The new oak bench made for Tudor Arcade in Dorchester by Simon Thomas Pirie Furniture of Dorset has been installed and is now “officially open”, as a smiling John Beaves tells a smiling passer-by at the end of this video.

Click here to see how the bench was steam-bent and scorched, and read why.

Note: this video was filmed and edited by Stephen Banks (“Dorset Scouser“) with me (Jonathan Hudston) chipping in from the sidelines in a manner that I like to think was sometimes useful.

When we there, we were approached by a rather belligerent old man who pointed at the bench and said: “I hope this isn’t being paid for on the rates.” Momentarily, it was tempting to say YES, to see his reaction, but it was obvious what it would have been, and anyway,  it wouldn’t have been true. It’s paid for by the private owners of the arcade.

Personally, I think it’s good to have features that add character to a place.

One of the reasons that Lyme Regis has fared well in recent years is that the resort has been able to secure some eye-catching and distinctive street furniture; the famous ammonite lamp-posts, for example.

The scheme (as far as I can remember) had two aims. First, to try to promote the careers of individual artists. Second, to improve the economy of West Dorset by showing it to be an attractive, creative place – somewhere worth visiting and worth doing business.

The scheme was funded by West Dorset District Council, South West Arts, and the South West of England Regional Development Agency.

The whole project has now been almost entirely forgotten, and the TM1 booklets are extraordinarily rare pieces of printed ephemera.

Now, clearly I’m biased, as I’m married to Sara Hudston, but it’s long seemed to me that her short essays were excellent pieces of work that deserve to be re-published and read.

The first piece to reappear on this site was about Amanda Wallwork. Next up, after Guy Martin, will be Carolyne Kardia, who is also taking part in this year’s Dorset Art Weeks. 

Parnham College, incidentally, was just outside Beaminster. It was set up by the furniture maker John Makepeace, who now lives in Beaminster itself and, yes, is also taking part in this year’s Dorset Art Weeks. In fact, he pretty much started them, if I remember right, but that is another story. Jonathan Hudston

Guy Martin: A “beautiful thriftiness”

Good design should serve the needs of humankind and the interests of the environment, believes furniture maker Guy Martin.

Using renewable local materials and ecologically sound methods of manufacture, Martin produces pieces that reject market-led criteria in favour of the needs and desires of individual people. His entire philosophy of making is founded on his belief in the value of purity and integrity. Martin’s faith in sustainable practice is governed by a strong sense of spirituality and service as exemplified by vernacular craft communities.

"Cathedral" by Guy Martin. Ash, Stripped Willow.

For six years Martin was design tutor at Parnham College in Dorset. His time there brought him into contact with desgners and business theorists of international repute, inspiring change and a rigorous reappraisal of values that enabled him to develop a unified philosophy of lifestyle and artistic practice.

Bench by Guy Martin. Lime-Waxed Birch, Stainless Steel.

All Martin’s woods are sourced locally from renewable supplies. Cultivated willow from the Somerset levels was one of his favourite materials but supply difficulties have prompted him to make greater use of ash thinnings. He harvests the ash himself, selectively thinning as an essential part of woodland management. This choice of material displays a beautiful thriftiness since these small diameter poles would ordinarily be wasted or burnt for firewood.

Martin’s awareness of environmental issues also influences his practice in the workshop. He avoids using adhesives or other harmful chemicals and never disguises his core materials with veneers. Embellishment is restrained by functionality, emphasising the essential honesty of every piece. The result is a quality product where function has controlled the form, but works in balance with the possibilities of modern technology and other small-workshop constraints.

Storage Tower by Guy Martin. Lime-Waxed Ash, Stainless Steel.

Although Martin’s work is rooted in traditional English methods and influenced by the historic precedent of the medieval craft guilds, there is nothing sentimental about his approach. He uses machine processes where necessary and is not afraid to let the effects show on the finished item. He rightly views over-emphasis on hand techniques as an irrelevant attachment to suspect notions of authenticity, rather than a properly informed craft choice.

