Tinderbox Premiere

Well I was there, were you? The Corn Exchange Dorchester, is no longer used for exchange of corn seed, as it was originally built for, but is now a central part of Dorchester's active theatre and music culture.

Thomas Hardy refers to the Corn Exchange in his novel 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'  explaining the purpose it was originally built for, but to see it used as it was last night, for contemporary, creative, live theatre, was a reminder of how historic venues such as these, are as much an important a part of society as they ever were, for bringing communities together. 

"I won't be a slave to the past. I'll love where I choose." 

— Thomas Hardy (The Mayor of Casterbridge)

The premiere of As-One theatre's Tinderbox was attended by Dorchester Town's Mayor and Mayoress, and by many other local residents and families. I was excited to see a large number of teenagers in the audience, as many theatre events I have attended recently have been largely attended by only the more senior members of the community. 

Involved in the opening of the show were members of Stagecoach Dorchester and Dorset Youth Theatre, who then were able to watch the show from specially reserved seats at the front. I could see their faces whilst watching, and that for me was quite special. They were captivated and obviously truly inspired and entertained. 

Using carefully planned props, the cast were able to create a visual spectacle, that carried the audience through a contemporary version of the original Hans Christian Anderson tale. 

The use of clever puppetry, masks and inventive shadow theatre,  the talented performers under the guidance of the show's writer and director,  were able to create illusions that enabled the audience to be transported through the lifetime of the Tinderbox Princess, who was initially represented by a beautiful puppet, evolving into a living character.

Original music was written for the for the play, and was gently introduced as a re-occuring memorable theme through the production. Harmonised voice  in the main, with the accompaniment of two guitars and some cleverly timed rhythmic drumming. 

The show will now be on tour, the venues and dates that you can see a performance are listed on the As-One Theatre website. 

Did you see the show last night? What did you enjoy most? 

Blogging Masterclass Max Gate

A perfect location to be learning about blogging was sat at a table in the dining room at Max Gate in Dorchester.

Today I took part in an event organised by Literatureworks and The National Trust to encourage more people to become involved in literature in the South West of England. 

I previously have attended a very enjoyable talk at Dorchester Museum given by Author Helen Dunmore entitled 'Visiting Hardy' which was also part of their events programme.

My afternoon at Max Gate, former home of Thomas Hardy, was spent with a mix of newbie bloggers, experienced and successful ones, and a few verging on the brink of starting one!

Our masterclass leader has been blogging for 10 years, and was able to share her knowledge of how to create and sustain a following of regular readers. We learned some of the secrets of the publishing world and learned from each other how to advertise our blogs. 

Thomas Hardy first published some of his work in a magazine in monthly instalments, reaching an audience very much like a blog does now.

I was interested to learn that Lynne who writes Dovegreyreader scribbles blog, uses a paper notebook and pen to record her notes as she is reading a book. This is a tip that has helped me recently, when embarking on reading some of Hardy's novels. 

I have two aids now that help me with my reading, adding audio narration to a Kindle download, adds to my enjoyment, and keeping a notes of characters as they are emerge in the story helps me to follow the plot.
I am sure Thomas would have loved blogging!

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'