| More lockdown news from the Fine times recorder, by courtesy of Fanny Charles and Gay Pirie-Weir: Every day we hear about more theatre, arts and other events that are being put online. Whether it’s grand opera from the Met or a “virtual Madrid Open” with Andy Murray, Johanna Konta and Rafa Nadal acing each other on their PlayStations, there is really something for everyone. The majority of the content is free, although some, like the Royal Shakespeare Company, are putting productions out via streaming companies (in the case of the RSC it is the specialist arts platform Marquee TV). But however you watch it, and whichever device you use (I can’t imagine watching Aida from the Met on my phone, but I’m sure some will), please do consider making a donation to the arts organisation. News this week includes Wiltshire Creative Connects, (click on the blue link and read all about it), a beautiful online ceramics exhibition at Sladers Yard and an international award for Somerset artist Fiona Campbell. Artsreach, Dorset’s rural touring arts charity had to cancel the remaining dates of the spring programme, the entire summer programme and, sadly, the 30th anniversary special events. These included what would have been the first visit to Dorset by Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. Artsreach is part of the national network of rural touring organisations – others in the West Country are Take Art! in Somerset, Villages In Action in Devon, Carn To Cove in Cornwall and Rural Arts Wiltshire which also covers south Gloucestershire. These groups bring a wide selection of theatre, music of all kinds, jazz, world, folk, classical, storytelling, children’s theatre, dance and more – and visual arts events – to rural communities. Together rural touring has lost around 1,000 performances, and potential income of £300,000-plus. That is just a tiny microcosm of the challenge that the arts and cultural sector will face when, eventually, live performance returns and galleries can reopen. Two Dorset festivals, b-side at Portland and Inside Out, at spectacular outdoor locations across the county, have also been postponed to 2021. For many people, it is the loss of live sporting events that has hit hardest, for others it is live performance, and for many of us it is the simple pleasures of a pub lunch in the spring, a coffee with friends while shopping or a meal at a restaurant. How we get these pleasures back is a huge challenge, not only for the government which has to decide when and how, but for all of us – will we be confident to head straight back to the stalls or the terraces, the bar or the bistro? The impact of the lockdown has been very mixed – in small rural towns like ours, with close networks of friends and family, we have been relatively lucky. We may miss the theatre (hugely!) or the football (not so much, to be honest) or the pub, but we haven’t really been deprived of human contact and the joys of a glorious spring. For those who are most vulnerable, for whom social distancing and quarantine may continue, there is a real danger of a loss of social confidence. So, as we emerge blinking into the light of post-lockdown, we need to be very aware of the importance of keeping the connections we have built up during these difficult weeks and months. Talking of opening up, I for one want to see bookshops reopening! I think it tells us an awful lot about Trump’s America (which is not the America of our friends or my daughter and son-in-law) that they are talking about tattoo shops as being in the first wave of reopening, and that the shops that people in a survey most wanted to see reopened were gun-shops. In France it was patisseries. I rest my case. We are continuing to update our Taste of the Help at Hand column whenever people tell us about services and deliveries that are available. So check to see what’s newly listed. We want to give a shout-out to our friend Susanne who took over Screen Bites Food Film Festival from us, and runs it as Screen Bites Second Slice. There won’t be a film festival this year, but Susanne has updated the online directory with contact details for the food producers. We have been delighted to get urgent garden stock, like potting compost, from PlantWorld at Gillingham, while anyone living in the villages around Alweston and Folke, near Sherborne, can go to Steve Oxford’s 200 year old traditional family bakery which is operating as a drive-through! Finally – two virtual festivals: BookBound 2020, a celebration of the written word and new writing, and the British Cheese Weekender, everything you want to know about Britain’s amazing artisan cheeses and how to order them. Keep an eye on the Isolational Ideas page for events, deliveries and other services. And do tell us about any local businesses offering local deliveries. Keep in touch – email us at info@theftr.co.uk * As well as Fine Times Recorder, Fanny and Gay also write the Deepest Books series – Deepest Dorset, published in 2016 and Deepest Wiltshire, 2019, with Deepest Somerset planned for autumn 2021. For more on the books and the charities they support, visit www.deepestbooks.co.uk |
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News, comment and gossip for Horsington, the Cheritons and surrounding villages in Somerset