It’s enough to make you weep!

THIS column is usually made up of a mix of nostalgia, comment (invariably on the council)  and tributes to those who loom large in our community.

I write it in the hour before we go to press late on a Tuesday afternoon, by which time I usually have a good idea what I’m going to say.

Finding something for 'Event of The Week' gets a little more difficult as time goes on, as I attend fewer events in Lyme as I am responsible for the editing and managing of 18 titles out of our Lyme Regis office.

Daughter Francesca covers most of the events in Lyme and in a few weeks time I will be handing over this page for the return of her popular “Summertime in Lyme” column. 

If nothing else, it gives the councillors a break from me for a few weeks.

There have only been a few occasions when I have got to 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon and I can’t think of a thing to write about. This happened a few weeks ago and I was scratching my head when someone in the office opined: “Are we ever going to get some spring weather?”

Suddenly I started thinking about springtime when I was a boy and Stuart Broom and I would cycle over to Wootton Fitzpaine to pick wild daffodils and sell them around the estate for sixpence a bunch. I went on to recall how our fathers spent every Sunday in the garden growing veg, picking fruit and rearing chickens to provide for their family.

As with all such memories, they were recalled through rose tinted glasses but they did strike a cord with many people who lived on the estate during their growing-up years.

One stopped me and said: “Your column made my cry. It took me back to my own childhood days. Such happy times in Anning Road.”

This column, of course, has reduced many to tears over the years, but for very different reasons!

Resorting to un-ashamed nostalgia when you can’t think of another subject is old trick for newspaper columnists. There’s always great interest when we publish old photos of Lyme people and the thirst for days gone by seem unquenchable, as demonstrated by Ken Gollop’s recent “Under Shady Tree” afternoon at the Woodmead Halls.

“Shady Tree” was a popular post-war meeting place for young people in Anning Road and over the years Ken has presented a number of what we used to call slide shows on various events and personalities in Lyme.

There is also a Facebook page dedicated to Lyme Regis Nostalgia - www.facebook.com/groups/lymeregisnostalgia - which has unearthed some previously unseen and fascinating material and is hugely popular.

I’m not one for looking back but, of course, the older I get the more thankful I am that my life has been full of wonderful memories of life in this town. 

Dinner time with the Homyers....

I AM often called an old woman and recently I have attracted a few quizical looks from my staff as I have been thumbing through a copy of “Women’s Weekly”, dated October 1952. In those days you could buy a copy of one of the top selling women’s magazines for the princely sum of 3d (that’s threepence in old money).

I promised not to reveal the identity of the reader who thought I would be interested in seeing the magazine (he’s married to a councillor and lives in Woodmead Road!).

Obviously an avid reader himself, he drew my attention to an advertisement for Bisto featuring the Homyer fishing family of Lyme Regis. This was of particular interest to me as my grandmother was a Homyer.

The ad showed a picture (black and white of course) of Jack Homyer carrying a lobster pot on his shoulder with the caption: 

“Fishing? It’s all long hours and hard going,” says Mr J. Homyer of Lyme Regis who works 81 pots with his son. “But good luck or bad, we’re always ready for a square meal at the end of our homeward run.” 

The ad also shows a photo of Jack pouring out the gravy at a Homyer family table with son Victor (who went on to become mayor of Lyme), his wife and daughter, captioned as follows: 

“From six years old graddaughter to 60 years old, there’s no doubt about Bisto’s popularity in the Homyer’s. You’ve got to eat well when you work hard, says Mrs Homyer. That’s why I would not be without my Bisto. It makes the meal.”

The ad also included a voucher worth £1 which could be redeemed if a Bisto Kid called at your house and you showed them a tin of the gravy granules.

Ahh! Bisto! There’s always a tin in our house.

EVENT OF THE WEEK... 

THINGS were a little fractious in the Evans household early on Friday morning. We had to get up early to put the bacon and sausages on to cook in the kitchen at the Baptist Church where we were holding the annual Big Breakfast in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Even before a cursory “good morning”, Mrs E commented: “You know, you don’t actually do much at the Big Breakfast do you? Just talk to people really.”

I protested that I was the official “meeter and greeter” and was there to see everything went smoothly. She was not impressed.

