15 April 2021 - Chairperson’s Report and Annual accounts 2021
Sutton Poyntz Society Chairperson’s Report, April 2021 from Hilary Davidson
Due to Covid 19, this is the second year that we have been unable to hold our AGM. We have decided to send out a brief report and financial report to all members. The committee have kept in touch through emails, a socially distanced meeting outside last summer and more recently through a zoom meeting. Due to work commitments Dave Burge decided to resign and I would like to thank him for all his hard work and delicious cooking during his time on the committee. We have been able to co-opt two new members Jon Waterman and Kevin Pearce who I hope will be formally elected when we are able to meet properly. Welcome to both of them.
Chris Hubbard very kindly agreed to keep sending out his informative and entertaining newsbites throughout the year. His messages have been greatly appreciated by us all and we are all really hoping that he might reconsider his decision to retire. A huge thank you from all of us Chris.
Sadly we have not been able to hold any social events apart from a socially distant ‘spud in a tub’ competition. A group of us made face masks which were sold in the telephone box and raised a good sum for the Lantern Centre. The ‘village library’ has proved a life line to many of us this year and has provided us with a wide range of books to borrow and enjoy. Unfortunately we have had a couple of incidents of vandalism , including a large number of books disappearing but thanks to you the shelves were quickly restocked.
Thanks to prompting by the committee new road signs have been erected by the council at each end of Puddledock Lane which should help the residents, emergency vehicles and delivery drivers.
The committee is starting to plan some events for when lock down ends and we will let you know details as soon as possible, I have certainly missed the social village occasions.
As a village we have been very lucky during the pandemic and fortunately not too many of us have caught the virus. Many people have helped each other with shopping, collecting prescriptions and keeping in contact by phone. Walking through the village everybody has remained cheerful and friendly which makes a big difference to us all.
Finally we look forward to seeing everyone when we can and that our nominal subscriptions will start again when the restrictions end, hopefully in June.
5 April 2021 - Dot and Simon's Diamond Jubilee
Hello everyone,
You might have already heard that Dorothy and Simon Emblen have just celebrated their Diamond Anniversary. Dorothy – known as Dot to her friends – is one of the few remaining residents who was actually born in the village, back in 1938. At that time Wyndings, built in 1929, was almost the only house along Plaisters Lane. She was taken to school in Dorchester by her mother Joy, who drove her there together with other local children. She remembers having to get out of the car to open the gates which then shut off the Lane. Dot moved away in 1956 to start her orthopaedic nurse training at Alton, later continuing her general training at Westminster. On her days off her mother collected her in the car so she could spend time at home. Then, whilst on holiday at Butlins in Brighton she met Simon, who worked for the London County Council. Romance blossomed and in 1961 they were married in St Andrew’s Church. After honeymooning in St Ives they returned to London where in 1965 son Chris was born, followed by daughter Tessa in 1967. In 1972 they relocated to Wyndings. Simon worked for Portland Council, and jokes that he went from working for the largest Council in the country to working for the smallest - though it did get bit bigger when it later merged with Weymouth. Dot was a Practice Nurse until her retirement. They had many outside interests, both with their gardening, Dot with her painting and flower arranging and Simon with his Freemasonry, but village activities were always an important part of their lives. Dot joined the WI when her mother Joy was the President, and Simon joined the SP Society when it started in 1968 and became Chairman some years later. They were also founder members of the SP Players that same year. The Players performed the works of Thomas Hardy, and later original works written by Simon himself, up until the early 80s. He was very generous with his casting, for even I was allowed to appear, despite my accent. Simon and Dorothy have been blessed with four grandchildren, Matt, Amelia, Kitty and Toby and in November their first great-grandchild, Ava Lily was born. I am sure that I speak for their many, many friends and everyone in the village when I send them our very best wishes and huge congratulations on their long and happy life together.
Chris
31 March 2021 - Puddledock not Plaisters
Hi everyone,
To put your minds at rest, in the latest email I meant that nails had been found in Puddledock Lane not Plaisters Lane. Jez was the first to let me know. It’s not an age thing, I’ve 
always mixed the two up as both start with “P” and end in “Lane”!
Just to prove that I’m not alone in making such mistakes, I was sent the attached photo by John – thanks for that – which clearly shows that even large organisations can get it wrong. If you check you will find that every local post box has the same wording. Obviously with a lot of the plates manufactured they decided to use them up anyway - or perhaps the Council are set on a name change?
Stay safe and smiling
Chris
31 March 2021 - Dangerous activity; SPSOC AGM
Hello everyone,
So there’s a chink of light at the end of the tunnel with a slight relaxation in the lockdown rules. If a year ago anyone had tried to tell me what a huge step it would seem to be able to meet five other people outdoors I would not have believed them.
A word of warning if you have occasion to drive or even walk down Plaisters Lane. As you can see from the pictures someone has been emptying the contents of their fire ash into the potholes in the track. Presumably this has been done in the spirit of helping to level the surface, but nails like this could be very dangerous to vehicle tyres and even pedestrians. If for instance an ambulance was damaged during an emergency callout serious harm could result. So please carefully check anything you might be thinking of depositing in the potholes and if in any doubt don’t do so. In fact it might be better not to put anything into the holes as it could cause damage or injury.
In lieu of the SP Society’s AGM which would normally have been held this year on Wednesday14 April, the Chair’s Report for the year and the Treasurer’s accounts will be issued by Newsbite on that date. I could give you an advance hint of what’s in both, but then I’d have to kill myself!
All the very best
Stay safe and smiling
Chris
14 March 2021 - Location app error; Spud in a tub; Slow time
Hello everyone,
“Mea culpa” as we used to say long ago in my Latin classes or as youngsters today say “My bad”. Thank you to everyone who pointed out my non-deliberate mistake with the ap that defines position to a 3 metre square in just three words. Even though Jez had written it correctly for me as what3words and I actually have it on my phone I still managed not to include the correct name. But what3words is the ap you need to identify your house to the emergency services.
