Nether Cerne

  • EDWARD Gallia from Nether Cerne has been shortlisted for a prestigious national competition.

His project of supplying local food manufacturers with flour milled from wheat grown at Nether Cerne caught the eyes of the judges for the "Made in Britain Awards" run by the Farmers Guardian, Waitrose and Country Living magazine.

He is now one of eight people shortlisted for the title of "Best Farm Entrepreneur 2008".

"Our recent (and still growing) venture is to have our wheat milled locally and to sell flour directly to local foodies such as bakers and biscuit makers." Edward explains. Oxford's bakery were very supportive from the outset, but the most recent and largest product to be launched is Olives et al's "Thick and Thin" biscuit which can be bought from their shop in Sturminster Newton and also from Moores biscuits.

Moores are looking to launch a new, truly Dorset knob made from Nether Cerne's flour.

Numerous other outlets also offer products made from Nether Cerne flour at Oxford's bakery.

Edward continues: "I have always enjoyed eating and cooking and then had a vision of milling our wheat for use by local food manufacturers.

As I researched the idea and spoke to the relevant people, I found my enthusiasm steadily increasing, fuelled by the thought of eating bread or biscuits made from wheat grown by us, milled by a friend and cooked by us or locally.

Our flour is of known origin, has very few food miles and has been developed by working closely with bakers and millers.

Seeing our ten month old daughter wolfing down our home baked bread made of locally milled wheat is the ultimate satisfaction!"

You can help Edward Gallia succeed in his quest for "Best Farm Entrepreneur 2008" by voting for him on the following website: http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=43&storycode=17984&featurecode=307.

If you would like to speak to Edward specifically on local flour and his project, you can reach him on 01300 342101 or e-mail Edward@nethercerne.co.uk

Buckland Newton

  • NIGEL Bladon will once again lead the annual pilgrimage to Hilfield.

Participants meet outside the church on Sunday, May 25 at 2pm and enjoy a walk which takes about two hours.

All walkers are then invited into the Friary and to join the Brothers for a welcome tea with a 5pm worship at the chapel to follow.

If you would like to join in, please bring a plate of something to eat, be it cake, biscuits or sandwiches.

This contribution of yours will be collected before the walk, in readiness for tea.

Well behaved dogs are welcome.

Cerne Abbas

  • CERNE Abbas First School would like to remind everyone that there is still time to support the planning application for the new school if you wish to do so.

You can do this by accessing the West Dorset District Council planning page (www.dorsetforyou.com/ePlanning/searchPageLoad.do) and enter the application number 1/D/2008/0802 and following the prompts afterwards.

The consultation period ends on Friday, May 23 with a target decision date of Thursday, June 19.

Some excellent graphic impressions of the proposed building can also be seen on this site.