She was even less impressed a few hours later,  having sweated over a hot oven with my sister-in-law Christine who between them, committee members Joanna Hopkins and Anita Routley, prepared not far off 200 breakfasts. 

Brother John washed up for over five hours and daughter Francesca, Michaela Ellis and her mum, Gloria, helped with the waitressing and ran the raffle. Claire Denslow delivered the bacon and sausage butties in the View From Smart car. What a team!

I kept a low profile, although I was drafted into the kitchen on a few occasions to help out.

This was the fifth Big Breakfast we had organised for Cancer Research and it turned out to be the best ever, raising nearly £1,200. You can’t beat a good fry-up!

So a huge thank you to all of you who gave your support and a special thank you to the Baptist Church who allow us to use their wonderful hall and are always very kind and helpful. 

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

60 SECOND INTERVIEW: Mareike Dadges

MAREIKE Dadges is a 24-year-old German university student, studying International Tourism Management and currently working as an intern with the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site team and living in Dorchester. She is from a region called Schleswig Holstein in north Germany, which borders Denmark, and grew up on the coast of the Baltic Sea. 

WHY did you come to the UK?

I came to visit a friend in Devon about 2 years ago and ever since I keep coming back. This time I arrived in February to begin my work placement in March.

HOW long are you staying?

At the moment I'm living in Dorchester and will stay until summer. Afterwards I'm planning on going to Amsterdam to continue my studies in an exchange semester before heading back to Germany in winter. So I'll leave the UK in summer but I'm planning on coming back next year after finishing my degree to live and work here.  

TELL us about your course in International Tourism Management… 

It’s called international because we study English and Spanish and it is part of our curriculum to spend at least one semester abroad. In the tourism part we learn all sorts of things related to the tourism industry, about different destinations, how the government gets involved, socio-cultural effects of tourism and we discuss topics like trends in tourism, for example sustainable or eco-tourism. The management part covers, for example, the areas of business studies, finance and accounting, marketing and economics.  After the first year we were able to specialise in certain topics like hospitality or tour operators. I chose to focus on leisure, culture and event management as well as marketing.   

WHAT do you do as an intern with the Jurassic Coast team?

I'm doing various different things, like working on the social media appearance. I look at different ways how to use these communication platforms to increase the interest in the site and its geology. I'm also involved in the development of a new visitor information leaflet and I've been helping with the organisation of the schools day at Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. I'm really happy to be able to help at the festival as well. 

WHAT made you want to join the Jurassic Coast team?

Basically, two things lead to the decision to do my placement here. Firstly, I've visited Jurassic Coast last year and besides being really excited about finding an ammonite, I just absolutely loved the landscape and the area, so I decided I wanted to come back. Secondly, I thought it would be a good idea to do my placement in a heritage site because I'm interested in destination management and I've written an assignment about the use of the heritage status in tourism-destination marketing. So I decided it was time to compare this theoretical knowledge to “the real world”. And what makes the Jurassic Coast even more interesting compared to other sites is that it keeps changing due to erosion and I find that really exciting. 

WHAT do you like about living in this area?

I enjoy living close to the coast, every weekend I can go and explore a little bit more. There's so much to see and it's very different to the coast I grew up on.  

HOW does it differ from life in Germany?

It seems to me that people around here a little bit more relaxed. The supermarkets - they are massive - I often find myself spending too much time in there, getting lost and leaving with half of the things I wanted!

IS there anything you would add to or change about the local area if you could?

The weather! I think I might be a bit unlucky to be here this year, I keep hearing people saying “this time last year it was warm and sunny”. 

WHAT are your personal interests or hobbies?

Traveling (not a surprise). I like to explore new places and try local food or take a cookery class because I love to cook and bake. And I like water sports like scuba diving, swimming and kayaking.  

WHERE is your ideal holiday destination and why? 

That depends on the time of the year and what I want to do, I guess. Right now I would be very happy to go to a warm place with a sunny beach and a nice reef to snorkel along, because it's been a long and cold winter.   

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

Chancing your arm in the fast lane?

AN incident between King Street and the Swannery Bridge underlined the dangerous change in driver habits which has happened since Weymouth’s new traffic lights were unveiled.

