60 SECOND INTERVIEW: Alan Escott

ALAN Escott has been general manager at Dorchester’s Odeon cinema since October 2012. The Brewery Square cinema is one of the chain’s smallest and has had to overcome a long-standing loyalty to the Plaza to win an audience. But after a slow start numbers are rising and many now see a trip to the Odeon as part of an evening out at Brewery Square.

HOW did you get to take up the position at Dorchester? 

I’d been working in a cinema in Andover, having started work in security in Bristol and prior to that being brought up in Weston-Super-Mare. I trained as an electrician when I left school and had also worked as a fitter.

 

SO what drew you to work in cinema?

I have always had a passion for films and used to go to the pictures a lot when I was a kid. My grandfather worked in a cinema in St George, Bristol – although the building is now a pub. It was very old school, carrying reels up and down the stairs, but of course it’s all digital now… the projectors are more like a computer with a complex control system which stops anyone showing films before they are allowed to. The films come in on a type of hard disc and we have to have the correct ‘electronic key’ to even get them to work. My grandfather wouldn’t have recognised them.

SO how did you get this job?

It was an internal application. I had been working in Andover, commuting from Bristol and we were looking for somewhere to settle down. Dorchester seemed ideal.

IN terms of other Odeon cinemas this one’s quite small, isn’t it?

Yes – we’ve got three screens. The largest can seat 173, the second screen 153 and the third screen 98. It is one of Odeon’s smallest. The one in Bristol has one screen with 400 seats and a couple of around 200.

AND how have you found Dorchester since moving here?

We love it. We have a young family and wanted to settle down. It’s a lovely place and the people are friendly. I think it’s fair to say it matched up to our expectations. Before I came I knew it was the county town and people had told me it was a bit like Bath – which turned out to be a bit misleading.

I HEAR you’ve been doing up your house?

It’s been quite slow at time but I’m quite practical and have managed to do a lot of it myself. To date the only professional help I have had to pay for is a plasterer.

HOW important is it to choose the right staff?

Very. I was offered the job in June which gave me four months to oversee the final stages of the building work and to get involved in recruiting. We tend to have a young staff profile, a total of 15 full and part time and we are very keen on apprenticeships and training them up to NVQ Level 3 which many have achieved. It’s great to be involved in bringing people on in their careers and to look back at the progression they have made.

WHAT are your early memories of cinema?

Seeing The Jewel of the Nile in the ABC at Bath was one of my early memories. It was such a treat to see a film on a big screen and I seem to remember it was a very long and narrow theatre.

DO think the cinema and the Brewery Square development has made a difference to Dorchester?

Without any doubt. People tell me there wasn’t much happening in Dorchester in the evenings before but Brewery Square is now busy every night, not just at weekends.

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The best performance of the Winter Olympics by far

I HAD to share this gem with you involving that shy, retiring and modest person Kim Jong-un, the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

We’ve all watched hours of Winter Olympics coverage but, according to North Korea’s Ministry of Information, we’ve all missed the single most outstanding performance in the history of this illustrious competition.

They went on to announce that their president, “despite never having trained”, claimed gold in every event he entered including single handedly winning the pairs figure skating competition as well as the two man bob sled, setting world records “never to be broken”, in both events.

The Information Service added that their “glorious and exalted” leader, Kim Jong-un, had also taken gold in ski jumping, “flying higher and farther than scientists had previously believed humanly possible”, gold in the giant downhill slalom beating athletes from every other country including the United States and Japan, as well as capping off his visit by shutting out the entire Soviet national hockey team in a game yet to be played!

In case we were still in some doubt as to his God-like status, the Information Service concluded by saying that all victories were accomplished with “record scores and times” never to be broken in the history of mankind.

But it was also reported that the glorious leader’s modesty meant he will refuse medals, honours and all decadent Western-style celebration in favour of returning immediately to North Korea to share that glory with his people “while allowing the sun to rise and set in his honor”.

All this rhetoric may impress down-trodden North Korean residents but it didn’t cut much ice with Russia which coldly denied that Kim Jong-un was even at the games much less a participant, adding that “he would have had to qualify just as all athletes are required to do and we have no one by that name registered as a participant”.

