 3 trombones at a great height I am sure!
My daughter said it was higher than she expected, and would have liked it to have been a bit warmer, but still enjoyed the enthusiasm of the choir.
The Vicar of St Peter's has now left Dorchester, to take up her new role at Exeter Cathedral. I attended her installation service. I am not sure what they do there to celebrate Ascension Day, I will have to ask her, when I next visit.

Visitors attending the service were permitted to sit within the quire area. It was good to see that so many visitors from Dorchester had travelled to support Vicky in her new surroundings. There were so many visitors that the Cathedral wardens had to put out extra chairs!

I enjoyed visiting Exeter, and due to the timing of the service it gave me an opportunity to indulge in a bit of shopping.
I was tempted by the new Apple i-watch, but decided perhaps I would struggle with reading the very small font!

I enjoy new technology, and today I have been using a new app' on my i-phone. I installed Periscope a few weeks ago. Periscope offers the opportunity to stream live video to a list of followers. The audience can then interact with the film by adding comments. I discovered that Exeter Cathedral were using it, so I followed them.

Today I had a notification flash up on my screen to say that Exeter Cathedral were streaming live. I was then able to watch a short film about 'The Exeter Book' also known as Codex Exoniensis which is an anthology of anglo saxon poetry. I am finding there is no limit to the endless potential of new technology! I am an addict!
I was also able to listen to Vicky's first sermon from the Cathedral as they are recorded.

So perhaps the new Vicar of St Peters may be using an i-watch to time the sermons! The job is now advertised in the Church Times, here is the link:- Team Vicar vacancy in Dorchester.

Link to St Peter's Facebook Page where you can see the photo's from Ascension Day and listen to Vicky's Sermon.

Lonely Bouquet in Dorchester

I am keen to see the film 'Far From The Madding Crowd' which is released in the cinema this weekend, so I walked past the Odeon cinema this morning to check out the show times. I am sure that the film based on the Thomas Hardy book will be very popular, and I was pleased to see that there are lots of showtimes over this weekend. Whilst walking away from Brewery Square I noticed a small bouquet of flowers laying on the bench outside Pizza Express.

I thought perhaps that someone had had an accident there last night or that perhaps someone had not turned up for a date and the flowers had been left undelivered. I am naturally an inquisitive person and on closer inspection I noticed two small cards tucked in with the flowers.

How wonderful for me to find The Lonely Bouquet left on the bench by Peter Hart Bespoke Floral Design of Dorchester.
As I knew that a member of Carluccios staff was leaving today to take up her new role in  the new Cheltenham branch, I decided that I should give her the flowers.

What a lovely reminder for her of her last day in Dorchester!

So as instructed on the card I am sharing this blog to the Peter Hart Facebook page to show how the lonely bouquet was adopted.



Link to the Telegraph review of the film 'Far from the madding crowd'

It's wedding time in Dorchester

I love Saturdays in Dorchester. They are often busy and bustling, but always cheeful and upbeat. Today the Corn Exchange was the venue for a wedding fair. Small businesses collaborated to provide an excellent variety of services, that all contribute to making a wedding day run smoothly.

I kind of wished I was getting married again, but don't let my husband know! 

My visit to the Corn Exchange was purely out of curiosity, but I was made to feel extremely welcome by Kate and Kirsten at the door. Kate runs Bridal Reloved a dress shop in Poundbury, and Kirsten is a talented make-up artist. Inside I chatted with Cara from Stripey Finds who's products would bring a bit of fun to any celebratory event! 

Taste Brassierie re-opened today with a fresh new look, I did not have time to stop there today, but I will look forward to eating there soon.
I did treat myself to a lovely new pair of earrings today, from the lovely jewellery shop in Princes Street called Jordan's Jewellers. 

They were not like the ones I wore on my wedding day!

I wonder what happened to those?

Spring clean in Dorchester

Dorchester is enjoying glorious sunshine this week, and some of its well established businesses have moved locations.

Stems Florist and Gifts formerly in Antelope walk is looking very attractive next to Simon's Delicatessen in Weymouth Avenue. 

Duke's Auctioneers have opened their fine new premises next to Brewery Square. The new art auction complex, offers visitors an elegant and fashionable facility, displaying antique items in a modern and refreshing style.

Visitors to the Auction House will be able to enjoy eating at one of the many lively restaurants in Brewery Square. The aromas from the micro brewery at Brewhouse and kitchen will be nostalgic for some of the more senior visitors, who will remember the original smell of hops from the original Eldridge Pope Brewery. Simon's Delicatessen in Weymouth Avenue has a new look and offers more seating for enjoying local Dorset food.

There are may other good places to eat in Dorchester. Taste Cafe and Bistro were the overall winners of the 2015 independent Dorchester Retail Awards, are refitting their premises, and we have Sushi + More!