Approaching the King Street lights from the seafront I found myself pulling up behind a giant lorry towing an empty flatbed trailer.

Drivers in more of a hurry than I was ignored the inside lane in favour of the outside one in the hope that when the lights changed they would be able to dart forward and avoid the slow-moving lorry.

Well the lights duly changed and I had to wait behind the lorry as it ground forward while cars in the outside lane showed off their Grand Prix starts and shot forward in front of the huge vehicle.

The first car made it easily and the second car just got through ahead but by this time the lorry was moving and 40ft of vehicle proved too much of a barrier for the third car which then tried to force its way between me and the rear of the lorry.

I held my place and was rewarded by a horn blast from the driver who then stuck her fingers up in a V-sign to which I responded in kind. We parted into different roads a few yards later, but that wasn’t the end of it.

So many drivers have talked to me about “fast getaway” incidents at these new junctions where a double lane entry is followed by a double lane exit merging into a single lane.

I began to wonder if perhaps I’d done something wrong and should have braked to allow that third car through even if it was trying to make progress at my expense, so I rang the police.

A senior officer didn’t just tell me that my actions were completely legal and wholly appropriate to the situation but he added that they, too, were worried at the change they had seen in drivers’ behaviour.

He said that drivers in the inside lane were entitled to their place and the onus of responsibility was with those drivers who had chosen the outside lane. They should only turn inside when it was safe to do so and had no right to a space ahead of those vehicles already in the inside lane.

The officer went even further and said police were concerned at the way the new traffic light system had generated a change in driver habits with revving engines, fast starts when lights changed and an almost “race” mentality between the two lanes of drivers pulling away, all of which officers felt was not helping safety.

So there you have it. Outside lane drivers can try their luck at saving a few seconds but, if they run out of space, it is their responsibility to only return to the inside lane when it is safe to do so.

The police guideline is very useful, so I would suggest that responsible drivers show courtesy and do make way for outside lane drivers provided they are not just trying to force their way in regardless at your expense. It is up to you.

Giant jigsaw is halfway there

MASTER jigsaw maker Dave Evans is halfway through his Weymouth attempt to set a new world record by making a 40,000-piece puzzle by hand.

His puzzle making is being streamed live all over the world and has attracted massive attention from America to Hong Kong.

Her Majesty the Queen will be the centrepiece of his enormous jigsaw which is using scenes from her Diamond Jubilee year. She has even given permission for the finished work to be displayed at her Sandringham country residence.

Dave said: “I hope the entire puzzle will be completed in about ten days time.”

He has been making jigsaws for nearly 50 years and hopes to complete his giant 33-image creation around April 21st which will be the Queen’s 86th birthday.

His jigsaw marathon, which is being sponsored by Axminster Tool Centre and Voltz energy drinks, meets all criteria for a world record attempt and, if he succeeds, Dave is hoping to have the new record ratified by Guinness.

The Queen is very interested in his project and is understood to be keen to try and do a copy of the puzzle herself, Buckingham Palace having contacted Dave to ask if the copy of the jigsaw he is doing for her could be supplied without a picture guide because Her Majesty likes a challenge!

Dave said: “Everything has been locally supplied and I am using 6mm birch plywood which is traditionally used for jigsaws because it doesn’t splinter and it gives a lovely silky finish to the pieces.

No shame for dirty dog owners

NOTHING infuriates a householder more than discovering some dog has dumped a pile of mess outside their front door and its owner has just walked off and left it.

It has happened to me, it has happened to my neighbours and it has happened outside the homes of many of my friends all over Weymouth and Portland.

Some angry homeowners put up signs, others try and catch dog owners red handed and give them a piece of their mind while others report incidents to the police, the council or take legal action themselves.

But none of them have quite such a tale to tell as one resident who time and again found dog mess dumped on the pavement right outside her home.

Nothing seemed to stop these dirty owners and she finally resorted to a very prominent and very public way of highlighting the problem and shaming dog owners into doing something.

She got hold of an old wooden toilet seat and left it outside her home with a message that if owners wouldn’t stop their pet leaving piles of mess could they at least make sure their dog used the toilet seat!

A response wasn’t long in coming. Someone stole the toilet seat. They stole the sign too.