It is a measure of Martin’s range and skill that his elegant and original pieces avoid parochialism and yet speak so distinctly of a particular rural area. A recent development is the inclusion of stainless steel, which has made his work less explicitly rustic and lent his structures added modernity.

Guy Martin: Brought up on a converted torpedo boat

Guy Martin was brought up on a converted motor torpedo boat moored at Hayling Island. He studied at Portsmouth School of Art and St Martin’s School of Art in London, where he took a BA Hons in sculpture. In 1984 he started a contemporary furniture design practice. From 1988-94 he was design tutor at Parnham College in Dorset, during which period he developed a strong interest in ecology and global environmental concerns.

He has since established his own independent practice in Dorset, making interior domestic furniture, as well as teaching and lecturing. He says: “Design is a listening process, a responsibility and a service and it should take account of the environment and its resources.”

Guy Martin & Dorset Art Weeks 2012

Guy Martin’s Crown Studios at Old Crown Cottage in Greenham on the B3162 near Drimpton in the far west of Dorset are open every day during Dorset Art Weeks from 10am – 5pm between Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, June 10. On May 31, June 1, June 7 and June 8 he’s also open from 6pm to 8pm.

Mr Martin is putting on a joint show with Anne Quick – number 190 in the Dorset Art Weeks (DAW) brochure.

“Please come and enjoy our studios, garden and home with a cup of tea,” says the DAW entry. But note: no wheelchair access.

For more information, call 01308-868122, email guy@guy-martin.com or visit his website at http://www.guy-martin.com

Anne can be contacted via email on anyaquickmartin@talktalk.net or visit her website at http://www.annequick.co.uk

In total, 100o artists are taking part in Dorset Art Weeks at 360 free venues: http://www.dorsetartweeks.co.uk

Or look out for a free printed brochure (actually, more like a book these days): Tourist Information Centres normally have a good supply.

Or E: All of those things and more? The answer, of course, is E, certainly in the eyes of its makers – the team at Simon Thomas Pirie Furniture at Briantspuddle near Bere Regis in Dorset. The oak bench they’ve steam-bent and scorched is going to be installed in Dorchester’s Tudor Arcade, outside of Waitrose and Fat Face, at the start of May.  So how does Simon Pirie hope his creation will impress the eyes of its beholders and the backsides of its users?

He said: “I hope people will get a sense of fun out of it, I hope it will be visually stimulating, and I also hope it will spark conversation, because in a sense it is a conversation piece.

“It’s a practical piece of furniture with a few quirks, but it is first and foremost a conversation piece, somewhere people can meet and talk and people watch.”

In the video above Simon explains that the bench is partly inspired by traditional love seats, in which people sit side-by-side but back-to-back, so the bench is divided into a series of separate chairs.

Simon said: “The chair that you see as you walk down the arcade towards the supermarket will be face on towards you and the idea is that it will feel quite throne-like. The person who gets that seat is going to feel quite important because they are going to have the whole vista of the shopping arcade coming towards them. I’m looking forward to getting that kind of long shot down the arcade to see who’s got that prime seat.

“It might be me on occasions, I suppose.”

Simon Pirie trained in the 1990s at Hooke Park College near Beaminster in West Dorset. The college was set up by the internationally renowned furniture maker John Makepeace to encourage a generation of “entrepreneurs in wood”. Simon has been running his own fine furniture business for 12 years, until now working largely with individual clients.

The Dorchester bench is different. The result of a public art commission, it’s a significant new venture.

Simon said:  ”We wanted to create something special for this. I mean, we’re known as fine furniture makers. Public art is relatively new for us, and it’s an area we’re looking to expand into.

“This is the first piece that will actually go in situ, so it’s an important job for us.

“We’re working with architects and commercial companies rather than individual clients and that’s a little bit different for us, so it’s a groundbreaker.

“It also manages to encompass lots of other areas of interest, like steambending, like high-tech manufacturing techniques, and like scorching, so there’s lots of elements in there which are very exciting for us as furniture makers.

“And I guess the slightly quirky joke from my perspective is that, if you look at it from above, it’s actually in the shape of a question mark.

“So, there is that kind of question – What should it be used for? How can it be used? Hopefully it has that sense of fun about it, because you don’t want want to be too po-faced and serious.”

