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Obituary for Will Musk
On the evening of 5 August, our 20-year-oldson Will was out enjoying a motorcycle ride justlike any other day, only 2 miles away from hisnew home in Chichester. He was headingtowards the West Wittering beaches when hecollided with a car and was killed outright. Hedidn’t suffer and it was extremely quick. Twodays previously we’d met up at hisGrandmother’s in the New Forest. He’d riddenover on his cherished Kawasaki Ninja 400 andtold us how much he was enjoying having hisindependence back, with his friends, after beingstuck at home during lockdown. He was aboutto start the second year of his OutdoorAdventure Education degree at the Universityof Chichester and he couldn’t stop smiling. Weall agreed it was the best time of his life.
He had always been rather quiet and shy butover the last couple of years had really comeout of himself in so many ways. Confident andhappy, loving life, making friends. We are soproud of him and always will be for what he’sachieved in the short space of 20 years. It’sheart-wrenching to lose him and difficult to putinto words. We’ve had so many amazingtributes and condolences. Your personalmessages are very much appreciated and allthe help we’ve been offered. He had so much tolook forward to, and us with him, his death hasleft a huge hole for so many people. He was SOhappy. He really loved his motorcycle and we’reonly slightly comforted that he died doing whathe loved most. We couldn’t ever imagine thishappening. He is in our hearts, forever young,healthy and happy.
A small incident to hopefully make you smile ...
Not sure if you knew, but for much of his GapYear, Will was a barman at the Seaside BoardingHouse in Burton Bradstock and loved the job(as you can imagine!). The other day I went toGrassby Funeral Directors to talk about things,
including what to do with Will’s ashes. The nextmorning I tearfully opened a cupboard to getsome more tissues and there was his metalcocktail-shaker his Grandma had given him. Ilaughed and cried more, thinking he washaving a joke, saying stop blubbing mum, whynot use this for my ashes? That sounds like Will!He’s reminding us to keep our sense of humour.
Maybe part of the ‘master plan’ is he’d be herefor only a short time so he could spread somegoodwill. He was such a good lad, alwaysrelaxed and unproblematic. So many haverecounted how Will was ‘a gentleman’, ‘hereally helped me’, ‘he smiled a lot’, and wetreasure those comments. He had a good life –that’s something to hold onto. Will lived mostof his life in Southover, enjoying walking ourborder collies Jester and more recently Archie,and running round the hills. As a little boy he’dcatch the school bus from the village Greenwith his sister Rosie, and climb trees near theriver. Recently he’d been doing garden jobs forthe neighbours.
Our house is full of beautiful flowers (thank youbut we’ve run out of vases now). Will’s UniAmerican Football team started a GoFundMeMemorial Fund, which will be used to helpother young people (https://bit.ly/3iHUn6o).We’ll also arrange an annual tribute/prize orsomething at his 6th Form boarding schoolClayesmore, Iwerne Minster. We plan to meetfriends locally, and at Clayesmore and Uni, toshare memories and celebrate his life. We’realso posting things on Facebook. Do get intouch if you’d like to - it really is good to talkrather than bottle it up.
Julie, Tim and Rosie x4 Southover Cottages
Will, aged 5, Southover Mill Stream
Chopping wood
Will, aged 18, at home with the cats
Frampton Village Green
Will, aged 16 Will, aged 19, Seaside Boarding House
Keep on running
Back in the carefree days of March, I, like most of us,had a full diary of events and fun filled days ahead.However …
For the serious athlete, the lockdown must havebeen truly devastating, especially for those who’dtrained for four years ready for the 2020 Olympics.
For us lesser mortals who enjoy competing at localand club level, it was still a blow. I know several whowere due to run their first marathon in the bigevents in London, Brighton or Manchester in theSpring.
I was entered into two 100 mile cycle rides andCardiff Half marathon. Initially, quite a few peoplestopped training completely and lost all theirenthusiasm but I kept plodding on, and felt so luckyto have the freedom of the farm and Frampton Park.
Some of you may have heard of Parkrun. It is now aglobal event which began in Bushy Park, London in2004. Every Saturday at 9am literally millions (totalregistered in just under 7 million) of people gatherto run a free timed 5k across a variety of locations.The range of people who take part is vast from superfast club runners to those giving it a go and walkingthe majority of the way. It is a fantastic community,has a great atmosphere and encourages people toexercise.
My local course is Weymouth. The summer route isaround Lodmoor Country Park and in the wintermonths, along the seafront. Each person has theirown barcode, which is scanned at the finish, andthen the results are e-mailed out and a leaderboardpublished. It’s great if you’ve suddenly got a spurton and achieved a new PB! About 20 volunteers arerequired each week to help set up, man the courseand help with results. If you run, you usuallyvolunteer maybe once or twice a year.
