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Paris in Springtime: An Episode. A Struggle between Ego and Spirit ...
Andrew Webster reads selections from his new book "Paris in Springtime: An Episode. A Struggle between Ego and Spirit" and talks to John Holman about the episode that sparked off the writing of the book and how it came about. Currently available as an e-Book from Chipmunka Publications, the mental health publisher. Paperback due early in 2011.
Balsam Centre Part 4. New courses for the New Year
Mark Squire continues his courses in practical computing. However, if you are feeling weighed down by facticity, he has the antedote. Mark is putting his experience as a philosophy lecturer to good use by offering new courses in art history, philosophy and poetry. Here Mark explains what it is all about. For more details of the courses contact The Balsam Centre.
Picnic on the Path - Phil Minton's Feral Choir
In support of a local initiative, supported by Sustrans to turn the route of the disbanded railway branchline between Maiden Newton and Bridport and West Bay in west Dorset into a trailway for walkers and cyclists, Anna Best is organising a series of arts-based events. In September 2010, a group of people turned up at Maiden Newton Village Hall and after a hard morning's work, put on a performance of the The Feral Choir for the assembled picnicers.
Wimborne in the Past - Trailer
This is one of a series of videos produced by the rural media charity Trilith as part of a Heritage Lottery funded project to put selected pieces of archive film back in to circulation by adding contextual material. Wimborne in the past (originally Soldiers, Civilians and Stockmen) was written, directed, shot and edited by John Holman. DVD copies of this piece are available from Kingfisher Productions
Geoff Foers of GMT Timber Frames
This year's Stock Gaylard Oak Fair was bigger and better than ever, reflecting the increasing interest in a greener approach to life. John Holman encountered Geoff Foers of GMT Timber Frames and recorded this interview with him about their beautiful work with oak timber frame building. Camera - Keir Holman
Town and Country Fayre
John Holman visited the Town and Country Fayre at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Showground in June for the Farming Channel. Using a pocket HD camcorder, he recorded these "vox pops" with some of the people he encountered, asking, amongst other things, what are the main issues confronting farming in 2010.
Paul Hillard of FACE
Reconnecting the current generation with the realities of farming and food production is a vital task. Farmers who organise school visits to their farm can find the exercise very rewarding and of course the school children and the teachers benefit greatly from the direct experience with the land and the livestock. However, it can be a bit of a minefield but Farming and Countryside Education - FACE are there to smooth out the problems. John Holman encountered Paul Hillard, their representative in the South West at the Dorset County Show.
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust
John Holman came across the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust stand at the Stock Gaylard Oak Fair and spoke to Helen and Rick about their work. Helen mentions their Sliding Scales project which gives everyone the opportunity to feed in information which will help the trust to conserve snakes so if you have seen snakes recently, do get in touch with the trust. Camera Keir Holman.
Somerset County Farm Tenancies - The Council
David Huxtable, cabinet member for resources at Somerset County Council talks to John Holman about the Council's position on county farm tenancies.
North Dorset Needs Better Broadband
Steve Adamsom and his colleagues from DT11 Forum Community Partnership decided that something should be done about the poor broadband service that many homes and businesses particularly in the more out of the way parts of North Dorset have to suffer. They have launched a campaign through the the Community Partnerships Executive North Dorset, CPEND for short, who represent Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Sturminster Newton, Stalbridge, Blandford and surrounding villages, with funding from Sowing Seeds to find out what can be done. If you are resident or work in North Dorset, you can ta...
The Leane
This is an excerpt from Free to Goo Abrode, written and directed by John Holman and broadcast on TSW in 1991. It was a programme about the life and work of Dorset poet William Barnes, perhaps best known for Linden Lea and I'm prepared to bet was the only time that a whole half hour of broadcast television was entirely in the dialect of the Blackmoor Vale! The poem The Leane is beautifully read by Dr. David Strawbridge. If you have a favourite poem relevant to the Transition Vision area give us a shout and we will see if we can get it onto the site in some form. Or if you are a poet working in this...
