Today is the last day to post any info on this blog.

In the future, all my local blogs will be merged into one.  In the meantime please email – ace@journalist.com with postings!

What an amazing place! What wonderful people! What insanity! There should be a new sign – ‘YOU HAVE TO BE MAD TO WORK HERE’!

Sooooooooooo Many Costumes to Hire for sooooooooooo Much Fun. Fancy Dress & Theatrical Costumes with Accessories. Wigs, Hats, masks etc. for Sale. Glad Rags, Shunters Yard, Station Road, Semley, Shaftesbury, SP7 9AH      Chat with Pam or Jan on 01747 850101      Open 10 – 4 pm – Tuesdays to Saturdays

Click on any image to enlarge or zoom in

An award to add to Paul and his team’s ever-growing collection.

Paul Buttling and Champion Pie Maker Dave Smart are pictured carefully creating some of their  tasty pork pies – fresh to enjoy! Visit www.tbuttlingbutcher.co.uk or call 01747 828 216

After his amazing win in Herefordshire at Putley’s Big Apple Cider Trials, Nigel Cuff, seen here with his lovely wife Jo and Carnival Committee Cider Expert, Kerry Hooper, sampling and selecting the wonderful brew for this year’s Tisbury Fun Day at the end of August and the Carnival in September. They are photographed outside Fifield Bavant’s beautiful church – The second smallest church still used in this country and adored by Terry Pratchett who is raising funds to complete its restoration.

An in depth story of this cider sensation will be coming soon – For stockists, visit www.wessesxcider.co.uk or call 01722 718742. For more information about The Church Appeal, email – will@willhillary.co.uk or telephone – 01722 417900

The finalists for the “Coach Friendly Town or City of the Year” are:

Bury

Rochester

Shaftesbury

Southport

Stamford

York

Our community initiative to offer free coach parking and driver refreshments, just as other towns are closing coach parks and charging higher prices, has been recognised by the industry – putting our small, hilltop market town in the final with major destinations including last year’s winner York.

Proud?  Of course, and the Awards logo already appears on the tourism home page of the town website www.shaftesburydorset.com/tourism

(Here is the press release that has appeared in every major coaching magazine in the UK)

David Taylor

TIC Manager

07720 443319

When the District Council considered moving the coach park because of a drop in income, the citizens of one iconic town stepped in to safeguard it – and provide drivers with FREE parking and FREE refreshments as well!

Shaftesbury in Dorset may only be a small hill-top market town, but it has the iconic image of England used every year by travel magazines and websites.  It is the home of ‘Gold Hill’ known by many as the beautiful street used by Hovis in one of the best adverts of all time.  The old coach park was shunned by operators for being inaccessible and not passenger friendly.  The local volunteer-staffed Tourist Information Centre (TIC) led a campaign to create two coach spaces in the car park adjacent to the town centre, the toilets and the TIC, and the council agreed to a trial.

 The trial proved highly successful with coach drivers, receiving much praise and the sight of returning operators; however, the council complained that income was lost compared to the car spaces previously located there.

 This is where the local traders and citizens moved in and offered to purchase two coach passes to guarantee the council income from the spaces.  After some negotiation, the District Council agreed and the coach passes were paid for by the Chamber of Commerce, the local Tourist Association and from the TIC’s own funds.

 And there’s more!  All the local tea shops and restaurants agreed to give visiting drivers free coffee and cake.

 Now, during the TIC opening hours, drivers can collect a free parking permit and a voucher for refreshments. (Poster attached)

 The TIC manager, David Taylor, expressed a pride in the community spirit shown by the town.  He said “We may only be a small town with two coach spaces, but we recognise how important tourism is to our economy.  We are proud of our heritage and want to share it with as many people as possible – which means encouraging coaches to stopover for a couple of hours.  There is no doubt that, by putting their hands in their pockets and by their actions, the people of Shaftesbury have demonstrated that they – and their town – are ‘Coach Friendly’, a phrase we placed on our website within an hour of receiving the passes.”

 Shaftesbury TIC can be contacted on 01747 853513, or by email at tourism@shaftesburydorset.com; the town website can be viewed at www.shaftesburydorset.com/tourism. 

Thank you gentlemen of the Cor Meibion Llanelli – The Llanelli Welsh Male Choir. You sounded magnificent and what a treat the evening turned out to be. Bryony Purdue and Daniel Bovey added their beautiful talents to a perfect performance. I was sadly not able to record all of the event but I hope you enjoy the videos taken. Kindly click on the links to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CArR4tRF00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRCXhnSmcJY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYsKVBWRJOk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT5O1baH_9M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKyyFjm0qwk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xGbaISJp8Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79QreVBCc4E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UFXBSWjzq8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKZx6z4eVW0 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlGlDnWtwko 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_f6m_ZCqPM 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hcL0jOgCDk 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE5Sqf-ddSY 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxaSTZc5Qgw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfYJ7VUBRwo