This simple event has been lost due to the currentsituation and will be as devastating for some asmissing out on a GB medal.
However, due to agood initiative by acouple of people,Weymouth has createdits own “notaParkrun”.Each week has a theme,time is submitted viaStrava, photos areobligatory and youmustn’t run the realroute. It’s been greatfun and keeps everyonemotivated. A T-shirt was designed and the profitswent to Weldmar.
Although virtual events aren’t the same as the buzzof the real thing, it’s good to know there are peoplewilling to put effort in to keeping us on track.
As I write, sport is beginning to open up. Clubs canrun or cycle with groups up to six people, gyms andpools will open shortly (albeit in a very different way)and some team sports are getting guidelines inplace, but I think the big mass events are still a longway off. I’ve often wanted to try open waterswimming so this year has given me the push to try,so if you see someone flailing about in the sea orstruggling with a wetsuit, that might be me!
Liz Elliott
Modelling new T-shirt
Finishing my virtual duathlon for my club,
Dorchester RIOT
Hat theme showing how we
send results
Nature NotesChristine Chappell
How quickly two months can go by and here weare with another issue of FVN, midsummer is with us,and still plenty of warm sunshine and some differentflowers and wildlife to enjoy. The birds are not soactive, many of them are moulting and skulking inthe bushes, but there is still plenty going on in ourfields, woods and hedgerows.
In addition to the beautiful demoiselle damselfly,I have seen banded demoiselle along the riverbanks,
male andfemale picturedmating on thereeds. If youare interestedin something abit different,Kate Davidsonsent me aphoto of a rarecrane fly shephotographed
in Metlands wood (identified by the crane flyrecording scheme as ctenophora flaveolata). I hadnot realised that there are many different crane flies
besides the familiar‘daddy long legs’, andthe same applies tomayflies, apparentlythe UK is home toabout 50 differentspecies. The photoshows ephemeravulgata, (again nocommon name), aspecies that lays itseggs on the surfaceof ponds or slowmoving water. Theeggs float to the mud
on the river bed where the nymph emerges after afew days and will remain there developing for up totwo years when the adult mayflies will then emerge
surviving only long enough to mate, the female laysup to 6000 eggs then dies, thus repeating the lifecycle.
There has been a noticeable and welcomeincrease in the hedgehog population around thevillage whether due to less traffic during corona viruslockdown or some other reason. I have had reportsof multiple sightings in gardens at dusk, and with thehelp of a trail camera and a small dish of cat food Ihave regularly photographed at least one in mygarden (as well as all the neighbourhood cats). It isencouraging to think that hedgehog numbers maybe reviving after a steep decline in recent years.
Another welcome report concerns the barn owlwhich I am told has been seen regularly in recentweeks close to the village. There has also beenanother sighting of a water vole so it is good to knowthat at least one has survived predation by otters andwild mink.
Finally a round-up of the butterflies I have seen thissummer around Frampton - brimstone yellow,orange tip, red admiral, peacock, meadow brown,gatekeeper, ringlet, comma, speckled wood, marbledwhite, small tortoiseshell, painted lady, large white,small white, green-veined white and common blue.
I should be pleased to hear of any I have missed.
Email [email protected]
As is often the case with history in the UK, it is theRomans we turn to as they laid good metal roads tomove their troops and supplies quickly across thecountry, and many are still in evidence today. Theymeasured distance to aid timing and efficiency,marking every thousandth double step with a largecylindrical stone. 117 of these stones with Latinnumerals are surviving in the UK,although some are kept safely inmuseums. The Latin for a thousandwas "mille" and the distance was1618 yards; the eventual Britishstandard mile was 1760 yards. Oneof these Roman milestones can beseen close to the A35 at Stinsfordnear Dorchester. Although the1760 yards, making the statutemile, had been introduced in 1593,the length of a mile still variedacross the country. By 1660 theGeneral Letter Office had beenestablished and they neededaccurate mileage in order tocalculate charges for items theywere carrying.
From Roman times, roads were developed to meetlocal community needs. In 1555 an act of Parliamentrequired local parishes to be responsible for the upkeep of roads and boundary markers becameimportant. In 1697 the justices were ordered to erectguideposts at crossways and on the moors. Thisbecame the start of the waymark system of signposts.
