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January 2021 January 2021

CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION LOCKDOWN STORIES

Bere Regis residents have The New Year Over the Hill
so far nominated thirty-five Again I am making a new start to this article having lost my original attempt.
p e o p l e , p a r t n e r s , Never the less it is wonderful to be a countryman and be living amongst such
businesses or groups to wonderful people. Before living in Turnerspuddle, Madge and I lived on the edge
receive Certificates of of the Cranborne Chase, in the little hamlet of Woodcutts. Our next door
A p p r e c i a t i o n i n neighbour but one was a
recognition of the huge lady well into her eighties Her
contribution they have name was Win and she had
made to our community lived there all her life. In fact
during these difficult times. the house was built just
Efforts have varied from before her birth. Her father
stepping up to help neighbours, or altering how businesses were run to spotting worked for the Pitt Rivers’
where help was needed, and providing it. estate he and her mother
had moved from an old
Two more people have been nominated and we are delighted to add their
names to the list of people we will honour as soon as we are able to meet property at the end of her
together to do so: existing garden that the Pitt
R i v e r s ’ E s t a t e h a d
Eileen Spracklen and Louise Connor for making facemasks by hand for the whole demolished, having built the
BereConnect volunteer team. new one. Win had lost her
husband some years
Please feel free to nominate anyone else whose efforts you feel have helped to previously and her daughter
make life easier, or more bearable for any of our residents during these difficult was a constant visitor until she died in her early fifties. So Madge and I were
times. regular visitors and Win, who managed her huge garden by herself and was
always giving us flowers and vegetables. One day when Madge went to see her
Ian Ventham
in her garden she said ”You have changed my life as I didn’t see anyone for days
before you came”. Her next door neighbour was Mr Jock as he was known.
My first meeting with him was about seven o’clock in the morning. We had just
moved in and I had made myself a cup of tea and I decided to have a nose
around. I went out carrying my cup of tea with me only to be met by Jock, who
had never met or seen me before. His first words were, “Where did you get a cup
of tea up here from and at this time of the morning.”.
He had a strong Scottish accent, having been brought up in Scotland, but was in
fact Irish. He was born of an Irish Mother, who was a very young unmarried girl
and was considered to be a disgrace to her family and in some way moved to
Scotland had her son and had him moved to an orphanage. As soon as he was
old enough to work he was on a farm as an assistant to a shepherd. He was
known by his Irish name of Mr Robert Meehan when I knew him but he was also
referred to as Shep, Bob, Mr Shep.or simply Jock.
He had been married and had a family but none near him and when his wife
died was a very lonely man. He was in this state when I first got to know him but

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