Wincanton Museum
Wincanton in Somerset has an interesting museum in a cottage in the High Street. Curator John Atkins recounts how it was set up orginally and talks to John Holman about the work of the museum. www.wincantonmuseum.org.uk
Junior Young Farmer of 2010
John Holman visited Claire Willcox on her family farm at Mark in Somerset at the end of 2010 to talk to her about her achievement of winning the Junior National Young Farmer of the Year title. Previous interviews with Claire can be found on Farm Radio August 2009 and also on the junior section of Farm Radio Future Farming Voices. See also Farming on the Levels which features her father, Richard.
Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show, part 1 - Bob Walter MP
Bob Walter, MP for North Dorset, kindly gave John Holman some time to talk about his thoughts on agriculture and what farmers may expect from the new government.
Sturminster Newton Cheese Fair - Vox Pops
John Holman spent a weekend at The Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival and spoke to those people who were brave enough to be interviewed.
Didgeridorset ...
Mike Rigby of Didgeridorset was at the Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival. Mike makes and, as you can see here, plays didgeridos. He also leads workshops including for schools. Contact him by e-Mail: didgeridorset@sky.com
Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show Trailer
The Farming Channel were out in force at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show on 18th August 2010. This is a trailer for the items that will appear on this channel in due course
Activate - Developing and Promoting Dance and Drama for Dorset ...
Aurore Parkin who shares the task of dance development at Activate, describes a dance project that she has been working with Weymouth's B-Side Multi-Media Festival to bring to fruition. After workshops with innovative choreographer Sarah Shorten of Stacked Wonky, the project resulted in a performance by Dorset's young people's dance company "Portrait" performing in Debenhams departmental store in Weymouth, Dorset. John Holman recorded the interview with Aurore and captured some moments of "Portrait's" dance piece at a rehearsal, led by Carly Reader the company's rehearsal drector, in Debenhams. ...
Farming on the Levels
Richard Willcox has always lived and farmed on the moors of the Somerset Levels. See also Junior Young Farmer of 2010 which features his daughter, Claire.
Wincanton Christmas Extravaganza 2011
"Wincanton Businesses Together" held their annual "Christmas Extravaganza" at the beginning of December and this year was even bigger and better than previous years. The usual fare of singing carols, switching on the lights on the Christmas Tree and Father Christmas' Grotto was augmented by the Anonymous Travelling Market and its intriguing variety of stall-holders and a dramatic climbing wall. Participating businesses in the High Street were pleased to host extra shoppers and the general consensus was that it was a great evening. This video is also Transition Vision's "Christmas Special" 2011 an...
Emi Morita and Toshiaki Tani
Emi Morita visited us at Farm Radio some years ago and it was a great pleasure to meet her again, now on her honeymoon in Europe with her new farmer husband Toshiaki Tani. John Holman met them at Launceston Farm, Tarrant Launceston near Blandford in Dorset where they were the guests of Sarah Worrall and family in their great B&B accommodation. Jimi Collis, Sarah's son, was giving them a tour of the farm which he loves to do with guests when John caught up with them. Some of the issues that arose from the subsequent interview will be familiar to farmers around here but it seems that they do not have the same support f...
Sir Terry Pratchett at Hogswatch, 2011
I didn't know that this was going to happen so I was unprepared. I have used some of this in our video "Hogswatch, 2011" but I thought that enthusiasts would like to see the whole thing, warts and all, including out of focus bits and a section where the not insubstantial back of the Cunning Artificer came between me and the stage! Our video "Hogswatch, 2011", contains a part of this talk, a piece about the new Discworld board game "Guards! Guards!", including an interview with its joint designers from Backspindle Games, Dave Brashaw and Leonard Boyd and some impressions of Hogswatch 2011. Thanks to the staff of "The B...
Welcome To Spring, The Balsam Centre, Part 5 ...