Travel at this time was by horse and carriage and wasslow and difficult. In wet weather and in winter thiscould be hazardous. It took 16 days to travel fromLondon to Edinburgh. Financing a decent network ofroads across the UK would be a huge expense. Thegovernment’s solution was to introduce "TurnpikeTrusts". Groups of local worthies would raise moneyto build stretches of road and then charge users attoll gates - similar to the M6 today. The name"turnpike" came from the spiked barrier at the tollgate or booth. There are many such toll gates or
houses still to be found in Dorset and around thecountry. The poor people bitterly resented having topay to use roads and there were sometimes anti-turnpike riots. The roads were a markedimprovement and the Turnpike Trusts were requiredto mark the miles and thus a network of standardmiles and milestones were quickly established. From1767 mileposts were compulsory on all turnpikes,not only to inform travellers of direction anddistance, but to help coaches keep to schedule aswell as charging for changes of horses at thecoaching inns.
The earliest milestones in Dorset were ordered by thePoole Trust in 1757. Most are hewn from Purbeck or
Portland stone but can vary indesign according to the Trust. Laterthere were often cast iron varieties.The main milestone in Framptonwas erected by the Maiden NewtonTurnpike Trust in the nineteenthcentury and is made of Dorsetlimestone, perhaps from the quarryjust outside Maiden Newton? It isrecorded that the Maiden NewtonTrust paid £2.3s in 1850 to have its43 milestones re-lettered, andpainted.
The coming of the railway and thenthe motor car eventually consignedthe "Turnpike" system to history.
The last Dorset Turnpike Trusts were the Blandford -Poole and Blandford - Wimbourne routes which bothclosed in 1882. The roads then became theresponsibility of the County Councils and DistrictHighway Boards. Soon afterwards milestonesbecame obsolete as taller posts were more visible forthe country's increasingly swift traffic. During thenext hundred years, milestones were left todeteriorate. Some were removed for roadimprovement schemes or where new roads werebuilt (some are found in fields where the old road useto be). During the Second World War milestoneswere removed to delay a possible German invasionforce. In 1980 the Dorset Milestone Survey wasundertaken in an attempt to preserve the milestonesthat were left. There were 250 recorded on old mapsbut only 115 were found. This has now increased to190 and the route between Dorchester to BlandfordForum being almost complete. This is all thanks toJohn Tybjerg and Sue Dean who belong to the Dorset
branch of the Milestone Society. Highwaysdepartments are now required to make note andpreserve any milestones.
The Milestone Society was founded in 2001 andhas over 400 members. It was given charitable statusin 2004 and its aims are: To identify, record, research,conserve and interpret for public benefit themilestones and other waymarks of the British Isles".Members’ interests include toll houses, turnpikehistory and canal milestones.
They have recorded over 31,000 milestones,waymarks and toll houses and members give talks,lead heritage walks, write articles in their own journal(Milestones & Waymarkers), and in the local press,radio and TV. They are supported by EnglishHeritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Any personal interest comes from having Frampton'smilestone in our garden wall and also from my timeon the Parish Councilwhen we needed torestore the old black andwhite signpost (waymark)on the edge of the parishleading to Sydling StNicholas that had beendamaged by farmvehicles. I am sure youwould agree that it wouldbe a shame for thesehistoric landmarks todisappear from ourcountryside, so perhapsnow, when you are outwalking or even drivingmore slowly, you will notice the odd milestone andwaymark and take more interest!
References 1) How far is it? by Guy Smith (article in Dorset Lifemagazine)2) The Milestone Society(www.milestonesiciety.co.uk)
Good News - ‘Walking for Health’walks in Maiden Newton and
Cattistock have restartedWe are so pleased to share that group walks of up to30 people have now restarted. This means that theMaiden Newton and Cattistock ‘Walking for Health’walks have recommenced. Walks now alternate
between Cattistock and Maiden Newton with a newstarting time of 11.30am.Dates for September:
Tues 1st - Cattistock
Tues 8th - Maiden Newton;
Tues 15th - Cattistock
Tues 22nd - Maiden Newton;
Tue 29th - CattistockDates for October:
Tue 6th - Maiden Newton
Tue 13th - Cattistock
Tue 20th - Maiden Newton
Tue 27th - Cattistock
The COVID-19 lockdown has been hard for all of uswho love getting out into the fresh air so this is
fantastic news. Thank you for understanding thereasons why we were unable to re-start the walks
sooner.
There are some things that we do have to dodifferently to make sure our walks are safe for
everyone. There is no need to pre-book, just turn upon the day. Guidance will be given to you at the start
of each walk or is available to be sent to you ifneeded. Please contact the Scheme Co-ordinator ifyou wish to receive guidance before joining a walk orspeak directly to one of the Walk Leads. Details canalso be found on the Cattistock Village Website, the
Walking for Health Website and our Tollerford WalkingGroup Facebook Page.