A reminder about the Spud in a Tub competition. If you haven’t already got your single seed potato growing away in some rich compost in its tub then you still have time to get going as judging will likely take place at the beginning of August. I’ll update you later on the exact date.
A while ago I passed St Andrew’s Church on one of my regular walks and noting the time on the tower clock worked out that I was going very fast indeed. So fast that it dawned on me perhaps the clock was wrong, and so indeed it was. 15 minutes slow in fact. In the weeks since it has become slower and slower until it is now nearly fifty minutes behind GMT. The Town clock on the esplanade suffered in the same way a while ago, so perhaps there is a clock bug doing the rounds?
Stay safe and smiling
Chris
3 March 2021 - New signs at Puddledock Lane
Dear all,
It has been known for a while that the two sections of Puddledock Lane can confuse visitors and delivery drivers alike. This confusion took a serious turn recently when an ambulance was delayed during an emergency call to a house in the Lane. The crew arrived at the Severn Acres Road end and came across the "Unsuitable for motors " sign. Fearing they would not be able to get through they went back to the main road then up to and along Sutton Road to try and get in from the eastern end. Here they found exactly the same sign! Thankfully what could have been a life-or-death issue due to the loss of valuable minutes was resolved satisfactorily. Clearly the signage was not adequate and something needed to be done before a disaster occurred. The matter was promptly taken up with the Council and to their considerable credit they acted very swiftly and erected new additional signs on Tuesday. Hopefully these will prevent a repeat of the problem of emergency access and help others visiting the Lane.
There are a number of houses in the village with names not numbers, which can, the emergency services say, make it difficult for crews to find them, especially in the dark. They suggest that if dialling 999 you give the call handler additional information to help them find the location e.g. in the case of Puddledock Lane, which is the best entry point - either via Sutton Road or Seven Acres. The XXXX Ap can identify where you are to within metres with just three words. Identifying your front door location with these and keeping them on a handy note to pass on to the call handler could prove a life saver.
Since its “resurfacing” some three or four years ago the Puddledock Lane surface has deteriorated to the point where it is very difficult to walk along even in dry weather. But rain causes huge puddles to form and despite the efforts of dedicated villagers like Peter to channel the water away it is almost impassable. As one of my frequent walking routes I can vouch for this but suspect that finding a permanent solution will not be easy. I suppose the clue is in the name?
Keep safe and smiling
Best regards
Chris
25 February 2021 - The Wessex Water Pumping Station
Dear all,
Thank you to everyone who contacted me after the recent Newsbite. I will collate these for general consumption in the very near future.
If you have had the feeling that there has been more traffic in the village recently you would be correct. Wessex Water have had problems with some valves installed during the refurbishment of the Pumping Station and must to replace them. In order to do the work as quickly as possible they are working weekends. So more traffic and perhaps more water in the Jordan Stream, but they should be finished by the second week in March.
On the subject of the Pumping Station, John Willows, curator of the Sutton Poyntz Wessex Waterworks Museum for many years and a good friend to the village during his tenure, has sent us an update on what I would describe as ‘old faithful’, the steam engine which pumped water at the Waterworks for over 24 years.
John says that the original pumps were two single cylinder horizontal Whitham steam engines installed in 1882, with a Gimson two cylinder compound engine added in 1901. In 1934 these were replaced by a triple expansion Hathorn Davey steam engine manufactured in Leeds. This delivered excellent service until 1958 when the pumping station was converted from steam to electric power.
The Hathorn Davey engine was thought worth preserving so eventually, in 1973, it was dismantled by REME technicians, taken to their workshops at Bovington and re-assembled. In 1975 it set off for the Leeds Industrial Museum but sadly the preservation project had to be abandoned due to a fire and in 2000 the engine returned to Sutton Poyntz.
Here the asbestos cladding was removed, the engine part reassembled and stored outside suitably protected from the elements. The intention was to reinstate the engine in its original position in what is now called the Hathorn Davey Room. However operational constraints prevented this and for the sake of the engine’s future a new home was again sought. This proved to be the Internal Fire Museum of Power in West Wales and in January 2017 the engine left Sutton Poyntz for the last time. I am sure many of you can will remember the excitement as the engine was loaded onto the huge lorries for its journey to wonderful Wales.
John’s pictures show the much travelled HD engine installed in its new home at The Internal Fire Museum located in Tan-y-Groes, West Wales. It is now in steam i.e. fully operational and I think you'll agree they've done an excellent job in restoring it to its former glory. Nice to know that there’s a little bit of Sutton Poyntz in West Wales.
Stay safe
Chris
25 February 2021 - Reporting vandalism
Hello everyone,
We have suffered sporadic attacks of mindless vandalism in the village for some time e.g. traffic cones jammed in the river grating near the water works, cars damaged and so on. However things came to a head with the latest events last weekend when the flower box at Plaisters lane junction was pushed into the river as was a seat in Silver Street and a weather sign in Sutton Road was broken. As you also know a large quantity of books were stolen from the Telephone Box at about the same time. Although a car was mentioned parked near the Box, this was probably Tony Ferrari going about his lawful business, as he quite often stops there. He and Louie O’Leary have taken up the matter with the police on our behalf. However they realised, when they were discussing the issues that there is nothing on police files about these matters, and he says the police don’t really react except to reported incidents. So Tony asks all residents to call 101 to report any incidents of crime or vandalism they discover. If you come across something of this nature than ring 101 yourself, don’t assume that someone else will have done so. Better reported many times than not at all.
Best regards
Chris