Simon said that he has always had a hankering to do outside furniture, and the chance to fulfill that wish in Dorchester has been gratifying.

“It’s our county town, it’s where local and regional government is based, so it’s good to do it in Dorchester.

“It’s a gem of a little town, it’s a beautiful place, and the arcade where it’s going to be the visual centrepiece is having a refresh.

“Despite the general air of gloom about the economy there’s actually quite a lot of optimism in Dorchester, there’s new projects and new buildings, so it’s an exciting place to be.

“It’s our local county town, six or seven miles away from our workshop; it feels very nice.”

Editor’s Note: I’ve been interested in Hooke Park College and people associated with it ever since I first went there about 18 years ago. Simon Pirie is part of the group of people who’ve spread out from there across Dorset… I made the video above with Stephen Banks (“Dorset Scouser“).

Oh how we’ve missed it. A couple of months ago, when it seemed all hope was lost, Lush Places penned its very own community poem, each person contributing one or two lines and egged on by that Wondermentalist, the performance poet Matt Harvey, as part of an Artsreach show.

If, like me, you’re a lover of brevity, this poem is no haiku or limerick. But it’s well worth a read to the end. We’ve passed this love letter to our local to Palmers Brewery who say they have never seen anything quite like it.

So here goes…

An ode to the White Lion

In the bar the lion sleeps tonight

They say the White Lion roams on Lewesdon Hill

‘Is anybody there?’ said the traveller

The open pub will have to do good grub

I went there once and had a pie

One landlord with more than eyes for the ladies and another one who was as miserable as Hades

We need people to cheer where there is beer

Like Shipton Gorge’s New Inn, the Lion will be a-brewin

Ruling the world from Compost Corner

Warm and welcoming, friendly to dogs

T’was the White Lion in Lush Places where I did want to dine

Miss the hairy sofa

I have never seen a white lion

Fuggy, muggy air seeps through, contaminating passers-by

The Lion is closed, the Lion is dead, long live the Lion

Oh to be in the White Lion now that winter’s here

Endless possibilities

A warm glass of Chardonnay from a fridge too far

After a few wines I too roar like a lion

Don’t lean on the wall Fred

Come back John and Sue

An inviting place of comfort and warmth

I’d like ice with mine…

The White Lion has joined the other myths of Dorset, such as the black dog of Common Water Lane

Squishy, squashy dog-hair sofa. The pub with no beer or any other cheer

That Palmers is rank again, like making love in a punt – near water

The garden is full of frogs

Last orders…pleeease

Tricky Dicky and Domestic Pam

Please give us basic pub food e.g. local sausages and mash

The lion is white with fright at the beer here

We miss our pub which we should use for happy evenings, food and booze

Road safety, don’t tear round the White line/Lion

New Year conga round the village

All we’re left with is a lonely pub and no beer

‘What do you mean there is no Guinness?’

We miss the cheer. The clink of glasses – the bubble of voices

The White Lion lives with my husband under the kitchen table

Open again soon.

The White Lion, dream of the hunters? Where oh where is all the beer?

A giggling group gathered in Compost Corner. A pub of dwindling renown

Palmers, re-open our long dark pale pussy cat

The White Lion lost its roar and customers galore, smiling, laughter, no frowning or scowls.

The buzz and banter of a pub in the community

Come back, come back, the hunt is here

The weather vane on the roof spins round and round

Lots of jolly people, great expectations

We had a pleasant jar served up by landlord ex-QPR

The White Lion is closed

Will rise like a Phoenix

CAMRA spokesman Michel Hooper-Immins said: “Members nominate their favourite pubs – then a panel of judges goes round individually to inspect each of them.

“This year our judges reported that The King’s Arms at Thornford and The Tiger Inn at Bridport were too close to separate, so we decided – exceptionally this year – to name both a Rural and a Town Pub of the Year.”

Members will, however, have to decide which pub to put forward for the title of Wessex Regional Pub of the Year against 10 other pubs from East Dorset, Hampshire, parts of Somerset and Wiltshire, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.