Incensed, the leader’s spokesman angrily denied this and said it was all propaganda and the product of international jealousy over the prowess and supremacy of The Great Leader over “mortals”.

Back in the real world, I have just covered a Weymouth and Portland council meeting and the difference between elected member and Kim Jong-un was clear for all to see.

Kim Jong-un believes he might be a God whereas all the councillors at the meeting knew they were Gods… at least until the elections in May!

Time to pitch in and help with the clear up

THERE has been so much rubbish washed up on Chesil Beach after the recent storms that it almost formed its own structure on the pebbles.

Smashed up timber, dead sea birds and mountains of plastic lay like some multi-coloured beached sea monster for all to see… and it has been provoking arguments.

The debating ring includes those encouraging volunteers to come along and help clear the beach by collecting all this rubbish up and those annoyed that volunteers should be expected to pitch in when the council and other groups are said to be responsible for clearance.

Now that the jet stream has seen fit to allow us a bit of a break from a conveyor belt of vicious storms it has created time to consider the situation.

Both sides have a point and, if people want to volunteer for a clearance task like this, the council is unlikely to turn down a bit of help.

Equally, these are special circumstances, so can the authorities really be expected to shoulder all responsibility for what is washing up when community spirit means that people genuinely do want to help.

I think the answer has to be that everyone helps together and each does what they can…until it is time to take cover again from the next 90mph blast.

Reward for turning 80

A FORMER Mayor of Weymouth has contacted me to share his utter joy at turning 80.

Now anyone is entitled to jump for joy to celebrate their birthday, but the gentleman in question had a slightly more humorous reason for his celebration.

Apparently those nice people in Government always like to wish a pensioner turning 80 well and to give them a heartfelt financial reward reflecting the esteem they hold such people in.

Mike Jewkes isn’t sure yet what he is going to do with the extra 25 pence on his pension, but he could use it to buy a pack of doggie snacks, about one fifth of a litre of petrol or half a cream egg.

I’d go for the petrol Mike. The other two play hell with dentures!

The garden is my gym  

GOING out and seeing people pounding the pavements to keep fit is nothing new, but there must have been some drug in the breakfast cereal recently which powered ordinary people out in torrential rain.

I saw one woman, hair plastered down her face, slogging up a hill with a cloudburst slashing down so hard she deserved to lose a few pounds for sheer dogged persistence.

Her effort and those of a number of others I saw really show true devotion to a keep fit regime matched only by my own mantra.

This gruelling focus avoids all contact with gyms and jogging and instead pursues walking and gardening as a more enjoyable approach to weight control and fitness. The results aren’t always what I’d like but I’m rarely as miserable as those joggers.

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All in it together? Yes, we are!

“They should …” Remarks starting like this, usually aimed at some public authority, are tempting when times are tough or things go wrong. But there’s a mirror image: “we could …” or, more directly, “we can …” and “we will …”.

Town clerk John Wright remarked, soon after arriving, on the amount of volunteering in Lyme and how it keeps the place buzzing. Peter Jeffs, coming similarly fresh to LymeNet, noted that in many ways the town “punches above its weight”.

Both men are from comparable towns nearby; by professional background they appreciate how communities tick. They noticed one reason why new residents in Lyme often comment along the lines of “there’s so much going on - I just can’t keep up.”

So I’ve decided to explore our communal “can do” attitude, and how volunteering drives it. From B Sharp to beach cleaners, Fossil Festival to football club, majorettes to millers; what goes on, who does it, why do people volunteer, what issues does it raise? A single monthly piece won’t do so, editorial patience allowing, I’ll develop the topic periodically. But where to begin?

It’s easy to think “volunteering”, then list the festivals, visitor attractions and leisure providers with which we’re familiar. I’ll get round to them, too. But they are, perhaps, icing on the community cake; other important voluntary work goes, quietly, into essentials: shelter and food.

Affordable housing for local young people is critical. For years, a small band comprising Keith Shaw, Wendy Davies, Nigel Marsh and Stan Williams has toiled as a research and pressure group under the LymeForward umbrella. They’ve sought and mapped possible sites, talking to owners, they’re regularly in touch with housing associations to encourage action, they keep pressure on the district council to give priority to Lyme people when allocating housing. 

