Out and About

Musical walks with Ninebarrow

DORSET’s much-loved folk duo Ninebarrow – James LaBouchardiere and Jon Whitley – are almost as well known for their love of walking as they are for their beautiful harmonies and charming original songs. For some years they have been leading walks and writing books to introduce their fans and fellow-walkers to different areas of their…

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Catching Purbeck’s puffins on camera

HIGH ropes experts have installed cameras on the cliffs near the National Trust’s Dancing Ledge in Purbeck to monitor the last known nesting site for puffins on the mainland of southern England. It is hoped that the cameras will reveal why these iconic birds are on the verge of extinction. In the early 1900s, puffins…

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Life before Lawrence at Clouds Hill

TINY Clouds Hill, near Wareham, where TE Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – lived in the 1930s, is now open for the 2024 season. A previously undiscovered photograph shows one of the families who previously lived in the remote cottage – and gives an insight into its appearance before Lawrence. One of the National Trust’s…

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Festival of Blossom in Salisbury Cathedral Close

JAPAN is famous for its cherry blossom season, when people flock to admire the ethereal and transitory beauty of the trees in full bloom. This spring, the National Trust team at Mompesson House in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close is launching a Festival of Blossom, with a trail around the Close until 4th June. You can pick…

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The scaffolding is down

FOR the first time in nearly 40 years, Salisbury Cathedral is without scaffolding, and to mark the occasion the New Art Centre at Roche Court, Winterslow, near Salisbury, has shared an image of an installation in the Cathedral Close. The scaffolding has been part of the cathedral’s exterior structure for 38 years, and in celebration…

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Volunteering for the National Trust

LEARN about opportunities to volunteer with the National Trust properties in West Dorset and at the charity’s famous Stourhead House and Gardens in Wiltshire at some upcoming recruitment days. In West Dorset, would-be volunteers can find out more at  a volunteer day on Saturday 24th February, from 10am – 4pm, in Stourton Memorial Hall. Roles…

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Good news on nightjars

NIGHTJARS, one of our most mysterious and elusive birds, are making a comeback, according to the latest report from the RSPB – numbers across the bird charity’s reserves in England and Wales hit a record high in 2022, up 11 per cent on 2021. RSPB Arne in Dorset, where the number of territorial male nightjars…

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Three little (conservation) pigs

YOU sometimes hear about pigs in clover, but the three little pigs who have arrived at Bere Marsh Farm near Shillingstone are happy as Larry finding lots of interesting things to explore and even roll in. The new arrivals are Oxford Sandy and Blacks, a trio of females of this rare breed who have taken…

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