HAVING moved to the area for work, solicitor Elizabeth West now calls Beaminster home after living and exploring the area, whether on foot or by horse, for the last 15 years.
Having “stumbled” across law, she now works as a partner at High Street lawyers Austen Whetham and Guest, which was established in Bridport in 1895.
Originally from East Sussex, here the active wife and mother of two boys tells us why she loves exploring, why Napoleon and Picasso might not be the ideal companions at a dinner party and why chickens are ruining her best gardening efforts.
WHY did you move to Beaminster?
Work really. I had children and then was offered a job in Dorset so we moved here. I was actually working for one of our rivals there so was working in Beaminster to begin with.
WHAT do you enjoy about living in the town?
The architecture is brilliant and also everything you need is here: lovely shops for gifts and clothes, places to eat and it is quite a thriving community I think. There’s lots going on if you want to get involved.
WHY did you become a lawyer?
I became a lawyer around 30-years-ago in 1981. I just found it an interesting subject which enabled me to help people and earn a living. I stumbled on it really. I came to law the long way really.
WHAT do you enjoy about you job?
It’s always interesting. I still think I manage to help people and earn a living and it’s nice not doing the same thing every day. There are parameters but there’s always something different to focus on.
WHAT have been the stand out parts of being a lawyer in your career?
I have acted for a few pop stars and actors in my time but nothing really interesting. When I was newly qualified I was acting for a teacher who was facing unfair dismissal and I got on with him so well in that case I was asked by the union to take on other cases they had.
WHAT hobbies do you have outside the law firm?
At the moment I’ve a really bad back but I have horses and like to walk, swim, play tennis, ski in the winter and walk in the alps during the summer. I really like exploring the Dorset countryside. I love places like Golden Cap and St Gabriel, which are my favourites in winter and summer. I always take visitors to Abbotsbury and around St Catherine’s Church on the hill. Inland, I really like the down land like Sydling St Nicolas. It’s just open country; I take the horse out there for hours exploring the highways and byways of Dorset.
WHICH three people from throughout history would you invite for dinner?
First off, Napoleon, because I always thought he would be an interesting person to discuss politics with. The next would be Caravaggio because I think his paintings are absolutely fantastic, and he might provide a picture for me if he didn’t murder someone at the same time. And Picasso because, again, it’s completely different art but having read books I think he was a towering intellect and was able to put it down in picture form. Although I think Picasso and Napoleon might fight like cat and dog if they were together.
HAVE you a favourite painting?
It would possibly be Van Gogh’s Olive Grove because I’ve had an Athena reproduction of that on the kitchen wall for a long time and I really like the original.
WHAT you a favourite place in the world?
I like going to France. I can speak French, which always helps, and I suppose I like the French lifestyle, but not in Paris. I’d also like to go the Galapagos Islands. I don’t have any strong desire to go anywhere else. I’m very passionate about conservation and am the chair of Kingcombe Trust.
BEING fairly green fingered, how would you rate your gardening skills?
I’m keen but nothing grows. We’ve a vegetable patch but it doesn’t do so well, probably because the chickens eat the vegetables before they come up. We’ve also planted a about 10 trees, we’ve got apple and memorial trees for various people we know and animals we’ve had and I think it’s a nice idea because they are all native to this country.
WHICH three things would you take on to a desert island?
I’d probably take a fishing line because I’d have to eat. Also matches and knife. I’m quite practical and I think you’d probably want to eat and need a knife you’d be able to cut things and provide shelter and kill food or whatever you wanted and also be able to make other tools.
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