They identified the possibility of housing association homes at Woodmead Halls, now being pursued by the town council and Raglan Housing. They also developed with Raglan a possible scheme near the medical centre, now under negotiation with the district council.

Emerging from the same LymeForward initiative, a Community Land Trust (CLT) has been established with Denis Yell as chairman, and Keith Jenkin, Rob McLaughlin and Brian Rattenbury as the other interim directors. A registered company accountable to the Lyme community, the trust has the power to seek sites within and outside the development boundary, and to negotiate with housing associations able to access funds for land purchase and construction. By retaining the freehold while not seeking profit, the CLT has greater influence than is the case with housing association homes built as part of a commercial development, such as that coming to Woodberry Down.

There’s no quick win with either of these efforts; land shortage, legal and bureaucratic obstacles, and commercial pressures combine to make progress extremely difficult. It’s vital work, for patient and determined volunteers who beaver away in the background.

While the housing challenge is of long-standing, the food bank responds to a more recent need. Our mayor’s charity, an initiative of LymeForward under the umbrella of Lyme Regis Development Trust, and administered from St Michael's Business Centre, the food bank exists “to help people unable, for a variety of reasons, to get good food for a short period”, says Audrey Vivian, who chairs the group.

Audrey has around her some 30 volunteers offering varied skills for different tasks, including collecting and storing food donations, packing and delivering boxes specific to each recipient, preparing publicity and information, handling phone calls and administration, fundraisingm even - a special feature being developed - offering cooking lessons. Everything’s done within the overriding rule of confidentiality.

Local churches and some businesses act as food donation points. The food bank uses a strict system of referral from approved organisations such as medical centres, churches, housing associations, schools and the Citizens Advice Bureau. Referrers liaise with the relevant services and monitor progress. The part played by all those is itself voluntary - beyond their normal business. For the food bank team, it’s another aspect that demands good communicating and coordinating.

The non-profit Community Lunches in the Baptist Church Hall also find people volunteering on top of their own businesses. Andy Crockett of Penny Black Café, assisted by “celebrity” sous-chef Councillor Terry O’Grady, prepares affordable hearty and healthy, freshly-cooked two-course meals, primarily for the more elderly and those who may not often get out of the house. 

Other volunteers serve and wash-up as well as providing transport where necessary. Andy also handles bookings and payments. Each month, 30 to 40 happy eaters enjoy a good British meal and the sociability that goes with it.

Now into their third year, Community Lunches were initiated by Ellen Austin and the LymeForward team. A hard-working, productive source of many of the town’s relatively unsung voluntary services, they anticipated the reality that communities must increasingly look after their own rather than rely on publicly-funded authorities. 

Examples like these show that home-grown voluntary effort can be precisely tailored to local circumstances, and outstanding in quality. To sustain it, even in such a good-hearted town, will require ever more shoulders to the wheel. That’s a challenge for each one of us. Many organisations are looking for more help - can you be one of those able to respond? 

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60 SECOND INTERVIEW: Dee Lanning

Dee Lanning, 30, moved to Bridport in 2012 with her husband Jake and 18-month-old son Joshua. Dee is a trained dance teacher and taught dance lessons for eight years, but she is now a full-time mother and puts much of her free time into her role as Bridport’s Branch Co-ordinator for the National Childbirth Trust. The trust, which is the UK’s largest charity for parents, works to support new parents through the initial period of having children, from pregnancy and birth and on into the child’s early years.

WHAT do you like about living in Bridport? 
I love how welcoming and friendly people are. There is real sense of community. I come from a town in Northern Ireland that is also by the sea, it has lots of similarities to Bridport which makes me feel very much at home here.

What sort of work does the Bridport and Lyme Regis branch do on a local level? 
It is a small, informal branch and we aim to offer support to families in the area through our many groups and gatherings. All of our mums are friendly and helpful and are only too happy to offer support and advice to other mums. Our Nearly New’ sales offer a chance for parents to purchase good quality second hand clothes and baby equipment.  We also run British Red Cross Baby First Aid courses, for a small charge, which lots of local families have already attended and found invaluable.

