About the Book
"Dorset Man" is a rural arts project documenting men's working lives within the 'Chalk and Cheese' area of Dorset. Here you will find blacksmiths, thatchers, fishermen, shepherds, sheep shearers, foresters, hurdlemakers, bakers, butchers, cheese makers, publicans, millers, scrap dealers, charcoal burners, grave diggers, bee-keepers, rat catchers and swill men. They live and work in an area stretching, from Thorncombe and Monkton Wyld in the west of the county, to Farnham, Cann Common and Melbury Abbas in the east. The project was masterminded by James Crowden, a local poet and historian who has worked here for 25 years. He collaborated with West Dorset photographer George Wright, whose work has appeared in books and magazines worldwide and is part of the National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection. Together, Crowden and Wright have created an invaluable historical record of how rural life has changed since the 1900s. Crowden made digital recordings of the men talking about their lives while Wright photographed them on medium format film.
The result shows a landscape rich in stories and depicts a rural way of life sure to inspire a new generation interested in local food and indigenous craft skills. "Dorset Man" was funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and 'Chalk and Cheese', a UK Leader plus funding initiative supporting sustainable development in Dorset's rural heartland.
Table of Contents:
Introduction West Dorset: Farmwork Jim & Jack Webber: Hedgelayers, Stoke Abbot 8 Bert Vickery: Farmer, Thorncombe 14 Dick Measures: "King of Swill", Toller Whelme 18 West Dorset: Rural skills & cider making John Symonds: Gravedigger & ratcatcher, born Whitechurch Canonicorum 26 Norman Strawbridge: Gamekeeper & sheep shearer,Forde Abbey 35 Norman Purchase: Cider maker, Netherbury 42 John Gale & Bernie Joy: South Western Joinery,Pymore 46 Nick Poole: Builder & cider maker, West Milton 54 Richard & Darren Tuck: Thatchers, Symondsbury 61 Bread, cheese and milk Michael Stoate: Miller, Cann Mills 69 Norman & Graham House: Bakers, Maiden Newton 75 Will Best: Organic dairy farmer, Godmanstone 82 Mike Davies: Blue vinny cheesemaker, Stock Gaylard 92 Meat, honey and beerClive Sage: Shepherd, Monkton Wyld 96 Simon Berry & Ron Woodrow: Butchers, Beaminster 100 Peter Cariss: Beekeeper, Shipton Gorge 105 Roy Warburton: Publican, Shave Cross,Marshwood Vale 112 Backwoodsmen Mark Harris: Hurdlemaker & old soldier, Farnham 116 Ern Steel: Hurdlemaker & sparmaker, Farnham 123 David Winskill: Forester & woodman, Child Okeford 129 Richard Hayward: Sawmill owner, Bulbarrow, Milton Abbas 134 Rick Smith: Charcoal burner, Halstock 139 On the edge of the Chalk Anthony Bailey: Farrier & blacksmith, Stourpaine 146 Walt Pitman: Shepherd, Compton Abbas 153 John Cluett: Lorry driver, Shaftesbury 160 Matthew James: Parish councillor, Melbury Abbas & Cann 172 West Bay: Crabs, lobsters and seine nets Arthur Watson: Restauranteur, Riverside Cafe 182 Dave Sales & Peter Newton: Fishermen, 'Gillian S' 187 Humphrey Bickford: Fisherman 193 Dessie Gape: Seine netter, Burton Bradstock 197 Postscript 201 Notes on Author & Photographer 207 Acknowledgements 208
About the Author :
James Crowden was born in Plymouth in 1954 and grew up on the western edge of Dartmoor. He joined the army, read Civil Engineering at Bristol University, then travelled widely in the Middle East, Eastern Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. In 1976 he spent a year in Ladakh on the northern side of the Himalaya and lived in a high altitude Tibetan Buddhist valley called Zangskar. After studying anthropology at Oxford he worked in the Outer Hebrides, Bristol Docks and North Dorset. It was around Shaftesbury that he kept sheep and worked as a woodman, shepherd and sheep shearer. His first book, Blood Earth & Medicine charts the annual cycle of farm work as seen through the eyes of a casual agricultural labourer. He then moved to Somerset and took up cider making in the autumn. Other books followed, In Time of Flood and The Wheal of Hope - South Crofty and Cornish Tin Mining with George Wright, Bridgwater - the Parrett's Mouth, Working Women of Somerset, with Pauline Rook, as well as Cider the Forgotten Miracle. More recent books include Waterways for the National Trust and Silence at Ramscliffe - Foot and Mouth in North Devon with Chris Chapman. James now writes full time. George Wright was born in London in 1950. From 1970-1973 he studied graphic design at Wimbledon School of Art and in 1975 he became a freelance photographer. He has worked internationally for many newspapers, magazines and book publishers. His pictures have appeared in The Independent Magazine, The Observer, The Independent on Sunday Review, Departures (USA) and Instituto Geografico De Agostini (Milan). He has also worked as a stills photographer for Channel 4. His work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Chicago Botanic Gardens. He also has a number of photographs in the National Portrait Gallery collection. His books include English Topiary Gardens (1988), Ceramic Style (1994,) Print Style (1995), In Time of Flood (1996), a collection of photographs of the Somerset Levels and The Wheal of Hope (2000) about the demise of South Crofty and Cornish Tin Mining. He has lived in Dorset since 1983 and has undertaken many local commissions and arts projects. A large collection of his work is on permanent display at the Dorset County Hospital.