Debbie Kendall of the Balsam Centre's Well Bean project organised an evening for women to celebrate the onset of spring which included taster sessions of Afro Zumba with Fatou and The Colours of Sound Singing Group with Rachel Gadd. John Holman interviewed Debbie but the video footage of the event was shot by Debbie and Sarah Dixon, another member of the Balsam Centre team. As Debbie says in the interview, it is hoped that further seasonal events will be organised so do sign up to the Balsam Centre's facebook page to be alerted to what's going on. ...
Moving On
Karl Edwards decided to take up a new career working with horses. He trained his horses Bonnie and Alf to work in the woods with him and also began training as a farrier. Catherine Simmonds recorded interviews with Karl and also the intricate sounds of his daily work. Catherine wrote and recorded poems that were inspired by her time with Karl. Johannes Van Weizsacker of The Chap provided original music. This montage of sound was then put together by Catherine working with John Holman at Transition Vision's base in Wincanton. I was reminded that this piece was sitting on the shelf when I encountered Karl and his horses a...
A New Life for the Shelters on Lyme Regis' Marine Parade
The "shelters" on Marine Parade on Lyme Regis' sea-front were a real eyesore for some years. The town council, after consultation with interested parties, came up with a plan to revive this prominent building in the middle of Marine Parade. Sue Holman was given a guided tour by David Gale who, in his role as client adviser, was coordinating the project for the council. The new facility includes two community rooms, a concourse on the upper level, shelters for the very odd occassion when the British summer weather proves unkind, two shops and the "jewel in the crown", as David describes it, the central pavilion which ser...
The Brewhouse Theatre and Arts Centre, Taunton
For nearly 35 years the Brewhouse has been developing as a leading South West venue and, more than that, a hub for the arts in Somerset's county town. However, with the disappearance of local authority funding, it has also missed out on continuing funding from the Arts Council England. We went to Taunton whilst the "England, My England" festival was in full swing on St. George's day and spoke to CEO Robert Miles about the Brewhouse and the work that it does and also invited him to comment on the current funding situation and the implications for the future for Somerset's foremost arts venue. The band is the Bottle Top Boogie Band and Swe...
Bridport Museum: Preparing for the 2011 season.
Far from being idle over the winter, curator Emily Hicks and her team have been preparing some new experiences for Bridport Museum visitors. In this video Emily shows us the new marine reptile (not strictly speaking a dinosaur) and other innovations. John Holman interviewed Emily in the compact new yard where Emily was hoping to display two of the main crops historically of the Bridport area, flax and hemp. There was no problem with the former but the latter would require a very expensive Home Office licence! Also not shown in this video is a newly acquired portrait of a thatching spar maker, "The Woodman" by Francis Newbery. Brought up in...
Walford Mill
Walford Mill in Wimborne, Dorset, is a flourishing centre for craft. John Holman of Transition Vision visited to talk to Christine Fletcher-Jones, Chief Executive of the Walford Mill Education Trust, about the history of the facility, what goes on there and exciting developments for the future. The mill is also the workplace of two crafts people, Kathryn Arbon, jeweller and the silk weaver Debby Kirby who talk to John about their craft and the advantages of being based in a much visited venue. The significance of the Mill has recently been recogni...
Things Change
In 1918, a film unit descended upon Iwerne Minster in North Dorset to make a film about the daily life of a typical English village as World War I drew to a close. Cinemas were operating behind the front lines as part of the effort to improve the morale of the troops and this is where this film was destined. Whether it ever got there or not is not known as the war came to end shortly after the film was finished. Some years ago, Trilith, the rural media charity, received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to add contextual material (in this case, this consisted of interviews with current inhabitants who have a connec...
The Binder: Jack Dimond demonstrates - and entertains
Have you always wondered how a binder works? Or perhaps you're not sure what one is. Jack Dimond from Sherborne, Dorset, had a film of him and his family at work with their's in the 1950s. To our amazement Jack still had the binder (well you know what farmers are like about throwing stuff away!) and we conceived the idea of getting Jack to explain how it worked. We got more than we bargained for when we set it up as you can see here. This video was originally produced for Trilith the Rural Media Charity and has been seen at many of Trilith's showings of archive film around Dorset, Somerset and Wiltsh...
