AN important new display at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery reveals the little-known story of John Brown, who escaped slavery in the USA and lived in Dorchester during the 1860s. On show until 30th May, the exhibition has been curated by Jordan Cole, a student at Bath Spa University, and uses research from a number…
ONE of this country’s most interesting and unusual festivals is reborn this year, with a new name and a new look, the Chalke History Festival – formerly Chalke Valley History Festival – returns this year, from 24th to 30th June. The changes follow the ending of the long-standing sponsorship by the Daily Mail, which saw the…
ONE of this country’s favourite actors, David Suchet makes a welcome return to Bath Theatre Royal on Tuesday 23rd January, with his show, Poirot and More: A Retrospective, with performances at 2.30pm and 7.30. Following a hugely successful tour in 2021 and a West End run in 2022, David Suchet – well known not only…
TWO of the most famous characters of Greek myth and legend, the goddess Artemis and the doomed prophetess Kassandra, are at the heart of Wild Visions and Untamed Myth, an evening of storytelling with Katy Cawkwell and Lucy Lill, starting its local tour dates with Artsreach at the Pamela Hambro Hall at Winterborne Stickland on…
COMEDIAN and broadcast historian Paul Kerensa takes the audience one a journey into Auntie Beeb’s early years in his An Evening of (very) Old Radio… the first firsts of Broadcasting, coming to Dorset for four performances, from Thursday 25th January at Nether Compton village hall. The Artsreach tour continues at West Stafford on Friday 26th…
HELEN Hermanstein Smith’s parents came to Britain from Guyana in the late 1950s. The rich tastes of the Caribbean infused her mother’s cooking and influenced Helen, who has just published her first book, The Acorn House Bakery Recipe Book. Helen lives in Wincanton and her home-baked cakes are sold direct to customers and at Coles…
A MAN whose career has spanned a seat at the Cabinet table, a love of ballroom dancing and a passion to help Britain reach net zero, Sir Vince Cable is coming to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Friday 1st December at 7.30pm. It is easy to see politicians as one-dimensional, walking egos, ambitious…
THE November event in the Tollard Talks series at Tollard Barn in Tollard Royal, on Thursday 30th November, is a serious look at the arguments for and against a plant-based diet. The speaker, Jayne Buxton, poses the question, “What if removing animal foods from our diet was a serious threat to human health, and a…
ANCIENT Scandinavian forests are mysterious places full of voices and sounds from the past – the folklore of these vast dark woods provides the atmospheric background for Mara, a storytelling tour-de-force by Dominic Kelly, who comes to Dorset with Artreach, at Milborne St Andrew on Saturday 25th November and Sandford Orcas on Sunday 26th, both…
FORMER university lecturer Kate Rawles comes to Sladers Yard at West Bay on Thursday 23rd November, as part of the Help Our Planet (HOP) series. Her talk, Adventure in the Andes: The Life Cycle biodiversity bike ride, is the story of her extraordinary journey the length of South America on a bamboo bike she built…