Barbara Evans, Scheme Co-ordinator. Tel:07810 153012.
THROUGH THE
GARDEN GATE
I really can’t believe that it’sthe start of autumn. Ofcourse, I’m writing this in themiddle of August during very
hot weather so forgive me if I dwell on theabundance of glorious flowers and shrubs that weenjoy towards the end of summer. The ornamentalgrasses are now at their best and will continue well
into autumn. I have twofavourites, and
. The first isa very feathery fine grass whichsways even in gentle breeze butdoes tend to seed all over theplace – not a problem though asunwanted plants are easily pulledup. has the mostbeautiful pink inflorescences and
the leaves take on a bronze tint later in the summerand into autumn. It will also seed itself but is a littlebetter behaved than .
There are a lot of “well behaved”plants – those that stay whereplanted and don’t take onmassive proportions. I planted acouple of
on the edge of thenew woodland area. They arecompact domes of bright redfoliage with fine yellow edges tothe leaves. They make a small dense mound and thecolour is spectacular. Also well behaved is the
with variegated leavesand spikes of white flowers in early summer. If youplant any just be aware that the sap cancause skin irritation.
Well behaved but tall is , (4) covered in mauve
flowers from early summer to lateautumn. The joy of this plant is thatthe wiry stems do not need stakingand will withstand very strong windwithout any damage. Butterfliesand bees love it and it does well inany situation – front, middle or backof the border and
a good companion plant forgrasses. Also tall and definitely forthe back of the border is
, (5) aperennial sunflower which makes astunning display in August andSeptember. I originally saw thisplant at Picket Lane Nursery and just had to have one!
Ground cover plants are invaluable in suppressingweeds. I wanted ground cover around the edge of
the monkey puzzle area and chose and
. The has daisy-likeflowers from late spring until autumnbut doesn’t come under the title of“well behaved” as it spreads
vigorously and will seed itself almost anywhere but Ilove them. The also spreads rapidly but doeswhat I wanted – completely covering the soil with noweeds able to grow through it – brilliant!! And it alsobears spikes of purple flowers in late spring.
The monkey puzzle was planted in April 2019 and therest of the area was planted in the June. The shrubslooked very small and forlorn as I had left a lot ofroom between them but this summer they’ve growndramatically. One of them is
, (7) which is now about 4ft tall and has, asthe name suggests, lime green flowers fading towhite. This type is hardier than
happily withstanding late frosts. Thereare some chestnut railings at the end of this area
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
which were put there for a wisteria to grow against.I’ve planted shrubby
at each end of thisfence. They have lovely bell-shaped mauve and white flowersand will scramble over any nearbyshrubs. When the flowers havefinished there is an added benefitof silver seed heads – good valueplant and it also falls into thecategory of “well behaved”. Themonkey puzzle measured 45” whenit was planted and, at the beginning of April thisyear, it had grown to 50”. Believe it or not, sinceApril it has put on a further 8” of growth. It isobviously happy there but is not a tree-hugger’sfavourite as the spines are lethal. I have noticed thatladybirds love to nestle in between the spines andone of the robins perches precariously on the topshoot. Haven’t seen any monkeys yet!!!
I’ve been on my plant buying travels again andrecently went to Triscombe Nurseries at WestBagborough, on the edge of the Quantocks justnorth of Taunton. Unfortunately, due to the currentrestrictions, they are not open to the public but I wasable to collect the whichthe owner, Stuart Parkman, had very kindly sourcedfor me. I needed 12 to plant along the conservatorywalls, having removed the very prickly
, which had got straggly and was an absolutedevil to prune. Even the thickest gardening glovesweren’t enough to stop being constantly stabbed. Ithad got the better of me so out it had to come! Assoon as Triscombe is open to the public, I plananother visit and will, no doubt, come home withsome more purchases. What I like about it is that it’sa proper nursery, run by a real nurseryman and hiswife, rather than a garden centre. The plants I gotwere strong and healthy and at a very good price.