WHAT is your role in the organisation and how long have you been involved? 
Around nine months ago I made enquiries about getting involved with the branch - there was a need for a social media and web site manager so I took on the role. In August our Branch Co-ordinator stepped down from role, leaving us with a vacancy that urgently needed filling and there were no volunteers forthcoming. I sat down with the ‘Small Talk’ Newsletter Editor, Alex O'Dwyer, and we decided between the two of us that we could take on the role in the interim so I am now, with no previous experience, one of two Branch Co-ordinators and I think we are doing an OK job.

WHAT was your inspiration to become involved with NCT?  
Before I moved to Bridport I had a handful of friends and I made a few more when we moved, but being at home all day with a baby is quite lonely and I craved adult conversation. I found the NCT Bumps, Babies and Beyond group one of the friendliest that I had attended and started to make friends. The group also offered a support and advice network for my baby and me. When this looked like it was about to disappear I knew I had to help keep it going, even if that did mean taking the reigns for a while.

ARE you looking for more volunteers to get involved with NCT?  
Yes! Our branch is solely run by volunteers so the more volunteers we have the more we can do for local families. We are actively seeking a Branch Treasurer - the commitment to this role would be around four to six hours a month, plus one evening every two months to attend branch meetings. We are also looking for a Fundraising Co-ordinator as well as Bumps, Babies and Beyond and Just Bumps hosts and Walking Group leaders. I think our Nearly New Sale team could do with a bit of help also. If you are interested in volunteering please contact nctblrchair@gmail.com

ARE there any upcoming events you would like to tell us about? 
We have our next Nearly New Sale on Saturday, March 8th at Colfox School between 2pm and 4pm, and we currently have seven places left on our NCT British Red Cross Baby First Aid Course, taking place on Tuesday, June 10th at Bridport Children’s Centre. We also run lots of events on a regular basis including Bumps, Babies and Beyond weekly coffee drop in, Just Bumps monthly pregnancy social evening, Open House, Walking Groups and Mums nights in and out. All of our event are on the nct.org.uk website, you can 'like' us on facebook or even follow us on twitter

ASIDE from NCT, what else do you do in your free time? 
Free time? What is that? Between my toddler and my responsibilities as Branch Co-ordinator I do not get a lot of free time. However, when I find the time I hand-make jewellery, attend a Zumba class in Loders and the NCT Mums Nights Out are always great fun!

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A night for past glories

WHEN old footballers get together, you can be assured of a night full of tales of great goals scored and cup final celebrations.

Such was the case when 30 former players of Lyme Regis Football Club from five generations gathered at the Davey Fort clubhouse on Friday evening.

It was the third event organised by the recently formed Seasiders’ Ex-Players Association which has been set up to enable former members to keep in touch and to encourage more of them to support the current set-up at the Davey Fort.

When players finally hang up their boots there’s a tendancy for them to drift away from the club as they take up more genteel sporting pursuits - golf and bowls among them. The Seasiders' Association intends to slow down that migration.

Whilst fundraising is a secondary issue, we have already raised £1,000 for the club which is being ring fenced for a special project and, with two other events planned for this year, we should add significantly to that sum.

On Friday we enjoyed a hot pot supper, prepared by Mrs Evans, and were then treated to a brilliant football photo show by former club chairman and feared centre forward, photographer Richard Austin. 

When I moved to London to work at the end of the 1980s, I launched a sporting publishing company and, with Richard having just turned freelance, I engaged his services to do the photographic work for  a portfolio of professional football clubs which included some of the top Premier League teams. As a result, Richard travelled all over Europe covering the big games and has an unrivalled catalogue of football photos.

He presented them in his usual humorous fashion and afterwards we had plenty of time to recall past glories.

Having had a look around the refurbished clubhouse, including the very smart dressing rooms, we joked about the days we used to wash in a tin bath after games and how one player often tried to get himself sent off early so he got the clean water first.

Happy days.

Guildhall Gossip

BY-ELECTION: There will be an election in Lyme Regis to replace Daryl Turner - if more than one candidate puts themselves forward. I have it on good authority that 10 electors have called for an election which will be held on May 22nd. I am pretty confident that Cheryl Turner, Daryl’s sister, will be putting her name forward but local author David Ruffle, who stood at the last by-election when Stan Williams won back his seat, will probably wait until the next full election in May 2015. The by-election will be held on the same day as the European elections on May 22nd so we are likely to get a better turn out than the last by-election - a paltry 26 per cent.

