Freddie in Sochi update

Quite an exciting start to the day watching Jenny Jones win Bronze medal in the snowboarding event! So very exciting and fantastic to watch! I have to inform any blog readers that my post yesterday was incorrect information. Brewery Square have no involvement with any sponsorship of any Olympic competitors, despite what they claim on their Facebook page.  It seems it was a joke! So I am not going to believe anything I read on there again! 

I have fully supported Brewery Square events since they opened, and have encouraged other people to do the same. I am extremely upset tonight by their rude belittling comment tonight, that implied that I should have realized 'Freddie' was not real. Obviously I thought that the information posted on their social media sites was factual. It appears that is not the case.

We had a lovely lunch in Zizzi on Saturday and purchased a very smart pair of Converse boots in Jones the Bootmakers for my daughter. One of our cats has been sleeping in the shoe box ever since! 

Freddie in Sochi

Took a walk down to the Square this evening to have a look at the big screen. Brewery Square have sponsored Eddie the Eagle's son Freddie in the Olympics! Well I felt as though I had walked via Sochi this evening, it's so cold in the wind. It looks as though the S&T has blown away in the wind tonight! Let's hope Freddie does well! 

A walk in the rain

Took a walk in the rain tonight to have a look at the Streetart under Dorchester West railway station! I think the jet wash ones are pretty impressive! 

PC in the Library

Thought I would pop in and have a chat with Dorchester Police this morning in the towns lovely new Library. The Safer Neighbourhood team are regularly accesible for the public to talk to there, and have a Twitter feed which tells you when they will be there. I talked about my concerns regarding the Market car park, and it appears that it is now locked during the night. The prices in the car parks are due to be increased. The Town Council obviously think that it  may be detrimental to the Brewery Square restaurants to lock the near covered car park space at night so are deciding to leave it unlocked. My concern is that the car club that I previously wrote about in my earlier post may become more of a nuisance to residents during the night.  The people who are meeting here are not all local, and advertise their meeting via social media. They have the opportunity to meet in a covered lit facility, yet do not contribute to any local council taxes. I have written today to the Town Council.
The Library is a great new facility for our town, and it was good to see it busy this morning! It's a very good to place to visit on a rainy day in February!

Dorchester Police Safer Neighbourhood twitter

Link to Dorsetforyou Library page

New car park charges, report from Dorset Echo

Maumbury Rings

With the high winds causing havoc today I have been watching the big trees in Maumbury Rings swaying in the wind. Last year one had to be felled when a large branch was brought down in a gale. The picture above was taken last summer at event being held in the Rings.
Maumbury Rings is free to visit and is a very historical site. Originally it dates back to the the late Neolithic era, a henge with excavations and human remains dating it back to 2,500 BC.
The Romans used it as an amphitheatre and during the English Civil War it was used as an artillery fort to protect the town.
During the summer I attended a concert, which was free for the residents of Dorchester to enjoy and I have to say that the Romans probably had the best idea as it is a perfect open air theatre venue.It certainly provided clever acoustics and is a natural encompassing location.  I have also attended an open air theatre event organised by Dorchester Arts.
When it snowed last year I think nearly every child in Dorchester headed to the Rings with a plastic sledge, coffee tray or plastic sheet to enable them to slide down the perfectly sloped banks! The 'whoops' and 'whees' you could hear were quite delightful!

Link to Dorchester Arts

New earrings

There are lots of great independant businesses in Dorchester, many of which are thriving. Some of these are well established, but there are many new ones which is good to see.
Many shops and businesses offer loyalty points, and a fine example of customer loyalty benefits is offered by The Fridge delicatessen in the Tudor arcade. This tiny little shop is always well staffed, busy and fully stocked with some delightful products. Cheese is abundant,  and can be sampled before purchasing giving you a moment to decide what else to buy! Something on the full shelves will probably catch your eye! A loyalty card can be purchased to give you an annual discount on all that you buy!
Another shop that has started up a loyalty scheme is tucked away in behind the Nappers Mite cafe.
Every Cloud sells products made by local artists and designers. If you are looking for a present for someone you will nearly always find one in here. The shop has built up a range of unusual jewellery, glassware, and crafted items that the owner cleverly chooses to sell.
I was lucky to be given the earrings  pictured above, which are made of a very light 'biscuit tin' so are completely weightless when worn. These are from the range that are included in this months discounted offer for regular subscribing customers! What a treat!

Link to The Fridge Facebook page

Link to Nappers Mite cafe

Link to Every Cloud

A sleepless night

Opposite Brewery Square in Dorchester is the market car park, and on a Wednesday the very popular market is held there.  On a Sunday morning there is a regular car boot sale which is also extremely popular. There is a covered area which I remember when I worked in the town in my twenties was a busy livestock market. There is also Dukes Fine Arts auctioneers, they are going to be moving into the former Pullman court in the road opposite the Station pub, see the link below.
Recently a group of car enthusiasts have been meeting in this covered market area, on a Friday or Saturday evening! When I say 'enthusiast' this particular group seem keen on cars with very large exhaust pipes, blacked out windows and have a particularly sinister look about them.
The photo above was taken one Saturday evening when I was returning home after supper out. The drivers mostly were young men and all seemed to have a female passenger. The drivers all parked, some got out and some just 'revved' their engines. On this occasion there was a police man talking to one of the drivers and I imagined he was asking them to move on. I did feel the situation was quite intimidating for the single police car.
Last night at about 2.30am I was woken by the sound of loud car noises nearby, as I often am at the weekends. It seems the car club often congregate in this car park and then take pleasure in using the quiet Dorchester roads to drive their noisy cars around at speed. The outside car park whilst very busy during the day is often empty at this time and provides a playground for them.
As the police station is opposite this car park, this always surprises me as, but I think their antagonistic, antisocial behaviour is all part of the the clubs rituals!
I do hope that the police are able to keep this sort of thing from escalating as apart from waking me up, I have learnt this morning there was a lot of vandalism in the town last night. These incidents may be completely unrelated but a call for more CCTV coverage in the town on Twitter this morning I fully support, and cuts to policing in the town is of some concern.

Link to Echo report about Dukes relocation