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

Farewell to the Colonel

COLONEL Geoffrey Brierley is completing the last few weeks of a 12-year stint as county councillor for the Lyme Regis area.

So now would seem as good a time as any to pay tribute to his service to the Marshwood Vale (the name of his county council seat) and for all he has done for Lyme Regis during his time as our county councillor.

With a military background (he served in the Army for 35 years), Colonel Brierley became known for his no-nonsense, tell-it-as-it-is style of local government.

If you asked him a question and he didn’t know the answer, he wouldn’t skirt around the subject and prevaricate, as is the style of virtually every national politician these days. He would simply say: “I don’t know but I will find out.”

And he always gave it to you straight, even if it wasn’t what you wanted to hear.

Geoff will be remembered for ever more for being the county councillor who delivered a public footpath in Charmouth Road.  

The town council had been pushing for one for 50 years but in the end it was the pragmatic approach that Colonel Brierley adopted and his sheer refusal to take no for an answer that delivered the long-awaited path. 

The job of the county councillor is to put in regular appearances at all the parish and town council meetings in their patch and Colonel Brierley was a regular attender at Lyme council meetings, giving an update on county matters before the meetings proper got underway.

Invariably, these have been occasions to savour, especially on the press bench, as his reports were also filled with punchy retorts often tinged with humour.

He had many a battle with Derek Hallett, the town’s former dog warden, who was a regular attender at council meetings to raise matters in the public forum session.

They had a long battle over the yellow lines in Lyme Regis, or rather the lack of them.  

Rarely did a meeting pass without Mr Hallett raising the subject and throwing down the challenge to Colonel Brierley to get something done.

The Colonel never lost his temper, though it must have been a close thing at times. And although Mr Hallett might not have always been happy with the answer he got, he never lost respect for his adversary.

Well, let’s be honest, Colonel Brierley commanded 1 Para during the 1970s. Lyme council was never really going to trouble him.

There were many other issues that Colonel Brierley involved himself with in Lyme over the years. He fought tenaciously for the retention of our local library and is still working hard to find a solution to the traffic problems outside the Woodroffe School together with a host of matters that never make the local papers.  

Lyme goes to the polls on May 2nd to choose a successor to Colonel Brierley. 

Whoever wins that election has some big former Army-sized boots to fill.

The day I met Maggie Thatcher 

AS far as I know, Margaret Thatcher never visited Lyme Regis. As a true blue Tory stronghold, I suppose she would have been greeted with enthusiasm for back in those days, as one of the town’s few Labour supporters George Curtis would say: “Put a blue ribbon on a pig and they will vote for it around here.”

But Maggie did come to West Dorset after ousting Ted Heath as Leader of the Conservative Party and before she became Prime Minister.

Sir Jim Spicer (yet to be knighted) was the MP for West Dorset at the time and arranged a visit from the Iron Lady to Beaminster in February 1975 to make a key speech.

At the time I was working as chief reporter for the Bridport News, not hugely interested in politics, and sports editor Roger Bailey (an out and out Tory) and I were assigned to cover the visit.

Roger bought a new matching blue shirt and tie especially for the occasion. Maggie travelled down from London on the train and was greeted by Jim Spicer at Crewkerne station. 

We were introduced to Maggie on the platform and Roger was so overcome that he actually bowed when she shook his hand! I wasn’t so enamoured although she was far more glamorous than her television image.

If I remember correctly, a reception for party workers was held at Beaminster School  before she returned to London. I can’t remember what she spoke about so I Googled it and there it was in its entirety.

Even at such an early stage in her leadership, there were clear signs of “Thatcherism” to come. She promised to make “some dreams come true”.

She did that. But she also ruined a few and we should leave it to history to judge her.

EVENT OF THE WEEK

WHEN I first started out as a reporter, many moons ago, dinner dances were all the rage. 

Virtually every organisation in town held one every year and I soon realised that a dinner jacket was an essential item for a reporter’s wardrobe. Ballroom dancing lessons were also on the agenda.

Most of these events in Lyme were held at the Royal Lion Hotel, run in those days by Bob Dunne and his wife before it was taken over by brewers Bass Charrington.

Virtually every Saturday night would see a dinner dance at the Lion and those I remember include functions such as Rotary President’s Night, Masonic Ladies Night, Sailing Club, Operatic Society, Skittles League, Football Club and Chamber of Trade dinners. 