I wonder how they will do it? Name from a hat? Toss of a coin? They’re the classic tie-breaking methods but there could be so many others. Pause for a moment and let your imagination do its thing… Oh boy, could you have some fun.

The CAMRA West Dorset Town Pub of the Year 2012

The CAMRA West Dorset Town Pub of the Year 2012 is the Tiger Inn in Barrack Street, Bridport.

“This bright and cheerful Victorian ale house offers a frequently changing beer list,” says the 2012 CAMRA Good Beer Guide. “The Tiger is a well hidden secret, worth seeking out.”

Over the last week, seven real ales have been served from four hand pumps, including St. Austell Tribute from Cornwall, Jimmy Riddle from the Dorset Piddle brewery, Stargazer from Yeovil and Wickwar Brand Oak Bitter from Gloucestershire.

Londoners Graham and Jacqueline Taylor have been in the licensed trade for 22 years, coming to the Bridport free house five years ago, from a King & Barnes tenancy in Horsham.

“We’re a community pub and our customers are very fond of rugby,” said Graham Taylor. “I am gobsmacked to win this Town Pub award and we are both very pleased.”

The West Dorset 2012 Pub of the Year certificates were presented by CAMRA’s Rich Gabe at the Dorchester Beer Festival.

The CAMRA West Dorset Rural Pub of the Year 2012

The CAMRA West Dorset Rural Pub of the Year 2012 is the King’s Arms at Thornford, three miles south of Sherborne. A traditional free house in the centre of the village and built in 1905, it is owned by the Digby estate.

The 2012 CAMRA Good Beer Guide says: “The bar area is simple in decor, but offers a warm welcome to drinkers and diners alike.”

Over the last week This week, the three handpumps are dispensing Otter Bitter from Devon, Skinners Spriggan Ale from Cornwall and Fuller’s London Pride.

Licensees Andrew and Ann Evans took over the King’s Arms in 2008 and bought the lease from the former Hidden Brewery two years later. Born at Keswick in the Lake District, Andrew is a teetotaller – unusual in a licensee. Ann is from Wiltshire.

She said: “We are just building a new restaurant and we are naturally delighted and encouraged at winning this CAMRA accolade.”

WEST DORSET RURAL PUB OF THE YEAR 2012

The King’s Arms, Pound Road, Thornford. DT9 6QD. Tel. 01935 872294.

Licensees: Andrew and Ann Evans.

WEST DORSET TOWN PUB OF THE YEAR 2012

Tiger Inn, 14/16 Barrack Street, Bridport. DT6 3LY. Tel. 01308 427543.

Licensees: Graham and Jacqueline Taylor.

So, it has been over a week since I uploaded my ‘labour of love’, Bridport by Night, to YouTube. The video really took off in the first four days, accumulating some 8,000 views in that period alone. Hits from technology site Gizmodo and Anglotopia helped it along its way, but the majority of views were picked up by an organic sharing frenzy on Facebook and Twitter.

Throughout last week, I had people who I didn’t know from the local area following me on Twitter and adding me on Facebook. Many of them commented expressing their praise for the video. To date, the video on YouTube has had about 75 comments (and the same number of replies by me), 206 likes and 2 dislikes – a comment reading “Two dislikes for this video? The pair of you: YOU ARE DEAD INSIDE” made me chuckle.

Interest has died down at the moment. A few people have quietly complained about how much I was mouthing off about it, so I haven’t been sharing it around so much. But the other night, ITV West Country Tonight came to West Bay and filmed me for a piece they are running. And this Saturday, the film is being shown at the Bridport Arts Centre as part of a Spirit of Bridport event.

My target number of views for the video is 12,977 (which is Wikipedia‘s listed population for Bridport). It should soon surpass that. I already have plans to make a second, improved version of the video. Difficult second album?

When it comes to exclusives I am going to be bringing you a real hum-dinger, a blow-your-socks-off, bells a-ringing and horns a-tooting exclusive of the type that most of us only get to see once in a lifetime. Yes, this is going to be a belter.