BEACH CHALETS: Although a decision has yet to be confirmed by West Dorset District Council, the word on the street is that Lyme Regis Town Council’s application to move the chalets forward to the edge of Monmouth Beach will be rejected on the advice of their officers. Threatened by the continual movement of Ware Cliffs behind them, the council’s attempt to move the chalets nearer to the sea baffled many, especially in view of the damage caused to them in the recent storms.

COUNCIL QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “£750 is a drop in the ocean to this council” - Lucy Campbell speaking at last week’s Town Management Committee.

Another nostalgic treat for Ken’s fan club 

DOWN the years local history expert Ken Gollop and I have played a game - “spot the local” - at numerous community events. On most occasions he and I are often the only locally-born people present.

I’m not sure what conclusion we should draw from this. You can make up your own mind.

But one event when then locals turn out in droves is  Ken’s annual “Tales From Under Shady Tree”, named after a meeting place in Anning Road where youngsters gathered to chew the fat in the 1940s. 

These events have an almost cult following among both locals and incomers, who were well represented, and Sunday’s event at the Woodmead Halls was no exception. Ken, who has developed a real fan club over the years, chose Cobb Gate/Church Beach as his subject matter, an area he knows better than anyone as his family ran their fishing trips off the Cobb Gate jetty for 90 years.

He showed us dozens of views of that area of the town going back to the early 19th century but with many faces of young people still living, some of whom were in the hall.

He delivered a fascinating and informative two hours of pure nostalgia, peppered by his own personal reminiscences in his own inimitable style.

Loads stayed for a cup of tea after the event swapping tales of times past and catching up with familiar faces.

The afternoon made a tidy profit for Ken’s beloved museum whose trustees are anxiously waiting for the result of their Heritage Lottery application to extend their unique building on Cockmoil Square.

There’s an old joke that says nostalgia is not what is used to be - but in Lyme it certainly is.

Ken is already working on the theme for next year and for many, me included, it can’t come quick enough

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We didn’t have the ‘green thing’ back in our day

RECENT fierce storms across Weymouth and Portland have prompted an unusual response to the debate about climate change and the need for everyone to be “green”.

The outburst comes from an irate Weymouth pensioner who sent me this cautionary tale on the environment and the modern argument that “greybeards” before us didn’t do enough to start saving the planet.

He wrote: “Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

“The woman apologised and said: 'We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days.'

“The young cashier responded: 'That's our problem today – your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.'

“She was right -- our generation didn't have the “green thing” in its day.

“Back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised and refilled so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

“But we didn't have the 'green thing' back in our day.

“Grocery shops bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we re-used for numerous things, most memorable besides household bags for rubbish being the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalise our books on the brown paper bags.

“But too bad we didn't do the 'green thing' back then.

“We walked up stairs because we didn't have a lift in every supermarket, shop and office building. We walked to the local shop and didn't climb into a 300 horsepower machine every time we had to go half a mile.

“But she was right. We didn't have the 'green thing' in our day.

“Back then we washed the baby's Terry Towel nappies because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 3kw of wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids had hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

“But that young lady is right. We didn't have the 'green thing' back in our day.

“Back then, we had one radio or TV in the house not a TV in every room and the TV had a small screen the size of a big handkerchief – remember them? -- not a screen the size of Scotland.  

“In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We pushed the mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

“But she's right; we didn't have the 'green thing' back then.

“We drank from a tap or fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

“But we didn't have the 'green thing' back then.   

“Back then people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's £25,000 people carrier which cost the same as a whole house did before the 'green thing.' 

“We had one electrical outlet in a room not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances and we didn't need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pub!

“But isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the 'green thing' back then?”

Floodwater dazzles

WHEN you are dazzled while drinking a cup of tea it isn’t often because of floodwater.

But so great is the lake on Lodmoor nature reserve in Weymouth that it was forcing customers in the Lookout café at Bowleaze to shield their eyes from sunshine reflecting off the water.