A number of outside organisations also travelled into Lyme for their annual bash, such was the reputation at the Lion. Reporters were usually given two complimentary tickets but it would be necessary to take notes of all the speeches and write a lengthy report. As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch - and never was.

Few organisations today hold such events and when they do the press is rarely, if ever, invited. And we certainly don't get free tickets.

I was reminded of such occasions on Saturday night when Jackie and I attended the first Royal British Legion dinner for more than 50 years. It was a low-key affair at the Golf Club, efficiently organised by David Humphrey, one of the younger Legion members, and I hope it becomes an annual event once again. 

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

60 SECOND INTERVIEW: Chris Lovejoy

HISTORY enthusiast Chris Lovejoy first moved to Lyme Regis in 1997 and has lived between the seaside resort and Axminster in East Devon ever since. Originally from Newbury, Chris grew up in Kent and London before travelling overseas and spending seven years in an ashram in Pune, India. After varying careers, from lawyer to furniture restorer, he now runs history tours of Lyme Regis and this summer is taking on the town’s popular ghost tours. Chris lives with wife Judy and their two cats.

WHAT did you do before running the Lyme Regis History Walks?

I have had many jobs in my life – lawyer, prison probation officer, therapist, creative arts administrator, furniture restorer, ESL teacher, to name just a few. I used to think it was a defect of my character that I always wanted to do different things rather than sticking with one career, but now I’m grateful for all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the years. 

WHY did you start up the history walks? 

One day, walking along Sherborne Lane, I had a sudden overwhelming impression of hearing the tramping of heavy boots and deep gutteral voices. Although over in a split second, this strange “vision” inspired me to look deeper into town history and I later discovered that this area was one of the front lines of combat during the Siege of Lyme in the Civil War. The more I read the more I was amazed at the richness and variety of Lyme’s past and realised that, while its literary heritage and palaeontology was well represented by others, no one, at that time, was presenting the broader history of the town to our visitors. So I started Lyme History Walks. This will be our third season.

TELL us a little about the walks... 

The walks take place on Mondays and Saturdays at 11am from March to September, last an hour and a half and are suitable to anyone with average walking ability. Visitors can now pre-book a walk through the museum. From a humble medieval settlement of monks to a great Elizabethan port, through its subsequent decline and 18th century resurrection as a fashionable resort up to the present day, we meet many of  the remarkable men and women who played their part in Lyme’s evolving story. I tell tales from their lives, recount key events, introducing smugglers and buccaneers, artists, rebels, scientists and philanthropists, the humble and the fashionable who all left their mark on the town.

WHAT’S your favourite Lyme Regis historical link or story?       

I love to talk about Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital, and tell the story of Lassie, the Pilot Boat dog who saved the life of a sailor. Henry Fielding’s attempted abduction of a local lass is also a great story.

WHY did you decide to take on the ghost walks this summer?

I decided to take on the ghost walks as an exciting challenge. Despite the great training and support he has given me, I know Carl Salter will be a hard act to follow.

WHAT can those taking part expect from the Ghost Walks? 

The ghost walks are above all good entertainment for all the family. Participants can expect a blend of local folklore, scary (but not too scary!) stories, spooky jokes, sound effects and slapstick. They will start in May, every Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30pm for an hour throughout the season from the museum or other named venue.

WHAT are your other personal interests?

Meditation is my greatest joy. I can’t imagine my life without it. I play the piano and keyboard and enjoy all kinds of music alone. I also love being around most kinds of animals.

WHAT do you like about living in this area?

I love the warm, easygoing nature of the local people and the soft blend of rural and ocean landscape, so good for walking.

WHAT would you add to or change about the area if you could?

I would revive the old Axminster to Lyme Regis branch line, closed in 1965. I believe this could solve a lot of our traffic problems.

WHAT would you do if you won the Lottery?

I would start a foundation for teaching meditation in prisons and open an animal rescue centre.

WHICH three people would you invite to a dream dinner party?

I would invite three of my favourite comedians/comic actors - Lenny Henry, Sandy Toksvig and Giles Brandreth.

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

Just one of those meetings!