The Arts in Dorset, part 1: An interview with Mike Hoskin.
Arts Council England announced during April 2011 which organisations were going to be funded under the National Portfolio Funding programme. Organisations that were included in this scheme will receive revenue funding from April 2012 for three years. Whilst some in Dorset who had previously enjoyed revenue support from ACE have been left off the list, on the whole, the outcome for Dorset has been good. John Holman spoke to Mike Hoskin, Dorset County Council's Arts Development Manager about the factors that he feels influenced ACE's decisions and what part the council's supportive stance towards the ...
Creating Changes: Valuing Community Development Learning, Part 6, Wrap up. ...
A partnership of The Federation for Community Development Learning, South West Foundation and the School of Education at Bath Spa University held a conference at the Bath Spa campus in late July. Just when they thought that it was all over, John Holman caught Jan Crawley of the South West Foundation, Jim Crawley of Bath Spa University, and Janice Marks and Dean T. Huggins of the Federation for Community Development Learning over a coffee and recorded this "wrap up" video. for Transition Vision's Community Channel.
The Arts in Dorset, part 2: An interview with Mike Hoskin.
In this second part of John Holman's interview with Mike Hoskin, Arts Development Manager for Dorset County Council, Mike talks about how the arts are delivered to the further-flung rural parts of the county and also about the challenges facing the sector in the future, particularly when the current round of Arts Council England National Portfolio Fundingprogramme ends in 2015 and against the background of further cuts in local authorities' budgets, including the future prospects for Dorset organisations who were not included in the portfolio selection.
The Waggon a Stooded
An excerpt from "Free to Goo Abrode", written and directed by John Holman and broadcast on TSW in 1991. It was a programme about the life and work of Dorset poet William Barnes (1801-1886), perhaps best known for Linden Lea and I'm prepared to bet was the only time that a whole half hour of broadcast television was entirely in the dialect of the Blackmoor Vale! The charm of his poems and the unfamiliar (to most of us anyway) dialect can obscure the technical mastery of some of his work. The Waggon a-Stooded is an eclogue, a form of pastoral poem which often consists of a conversation between the char...
Goose Slade Farm
I suppose it's true to say that chicken and turkey aren't the special treats they used to be but a free ranging mainly grass-fed goose is still a great way to spoil family and guests at Christmas time. Colleen Jackson visited Goose Slade Farm, East Coker in Somerset, to find out about this family run business which supplies not only goose-based product through their well-stocked farm shop on the site but also goslings for others to rear. When necessary the geese are fed extra rations of grain but this is also grown on site. Colleen spoke first to Joe Dunning about the growing of the geese and then to his father, Phil...
Balsam Centre Part 6. Paris in Springtime: A Conversation, part 1 ...
Debbie Kendall of the Well Bean Project at the Balsam Centre in Wincanton, Somerset, talks to Andrew Webster, author of "Paris in Springtime, A Struggle Between Ego and Spirit". They explore some of the themes of the book which is currently available as an e-Book from Chipmunka Publishing but soon to come out as a paperback. Also see Andrew Webster's interview with John Holman.
Bill Bartlett, Symondsbury Mummer
Bill, a great Dorsetman, passed away in late July 2011. I was privileged to shoot an interview with him at Eype on the Dorset coast about his involvement with the Symondsbury Mummers - how the tradition was revived in 1950 and particularly about the film of the Mummers made by the late Peter Kennedy in 1952. Bill was simply brilliant company and to meet him was to feel that you had known him for years: a very special person to many, many people. "Singing the Travels" - the song associated with the Symondsbury Mummers - is played on melodeon by the late Peter Kennedy. This material is drawn from the Trilith production, "...