The site was actually more aquatic than land and it is clearly going to take a long time before levels return to normal.

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60 SECOND INTERVIEW: Gary Willis

GARY Willis was recently appointed the new chairman of the Town Mill Trustees in Lyme Regis. He is originally from London and grew up in Essex, eventually settling in the Wye Valley before moving to Lyme Regis in 1999. Gary, married for 25 years, works in environmental protection, running an organisational development and project consultancy for the past 25 years, helping large trans global companies sort out their problems.

HOW did you come to be involved with The Town Mill?

Boys and toys is probably the simplest answer. I had visited The Town Mill and a local friend had been involved in the renovation works, it just attracted me. I had decided in 2008/9 to reduce my work demands in part to build a house in Lyme. After the house was built, doing other things rather than working all the time became attractive and the Town Mill was one of those other things. Involvement beyond being a miller has been driven by need and recognising that my organisational problem solving skills could help the Town Mill grow and develop.

WHAT'S next for the mill?

Now I know the Town Mill well, something that has taken a surprisingly long time to achieve, I realise what a fabulous place it is. The complex, with its ancient buildings, historical engineering works and wonderful artisans striving to make an imaginative living, is in my experience unique. The way this extended team with differing interests, challenges and demands work together to make the Town Mill the exciting place it is should be a model to copy and hone – the Town Mill is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Where next is all about harnessing what is unique about the Town Mill and getting others to experience it. We have just submitted a bid to the Lottery for a large chunk of cash to help us create an interactive digital and model based heritage centre at the Town Mill. We now have a tense wait for seven weeks to see if we have been successful.

WHAT do you hope to achieve as chairman of the trustees?

We have been working hard over the last few months to build a vision for the future of the Town Mill and a business plan to guide us towards making it a reality – anyone interested in reading this can get an email copy by emailing info@townmill.org.uk. There is a lot to do and for all the effort to be worthwhile, the Town Mill needs to be an integral part of the Lyme Regis community. To me, this means offering more for those who live in Lyme and having more of Lyme’s residents actively involved in making it happen. To drive this all forward we have set up a number of clusters of activity – from developing the skills of a miller to designing/developing the Town Mills’ open spaces – each of these dozen or so clusters will have small teams driving change and development. The ‘milling’ area is a good example, we aim to enable those who come to work with us to develop unique skills in the historical process of flour milling. This reflects the start of what I want to see happening at the Town Mill – more going on, involving more people, to be able to offer a more interesting and engaging experience for all who come to The Town Mill.

WHAT do you like about Lyme Regis?

It’s in Dorset and on a spectacular piece of coastline. It has a vibrant community pursuing lots of different interests - for a small town there is a lot going on. The theatre is a great example of what makes Lyme different, a small venue in a small town that manages to attract some really first rate acts. Although Lyme relies on tourism and has a lot of people who come here for a change after working hard, it still feels like a town working for itself, it has a heart. The heritage and energy of the town give it a good feel.

WHAT do you think the town is missing, or what would you change?

Although Lyme focuses hard on making the location high on the agenda of visitors to the West Country and those who chose to retire here, not enough attention is paid to those who live, work and bring up families here. As an example, I find the amount of time that has been spent trying to create a park for skateboarders beyond belief. The drive for affordable housing is also seems somewhat under developed. Overall I would like to see more co-operation across all the organisations and individuals that shape Lyme’s future with a clear focus on the needs and aspirations of all who live and work here.

WHAT are your personal interests?

When people answer ‘walking’ as a hobby it always sounds odd, but it is part of why I love Lyme – my favourite walk is over Golden Cap to the Anchor in Seatown. I spend a lot of my year lost on some mountain pass somewhere in the world. I get a lot of satisfaction from design and have spent time designing whole houses or parts of houses – making something work on paper and then in reality is very rewarding. Photography is another long standing interest, although one that gets little time these days. Lastly riding my old Royal Enfield Bullet – when the rain stops.

WHERE'S your ideal holiday destination?

Caribbean, somewhere like St Lucia – some good sized hills, great diving and lots of natural history, either that or somewhere in the Himalayas – deserted high altitude places with wonderful vistas.

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