WELL, I nearly got it right. A few weeks ago I offered, somewhat tongue in cheek, odds of 12-1 that Chris Clipson would be our next mayor, although I did say that Sally Holman serving a third term was a good outside bet.

I’ve never been very good at picking winners of the four-legged kind and so it proved with the choosing of the mayor elect.

By the time it got to last Wednesday’s council meeting it was pretty common knowledge that it would be a two-horse race and it seemed that Sally would be first past the post. The big surprise to everyone was that the council’s most influential member, Mark Gage, chairman of the all-powerful Strategy and Policy Committee, would not be present at the meeting.  Councillor Gage tendered his apologies as he was on holiday.

I’m not sure his presence would have altered the decision to give Sally a third term. With Councillor Chris Clipson being one of the “gang of four” that put up at the last election, catapulting Councillor Gage into the top job, it is likely that he would have voted for Councillor Clipson. 

Had he done so, there would have been six votes cast for each candidate so Sally would  have been required to have exercised her right to a casting vote. Not the ideal way to elect a mayor but it has happened on several occasions in the past.

But it was a significant vote. Since the last election the new faces on the council, led by Councillor Gage, have won virtually every vote, many of them ten votes to four. This was the biggest vote they had lost and shows that not everything is cut and dried, which is a good thing for local democracy.

With the council split asunder by so many issues, there were a number of councillors who felt it important to have an experienced and steady hand on the tiller.

If the position of mayor survives, I am sure Chris Clipson, who has thrown himself into the role of councillor with great gusto, will get another chance to serve as First Citizen.

Wednesday was one of those meetings that occasionally happen in the Guildhall. It was not a good advertisement for local government. I don’t know what new member Jill Newton, who has filled the vacancy left by Barbara Austin, thought of it. 

“What have I done?” might well have been her reaction.

Don’t worry Jill, it will get better.

There has been much falling out over the dispute with the Woodmead Halls over the running of the public toilets. When we reported that there was a veiled threat to withdraw the free parking passes for volunteers, I wrote in this column that it was likely to be a huge PR faux pas. And so it has proved.

Common sense has prevailed, as usually happens after a spat like this, parking passes have been renewed and a new agreement is being prepared for signature.

The council now has more important issues to occupy them, not least all the problems at Monmouth Beach.

And there’s a new town clerk and deputy town clerk in place to learn the ropes.

Should our MP be given a column?

AN interesting discussion on Facebook last week questioned whether local newspapers should allow MP Oliver Letwin to write a regular column.

Both Matt Puddy, a keen commentator on local affairs, and  boatman/photographer Doug Chalk were of the opinion that writing a column in the Bridport & Lyme Regis News and in the View From series in West Dorset gave Oliver Letwin an unfair advantage over his political opponents.

It is quite common in publishing circles for local newspapers to offer their MP a regular column irrespective of political persuasion.

Oliver Letwin has been writing in the Bridport News, View from Bridport and View from Dorchester for several years. 

We have only recently extended that courtesy to Mr Letwin to the View from Lyme Regis, mainly because some Tories in Lyme complained that we were showing our political affiliation by not publishing his column.

It is important to make the point that Mr Letwin’s views are not those of this newspaper, which has no political affiliation, nor indeed mine. If he loses the next election, and it could well be a close-run thing, whoever becomes MP will be accorded the privilege of writing a regular column in the View. 

It should also be remembered that an elected MP represents all his constituents, not just those who voted for him, and the column gives all voters the opportunity to see what he is up to at Westminster.

Those who disagree strongly with any views expressed in his column can always put their point of view through out letters page.

Finally, can I make it clear that Mr Letwin receives no fee for his column.

EVENT OF THE WEEK... 

LYME enjoyed a very busy Easter despite it being one of the coldest on record. And with a bitter wind whistling down Broad Street, it was good to see so many entries in the annual Easter Bonnet Parade and a large crowd cheering them on.

This event was the baby of Barbara Austin MBE, sadly no longer with us, so it was essential that the event was as popular as it has always been.

Town crier Alan Vian and his wife Lynne, supported by a number of Regatta and Carnival helpers, and the wonderful Judith Pothecary, who gave Barbara such support over the years, all pitching in to make sure the parade was the usual big attraction.

