Despite a reduced number of entries due to conflicting village events, the Village Vegetable Show was a huge success.

The gloves were off for the ‘Spud in a Tub’ competition – literally, for Peter Sheaves and Mike Haines bare hands made light work of removing the spuds from the earth in the tubs – and two wheelbarrows had to be used to speed the judging process such were the number of competitors.

After some long and heated debate it was decided that for the first time the weighing would be carried out in metric units (on a kitchen scales so ancient that it was a wonder that it had anything but pounds and ounces!)

The competition was as fiercely contested as ever, though it has to be said that some tubs looked much bigger than others!

At one end of the scale was Ros with 0.25 Kg, but the runaway winner, with 2.8Kg, was Paul Nicholson. Paul became the first winner of a new trophy presented in memory of villager Des Evans who passed away earlier in the year.

Paul also won prizes for the heaviest marrow and longest runner bean. Amongst other winners was Dave Emery with his three carrots; Dave Caddy with three tomatoes; Peter Sheaves with three courgettes; Bill Egerton with five soft fruits; Margaret Tambling with a flower arrangement and Jill Caddy with a leaf arrangement.

The teas and delicious homemade cakes, served by the unsung heroes of the kitchen, were as welcome as always.

John Crisp thanked all those who entered, attended and helped with the organisation, and was pleased to announce that £270 had been raised for the Weymouth children’s charity, Waves.

John himself, and Caroline, also deserve a vote of thanks for all the effort that they put in to the organisation of this marvellous local annual event.

Councillor David Mannings has given me sight of correspondence concerning the possible modifications to the Chalbury Corner junction to redirect traffic into Weymouth via Littlemoor Road.

The recommendation from an initial assessment carried out by the Dorset County Council Environmental Services Department is that ‘there will NOT be a proposed major scheme at Chalbury but that the issue will be dealt with by the amendment of the strategic signing which should allay local concerns over recent articles that have been circulated.’

Provided that this is the end of the matter – and plans have been known to change! - I know that this come as a relief to many local people, especially to those who have been organising a campaign against any changes.

This campaign has received excellent support, for many were concerned that any modifications would be expensive, unnecessary and detrimental not only to the traffic flow, but to the beauty of the area, for the roundabout is always a most attractive feature.