A Tale Retold
In 1998 Frank Marshall told Trilith about a collection of old cine film that had lain under his workbench for decades. He thought that amongst them might be one film he had particularly enjoyed as a boy. It was an advertisement for an early wireless loudspeaker, the "Amplion", and had been used in local cinemas in the 1920s by his father's pioneering radio business on the Isle of Portland. When rescued from a pile of rotting nitrate film it was discovered that the film, entitled "The Tale of the Amplion" was a hitherto unknown work by the famous illustrator William Heath Robinson. It is almost certainly the only ani...
Paul Hyland: Man of Letters, Man of Magic, Pt. 1
Looking back, there have been many towering figures from the world of literature who were inspired by the landscape of Dorset; William Wordsworth, William Barnes, Thomas Hardy, The Powys Brothers, Silvia Townsend-Warner, and Enid Blyton to name but a few and Dorset is still an attractive area for creative spirits. Paul Hyland was brought up in Poole and still lives in the county. His earliest published book was about Purbeck. Paul is well known in the area and has been involved with many creative writing projects and performed his poetry in various settings. Those who know him through literature may be surprised to...
Paul Hyland: Man of Letters, Man of Magic. Part 2
Tales of dodgy antelope dinners and a narrow escape from human sacrificing tribesmen and, to finish off, another astounding conjuring trick which depresses the hell out of a poor little ball! Paul the writer. Paul the magician
Sandford Heritage: Cordite, Clay and Calluna: Dig at Holton Lee
Sandford Heritage:"Cordite Clay and Calluna" is a local heritage project at Sandford near Wareham in Dorset. Various aspects of the area are being researched, shared and celebrated and as part of this process an archaeological dig was organised at Holton Lee where a previous dig had uncovered traces of mediaeval habitation. John Holman spoke to project officer Ben Buxton and dig director Lilian Ladle. If you would like to be involved with this project which also includes recording oral history using camcorders, go to the "Cordite Clay and Calluna" website. Transition Vision is pleased to be supporting the oral history a...
Naomi Kent: Parliamentary Outreach Worker for the South West
Conscious of the general lack of understanding of its workings, Parliament has set up an outreach department. Jan Crawley and her colleagues at the South West Foundation organised a workshop session, led by the Parliamentary outreach officer for the South West, Naomi Kent, and invited people from a range of communty groups. It was quite a problem to find anywhere quiet to interview Naomi and hyperactive peacocks have their say at one point. To find and contact your MP click here. This video was produced for Transition Vision's Community Channel by John Holman.
North Dorset's Broadband Campaign
Last year CPEND (Community Partnerships Executive North Dorset) embarked on a campaign to survey the state of broadband service throughout North Dorset and to produce a report which will inform further action to improve the provision. John Holman attended the launch of the report and subsequently interviewed Steve Adamson of DT11 Forum Community Partnership and CPEND to find out where the campaign has got to and what the next steps are. An interview with Steve at the outset of the project can be found here.
The Wheel Stops Turning
Rescued from a cinema in Derbyshire, a can of film labelled "A Primitive Pottery in Dorset" has found its way home. Collaborating with Penny Copland-Griffiths, who presents this video, and her colleagues from the Verwood and District Potteries Trust, Trilith produced this 1917 film of Crossroads Pottery, Verwood, Dorset, together with interviews with Fred Thorne, the last "boy" to be taken on at the pottery, potter John Leach whose grandfather Bernard created the studio pottery movement in Britain, and a section dealing with the archaeological dig in 2000, directed by AC Archaeology, prior to the last traces of the pot...
Willow
Completed in 1988, Trilith's production Willow is an overview of the willow industry on the Somerset Levels as it was at that time. Focusing on the company "W. Gadsby and Son" based at Burrowbrige on the levels, this film shows the whole span of the company's activities, from cultivation, to basket making, wholesale and retail, import and export. Interviews with the late Stan Gadsby, Lewis Boobyer who was responsible for the cultivation and processing the willow and David Perry, basket-maker. This video was produced and directed by John and Sue Holman for Trilith.
