Judi Spiers on Monday Golden otter? You know it makes sense
IN the words of Del Boy, “Pot Pourri! Bonnet de douche and Chateauneuf du Pape!”
My ‘Del Boy Tr’Otter & son’ have been named as ‘Golden Otters’ in this year’s Moor Otters Arts Trail! I don’t blame you if you have no idea what
I’m burbling on about, what with what’s been going on for the last 12 months, so if you don’t mind I will, as Del Boy might say, ‘elevate you’!
The Moor Otters Arts Trail is a project designed to not only raise money for one of this country’s most outstanding areas of natural beauty, Dartmoor, but to fire up the imagination of young and old alike – 81
3 ft high resin sculptures of otters and their cubs were sent out last year to local and national artists, professional and amateur, to decorate in any way they saw fit. Once finished they would be adopted by various businesses, community groups and public areas across Dartmoor, in what they call ‘gateway’ towns and villages. ‘Otter spotters’ would then be invited to pick up a map from one of the Visitor Centres at Postbridge, Princetown or Haytor, or download them from the website and tick them off as and when they spotted them on four trails. There would be competitions for the Most Sustainable Otter Spotter, an ‘ottertunity’ (sorry) to Design Your Own Otter and an Otter Spotter Draw. Then at the end of the summer ‘otter spotters’ as well as art collectors, and in fact anyone Del Boy Tr’Otter & Son who fancied it, would have the ottertu.. (sorry, done that pun) the chance to give their favourite otter a home by bidding
for them in an auction. Well, it was all going so well until last March, when we were confined to barracks with no idea when or if the event could take place. I’m pleased to say it’s back on for this year – all dates, of course, subject to Government guidelines.
And I learned just last week that my Del Boy Tr’Otter has been named as a ‘Golden Otter’ and, if all goes well, in October it will go, along with 25 others, into a live auction hosted by Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood. May I just add that these 25
Golden Otters were chosen in a ‘blind tasting’, so to speak. Meaning that the judges were unaware of who designed what! Although I happen to know that a certain rabbit is convinced that his appearance on my entry had a lot to do with it being chosen. I rue the day I decided to do that. He insisted on posing until I came up with what he considered a suitable likeness and still wasn’t happy with the result. I now know how Graham Sutherland must have felt with Winston Churchill’s response to his portrait.
And don’t talk to me about camouflage. I had my husband’s tent up in the lounge for a fortnight in an attempt to recreate that pattern! I was a bit disappointed that the family firm didn’t want to supply the bling but it all worked out in the end.
You can pop in and see Del Boy soon when he takes up residence in his holiday home ‘The Dartmoor Bed Company’ opposite Darts Farm and you can check out the rest of the amazing entries and read what the artist’s motivation was at the Moor Otters Facebook group and get all the details at www.dartmoor.gov.uk
So gird your loins to have some fun in, or around one of the most glorious areas in the country this summer! I can’t promise that ‘this time next year we’ll be millionaires!’ but we will have raised a lot of money for Dartmoor. Lovely Jubbly!
I happen to know that a certain rabbit is convinced his appearance on my entry had a lot to do with it being chosen
I WAS alarmed to hear that UK exports to the EU dropped by more than 40% in January, which is doubly concerning when you see that imports dropped by significantly less at 28.8%.
Coupled with the economy shrinking by just shy of 3% this is not good news. The Western Morning News reported on the further delays in post-Brexit border controls. It is a bit rich of Michael Gove to blame this on coronavirus when we had been told repeatedly last year how well prepared we were and that we didn’t need to accept the EU’s offer of a delay in implementation.
Make your mind up, Gove – if you had really been listening to business, you would have grabbed that delay with both hands.
People who know better than me say 40% is well beyond teething troubles and this is echoed by businesses directly involved on a regular basis, even now in March.
The lies and excuses to shore up the rhetoric are wearing rather thin. And we seem to be doing everything possible to damage relationships when we need them most – aggressive stances to please supporters is short-sighted. Business needs help, not more tension.
Michael Carter Exeter