Today, this very one, all the legal formalities are being completed for a change of management and ownership of one of Bridport’s premier nosheries – sorry , I should have written – establishments for the participation and enjoyment of your dining experience. Either way, the sort of place that dishes up your grub.

Once the formalities are finished and done with and the dust has settled down this very place will be offering the good folk of Bridport the chance to enjoy, for one day only, a delicacy that most of them will not have seen or tasted in decades. It is one that the vast majority of them would give their eye teeth to enjoy again, I know I would, if I still had any.

Beyond that I bound by the journalistic code of honour, the usual well-stuffed brown envelope, to say no more for the time being. However, I will do. I must admit I seldom get excited about food but this is something even I am determined not to miss, come the day.

I promise you – if you are middle-aged, or older, you are going to love this one. Just you wait and see!

We’ve coped, because in Lush Places that’s how we rock. But it can’t go on forever.

With one in five properties here a holiday home, it does make you wonder what the future holds. Especially when several people were asked in the parish plan survey ‘what don’t you like about Lush Places?’ they replied: ‘noisy agricultural vehicles’.

So it cheered me to the bone when I was told another answer: ‘incomers who tell us what to do’.

There’s hope for Lush Places yet.

That would truly be a town of utter desolation, a total pit of a place that would be completely unsuited to human habitation.

That would be Poundbury.

Could there ever be a place so desolate, so soulless and so completely lacking in a single attractive feature? Finding one would be a task on a Herculean scale and one which would make big, strong men blanch at the prospect of undertaking.

To enter Poundbury is to enter the Pit of Despair.

Drive around it and you will not see a single soul, no pedestrians walk the streets, no children play around its chilling exterior and no person dares to knock on a neighbour’s front door in the hope of a cup of sugar. Are they all ashamed to be seen in a such a place? Probably. Are they all mortified at the rush of blood to the head that impelled them to move there in the first place? Undoubtedly. Can the all be seeking the sanctity of their own homes as a release from their dreadful surroundings? Of course they are.

If towns were the lyrics of popular songs Poundbury would be “He made a vow while in State’s Prison, ‘bout it would be my life or his’n” or even “Yummy, yummy, yummy I’ve got love in my tummy” – yes it truly is that bad.

Ghastly, hideous, revolting and appalling, a whole thesaurus could not summon up enough adjectives to describe this total waste of perfectly good bricks and mortar, this nightmare of development that should have been smothered at birth, this appendage to a county town which must now bear its shame for evermore.

In a nutshell I do not like Poundbury.

On that cheery note I should like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and everything that you wish for yourselves in the New Year. As ever, mine’s a pint, thank you very much.

We are a place that has lost its permanent post office, shop and pub but we are adapting. And doing pretty well at it too. We may be in Jack and the Beanstalk Land and surrounded by mist for nine months of the year and a world away from the sophisticated (and maddening) Bridport crowd, but far from being miserable, we get on and just sow those beans and make our own luck.

Tonight, in the village hall, the crowds gathered for the first Lush Places community bar of earthly delights. Branscombe ale at £1.50 a pint – grab it while you can, once it’s gone, it’s gone – shorts and wine for the same price and doubles at £2 a go.

There were people (or was it the gods?) playing skittles upstairs, the book club members attempting floppers at table skittles in the main hall, the singing teacher showing everyone how to play a very smuttily-named card game while the table tennis kings were bobbing up and down like this as Bob Marley yelled No Woman, No Cry until some children pulled the plug out of the iPod and portable speakers on the stage and then said rather too loudly it was nothing to do with them.

A couple of farmers complained about the price of milk and then the iPod suddenly sprung back into life with Booker T and the MGs’ Time is Tight. And still the doubles were flying from the optics.

A brindle coloured lurcher was rather better behaved than the very strident lady knocking back red wine like it was Ribena. The allotments group dug deep into their pockets and the short arse bowlers got on their knees before paying for a round. The air was ripe with the smell of pickled onions, cubes of Cheddar cheese and those pretzels that defy all logic with no-ever ever eating them.

Christ, we’ve got at least a month or more of this to go before the pub re-opens. With prices like these, I hope the new publicans don’t accuse us of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.