Local suppliers

A bit late with my daily post......but better late than never (my usual refrain when I turn up at site visits). I decided to go to the cinema with police officer and occasional marquee rigger Ed 'Imhotep' Messinger this evening and saw Anchorman 2 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug back-to-back. A bit geeky I know but I wanted to see them before they left the big screen. Good films and lots of snacks enjoyed by all. 

Anyway, to business (and given the time it will be a short one). With this post I just wanted to give a shout out to some of the suppliers local to us who we encounter most weeks and that provide such a brilliant service.

Starting with the closest, there's RS1 Security and Autospray on the same site as us. A short distance up the road there's O & O Engineering who do such a good job keeping our trusty Land Rover Defenders in the best of health. 

Then there's Events Crew who supply a great deal of useful event equipment such as tower lights, generators, electrics, fencing, staging and more; and Ford Fuels where we get our texas tea. Henstridge Golf Club always provides a good welcome if you fancy swinging the old wrenches, shooting pool or swigging back the Thatchers Gold.  It's one of the Oakleaf team's favourite hangouts. We also love borrowing stuff from the friendly team at Dorset Aquatics and they certainly love reciprocating.  

Heading into Stalbridge there's Stalbridge Building Supplies that keep us stocked to the brim with 150mm nails, M10 bolts and wing nuts, tape measures (I lose at least one of these a month) and sledge hammers (we broke loads of these in 2013 thanks to the dry weather).  John and his team at the Ring Street Filling Station always welcome you with a smile and a good range of, well, everything (fuel, food, car bits, home bits etc).

Stalbridge is of course home to two great institutions (three if you include me): Dikes, the BEST independent supermarket (in fact best supermarket full stop) in Dorset if not the country! Love the homemade scotch eggs (perhaps a little too much), range of ales (not on the way to work), energy drinks (definitely on the way to work), the Italian bagels, the rotisserie.....I just love it all.  The other is the Blackmore Vale Magazine, a wonderful resource for all local folks. I wish Meaders the hardware store was still going, but it isn't. Damn I miss those green aprons!

The other two places worth a mention are the Riverside Cafe at West Stour (home of the mental breakfast......say no more!) and Harts of Stur, a wonderful shop where we get cable ties, bulbs, floor polish and other bits and pieces. 

Stay classy people and keep shopping local!

www.oakleafmarquees.co.uk
www.marqueehiredorset.co.uk