Apple Day at Quiet Corner Farm
For the last 4 years local people have gone to Quiet Corner Farm in Henstridge, Somerset to celebrate the glorious English apple. John Holman turned up to sample the apple juice and wicked apple cakes and, whilst he was there, spoke to owner Patricia Thompson and David Godden from Shaftesbury who was identifying apple types for people. The juicing operation at Quiet Corner grew out of a Balsam Centre backed project. Apple Day was an initiative of the environmental/cultural organisation Common Ground in 1990. The music was provided by Alice Dike on fiddle and Liz Holbrook on accordion.
West Country Wildlife
L. B. Loxley, his wife Amanda and their daughter, Nia, are all fascinated by wildlife. They are working on a way to make their hobby into a business and are now producing unique wildlife DVDs as West Country Wildlife. John Holman spoke to them at Langford Heathfield, north of Wellington in Somerset. For more information and to buy DVD copies of their programmes visit their website.
Creating Changes: Valuing Community Development Learning. Part 3, Jan Crawley ...
A partnership of The Federation for Community Development Learning, South West Foundation and the School of Education at Bath Spa University held a conference at the Bath Spa campus in late July. This third part features the presentation by Jan Crawley of the South West Foundation talking about Community Researchers. The video that Jan refers to and starts at the end of this piece can be seen here.
Antonia Grove: Small Talk
An interview including clips from a performance. Take Art use their well-established rural arts touring scheme to bring top class and often challenging performances to village halls throughout the county of Somerset. Despite the 100% cut in the county council arts development budget they have put together a really interesting selection of acts for the early 2012 programme. At Transition Vision we thought that it would be a good idea to take advantage of having such major performers in the area and record a series of interviews. This is the first of a series. Antonia Grove from Probe has a pedigree which includes time in...
You're Not Like the Other Girls, Chrissie - Caroline Horton
This is the second in the series from Transition Vision featuring the visiting artists to Somerset, thanks to Take Art's travelling arts scheme. Caroline Horton is an actor who likes to write and perform her own material. The production she was touring Somerset with was "You're Not Like Other Girls, Chrissie" which is a story of a love that survived World War II. It is a beautifully balanced piece and will have you chuckling and choking back tears by turns. Here Caroline talks about her career to date and the show whilst waiting to take the stage at Ashbrittle Village Hall. She is too modest to mention that her acting in "Chrissie" wo...
South West Seniors' Assembly
This was a one-day conference organised by the South West Seniors Network, South West Forum on Ageing and South West Foundation which took place on March 30th, 2012 at the Taunton Conference Centre, Somerset College . Those who attended examined issues around Healthcare, Rural Transport & Social Exclusion, Quality of Life and Housing. Valerie Singleton, broadcaster and presenter, chaired the event. This video was produced by John Holman for www.transitionvision.tv
The Anonymous Travelling Market at The Larmer Tree
ATM's first outing of the season was at the Larmer Tree Gardens on Cranborne Chase. If you haven't been to one of their events before now this should whet your appetite. Market organisers, Emma House and Rae Stormonth-Darling, are interviewed in a pink bath tub. The music is provided by Damian of Pressgang with his hurdy gurdy and hammered dulcimer and folk band Heelstone perform their own song in praise of ATM. The young dancers are Steps in Time from North Dorset. This video was shot and edited by John Holman.
Luna. Louise Barrett of Pretty Good Girl
John Holman shot this video at a Take Art promotion at Sexey's School in Bruton, Somerset as Louise Barrett and her "Pretty Good Girl" Dance Theatre Company embarked on a national tour with her new, incredibly moving piece "Luna". The male dancer is Andy Burnett. As Louise mentions, this piece is based on the book, Luna, by Julie Anne Peters.
Circle of Tales
The long established "PuppetCraft" were touring village halls in Somerset early in 2012 under the aegis of Take Art. "Circle of Tales" is a puppet show that deals with an African creation myth and the successful search for the first story. John Roberts, the director of PuppetCraft is joined by Libby Quick with music supplied by Zimbabwean Mbira expert Chartwell Dutiro. This video was made by John Holman and is the fourth in a series featuring performers from the Take Art rural touring scheme
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