It always amazes me how many visitors take part in what started out as a purely local event and this year proved no exception.

A special word of praise should go to the Lyme Majorettes who had to brave the cold in their skimpy outfits. Some of the little ones looked positively frozen but won warm applause from the hundreds lining the streets.

Closing Broad Street for the parade turned out to be a real challenge this year with so much traffic passing through Lyme on Easter Day,  but the event went off smoothly and Barbara would have been proud that her special event lives on.

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

Don’t worry - just ride on the pavement

THOSE in charge of our surroundings frequently mystify us with their decisions and the new cycle route on Chickerell Road in Weymouth is a case in point.

A cyclist drew my attention to it because he was so confused by all the work that he wasn’t sure where he should be pedalling.

Now you may think there should be little confusion over a nice clearly marked lane for cyclists along what is a very busy road.

But the reason why the cyclist was so confused was because the new cycle lane is marked out... along an existing pavement! 

The stretch from Granby to Fiveways is dotted with little white cycle symbols but they are all on the pavement not the road.

This masterstroke apparently combining pedestrian and cycle traffic on the same stretch of pavement didn’t just bewilder the cyclist but seriously worried him.

As he pointed out, there are numerous old people’s homes, bungalows and facilities just off this part of Chickerell Road.

They must have struck a chord with those installing the new cycle route because, where the pavement dips to allow cars access to be parked outside these homes, a green “carpet” has been laid on the entry road complete with a glaring white bicycle symbol painted on it.

Cyclists clearly don’t need to be alerted to the presence of pedestrians because they are riding on a pavement but, to use the words of the worried cyclist who talked to me, he had nightmare visions of speeding cyclists meeting less than speedy octogenarians thrusting zimmer frames in front of them.

The carnage this could potentially cause when you delicately stir in an occasional vehicle crossing both their paths at right angles makes your eyes water just thinking about it.

Perhaps the authorities know something we don’t... or perhaps we’ve spotted something the authorities have missed. 

Whichever, everyone using this particular stretch of pavement has got a bit more to think about than they did before the works!

Messaging the council from the bottom of a pothole

I’M having to text this story to the outside world in the hope that someone sees it because I’m currently marooned in Weymouth at the bottom of a pothole in Chafeys Avenue.

It was my own stupid fault. After all, when you drive down an ordinary residential road these days you must expect to have your car occasionally disappear without trace into something the size of Jeremy Clarkson’s mouth.

I’ve tried shouting for help, but I’m so far below ground level that it could be days before anyone hears or several years before help arrives if I’m pinning my hopes on being discovered by a passing council pothole repair crew.

Experts tell us that so little has been done to finance staying on top of pothole repairs that it will take years and cost billions just to catch up to where we are now. By that time it won’t be roads with holes in but holes linked by small bits of road.

There are boneshaking experiences to be sampled from Upwey to Easton and it is no wonder garages across the nation are reporting a sharp rise in damage to vehicles caused by potholes which, in some instances, can run into thousands of pounds.

So watch out for a particularly big pothole in Chafeys Avenue and, if you are feeling charitable, could you alert the council to my whereabouts while throwing me down a sandwich or two because I haven’t eaten since last Tuesday.

Definite cause for celebration!

SOME of you may have been wondering why all the churches were ringing their bells in celebration the other day.

So I’d better announce that my new run of blackberry wine has been a great success and seems to promise many delicious glasses to come once all 17 gallons have been allowed to settle for a month ready for bottling.

There were a few hiccups along the way, not from tasting or imbibing but through mistakes I made while racking the wine off to get rid of sludge.

This saw everything happen from wilful jets of wine suddenly squirting free of tubing all over the floor to one nasty scenario where a demijohn was nearly full of racked off wine only for me to realise I hadn’t cleaned the next one to take overflow.

Still, more than 90 percent of what I started to make last August has proved to be just as good as I hoped it would be while the rest is borderline cooking wine-paint stripper.

This wild disparity does happen and I can’t for the life of me work out why since everything was clean and every demijohn of wine tucked away to ferment all came from the same mixing tubs.

Anyway, I tried to keep my success topical and went out to burn a few council press releases, hence all the church bells being rung when they saw my white smoke... at least I think they were celebrating my wine.

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