Fun in the sun for Beaminster Big Day 2013
Beaminster Big Day is the last day of Beaminster Festival. It is held every other year, alternating with Dancing in the Square another Community event celebrating the beginning of the Festival. 2013 was a scorching day enjoyed by many.
Evening stroll in West Bay, West Dorset
Yellow fields in the sun, dark trees in the shade, purple bells playing hide and seek with the light…
What a glorious time of year when mother nature lets the sun shine in.
A few months back I went to see one of the last BBC Worldwide masts being taken down on Rampisham Downs. They were used them for 70 years until digital came along and the massive metal monsters became redundant.
A little video of the last days of the Rampisham Masts.
Went down to Beaminster this morning, few people around but all said “hello” in a cheery way.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” they said.
“I remember the winter of 1963” said an old boy. Does make me wonder, come Monday will we feel the same?
It was easy enough to get down, carefully. Driving back up however, was a different story.
So the car got left at the bottom of the hill, and the shopping was carried up.
Well it is beautiful and lots of fun was had by many today. I just went around with the camera…
and loved every minute of it!
Hope you’re all enjoying your winter walks.
Some mornings are just more gorgeous than others.
‘Shepherd’s warning’ said my son.
‘Woaw…’ said my otherwise speechless husband.
Had to catch that sky before the sun came out.
How weird will it be when we drive to Maiden Newton and there are no masts to tell us we’re nearly there?
One by one the Rampisham masts are being taken down.
And to the ground they fall and crumble.
A tiny pile of metal where once stood a giant.
Tall and proud they broadcasted British ways around the world.
No longer needed, down they must come,
and to pieces they must be torn,
as a scavenger would a carcass.
They stuck out like a sore thumb in the West Dorset heavenly countryside,
Equally were a stunning otherwordly man made addition come rain or shine.
For miles around, West Dorset views will never be the same.
Rampisham masts, I will miss you.
Do people tweet in Beaminster? Oh yes… they even have tweet-ups. The first West Dorset tweet-up was in December 2010. Where? @matkiwi’s Wild Garlic. Almost two years and half a dozen tweet-ups later, the latest WD twitter gathering was @cafeannday.
@tim_harrap a self proclaimed chatter box and keen tweeter (aka @BritishCheese) helped witty writer and blogger of note @maddiegrigg organise a ‘leaving do’ to celebrate her Big Fat Greek Gap Year. She may be leaving West Dorset’s rural underbelly for a while but of course she’ll only be 140 characters away in the twittersphere.
Meanwhile, face to face in Beaminster they discussed travel plans helped by a few Fat Rascals.
A few minutes later, a few more faces arrived.
Beaminster resident @Willoqueau and her other half -sitting next to Tim- didn’t have far to come. Bridport’s @tamsinchan and @DorsetScouser (aka @DorsetbyNight) came along for the first time.
@jurassiccoastin and @missseapeaches popped in on their way to Dartmoor; by which time I clearly had serious phone shake (was it two coffees I had?), @dorset_flickr will be happy I missed her in the shot.
@marion_taylor deserted Dorset for Somerset for the day. Unforgivable. @markthegarlic threatened to drive past with his tractor ‘Im working all weekend sorry’. We didn’t spot him. Too busy eating Fat Rascals.
@theredbladder did not make it as he has a ‘firm and unshakable belief that after Melplash one is in danger of dropping off the edge’. Understandable. Some Dorset things don’t change.
Others do; like live tweeting on air from Beaminster. @zsk was working in Dorchester on her Big Dorset Brunch so she just brought the tweet-up to her BBC Radio Solent show via @tim_harrap and his phone who shared his Twitter thoughts with her listeners. Possibly in 1.40 minutes.
And talking about Beaminster, some people have a shop counter, scissors or knives between them and a social cuppa (what do you mean better things to do?) … but tweet they do: @greendrawers, @eatdorset (pop in at Green Drawers to meet them both) @dorsetretail (he’s at Cilla and Camilla) and @marketingWestUK, @mellymop123, @helendorset not forgetting @matkiwi, all otherwise engaged.
A few usual tweeter-upers sent their apologies @MrCliveC, @Sophia_Moseley, @Loumat33, @realwestdorset, @watershedpr and were missed. A few more tweeters hope to make it next time @Laura_Dron, @JParsons87, @FernhillHotel, @beaminstergirl. Have I forgotten anyone? No doubt you’ll tweet me if I have…
Why do I like tweet-ups? It’s the new people I meet, the random conversations we have, the information we share, catching up with their news and hearing their views in proper long sentences. It’s putting a real face to the avatar. There is no replacing looking people in the eye even if we have weird, wonderful, witty (ahem wishing in my case) and sometimes serious social network conversations…
See you at the next tweet-up?
ps. Joining @maddiegrigg in Greece was tempting but Bridport seems more likely. We’ll let you know.
One of my ongoing clients, the lovely Trish at North Buckham Farm has just installed a couple of shepherd’s huts on her farm to add to the B&B rooms and self catering apartments the farm offers in Beaminster. We had a bit of a play with product placement… Clipper Teas (of course! they’re from Beaminster), Dorset Cereals and Moore’s biscuits were displayed with the farm’s own eggs. It was fun to play around and find the best way to take a couple of images, a bit of a challenge to photograph considering the size of a shepherd’s hut (and the bright light coming in on a -rare- bright morning in August!)
Pardon my Franglais 