Tips for September and October:
�� Plant daffodils and spring flowering bulbs as
soon as they become available but leave the
planting of tulips until November
�� Divide and replant overcrowded clumps of
herbaceous perennials
�� Start removing faded annuals to make way for
spring bedding plants such as wallflowers and
forget-me-nots
�� When they’ve finished flowering, cut back rose
bushes by about a third to help them withstand
the autumn winds. You can also use the
prunings as hardwood cuttings
�� Sow lawns or lay turf when the ground is moist
�� Divide marginal and bog plants to prevent
overcrowding
�� Place netting over ponds to catch falling leaves
�� Plant new trees and shrubs whilst the ground is
still warm, staking trees likely to be vulnerable
to strong winds and give them a weekly water
for at least a year (two years in the case of trees)
�� Collect leaves as they start to fall and put them
in hessian bags, black plastic bin liners with
holes punched in them or in a wire cage to
make leaf mould. It helps if you chop them up
and the easiest way is to run the lawnmower
over them
�� In sheltered corners sow hardy annuals
outdoors for early flowers next year
�� Check all existing tree ties to ensure they are
not restricting growth but tight enough to do
their job
�� Don’t be tempted to tidy up too much. Leave
stems of perennials in situ so that insects can
over-winter. It also protects the crown of the
plant from frosts
�� Wander round the garden and enjoy the
(hopefully) balmy evenings before winter sets
in
Looking back at the notes I wrote last August, it wasraining when I started them and still raining whenthey were finished a couple of days later. Well, thisyear, it was scorching hot when I started and it’s stillthe same today. We gardeners are never happy – it’seither too cold and wet or too hot and dry.Whatever you do, enjoy yourselves and keep safe.I’ll chat again in a couple of months. In themeantime, I’m off outside to dance to the rain gods!!!
Liz Napier
8
The Curse of Frampton …
Alan Chedzoy looks at the ill-fated Sheridan familyof Frampton Court
(Published in Dorset Life, November 2011.Permission granted to produce an abridged version
of the article)
Long the home of the Browne family, Frampton Courtwas built by Robert Browne in 1704 on the site of anancient priory. In 1790, the park was laid out byLancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, the house enlarged andfaced with Portland stone. But rumour had it that, atthe expulsion of the monks by the command ofHenry VIII, the last Benedictine had appeared at theBrowne’s dinner table, and placed a curse on them.
.
Despite the Browne familypresiding over Frampton forsome 130 years, at no time didan elder son inherit and thefamily simply died out. Theproperty passed to a relativeby marriage, Lt. General SirColquhoun Grant, a veteran ofWaterloo. Sadly, he hadalready lost his only son, so that the heir to Framptonwas Marcia, his 19 year old daughter.
To his consternation, in 1853, Sir Colquhoundiscovered that Marcia was conducting a love affairwith a certain Richard Brinsley Sheridan. This was notthe famous author of The School for Scandal, but hisgrandson and namesake, a profligate, penniless, butcharming man, ten years Marcia’s senior. SirColquhoun resolved to keep his daughter close toFrampton, away from city temptations. One day,however, he was obliged to leave home to contest anelection, and he left Marcia in the charge of a militarycommander, Sir Robert Macfarlane. Meanwhile, shehad contrived to inform Richard of the situation, andconsequently he was able to creep into FramptonCourt, and make off with her. It was a Sheridantradition. Both his father and grandfather hadeloped with their wives. Aghast, Sir Robert went afterthe lovers but it was too late. They had been quicklymarried at the anvil in Gretna Green.
The affair became a national scandal but, true to thefashion of the Sheridan comedies, it all endedhappily. Sir Colquhoun was soon reconciled with hisdaughter and her husband, and within a few monthsobligingly died, leaving Marcia the heir to Frampton.But as she was now married, the legal titled passedto her husband, and so the Sheridans became themasters of Frampton.
There were to be no more wild exploits from Richard,and he settled down at Frampton. The marriageseems to have been a happy one as witnessed by thefact that there were nine children, three girls and sixboys. Popular with their tenants, he and Marciacarried out many useful schemes in the village,including funding almshouses and a reading room.Richard persuaded Brunel to dig a 700 yard tunnelfor his new railway at Grimstone, so that the line
would not spoil his view. Thegreat engineer agreed thattrains would always stop atthe new Grimstone andFrampton station while theSheridans remained atFrampton Court. It was DrBeeching who finally closed itin the 1960’s. With Framptonmoney, Richard BrinsleySheridan went into politics likehis famous grandfather. He
served as magistrate, High Sheriff, and later DeputyLieutenant of Dorset. He became MP for Shaftsburyfrom 1845 – 1852 and, from 1852-1868, was MP forDorchester.
The Sheridans had their heartaches. They outlivedfour of their children, including their eldest son,another Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Marcia died in1882, and Richard six years later. St Mary’s Churchcontains many memorials to both the Browne andSheridan families.
It was Algernon Thomas Brinsley Sheridan whoinherited the estate because although only the sixthborn, he had outlived his brothers. Not a carefulsteward of either the estate or the family money,Algernon was soon making ends meet by selling offoutlying cottages and Sheridan valuables.
Wilfred Sheridan, the surviving second son, was nowthe hope of the Sheridans. However, his city careerwas ruined when his firm failed at the beginning of
