If you had to name one item of which the south west of England seems in general to have plenty, I guess that many of us would say: water.

One of the features of the post-Brexit world - good or bad according to taste - will be that we will need to start making a range of decisions in London about environmental issues which have been, during the past few decades, increasingly made in Brussels.

I gather that this past year has witnessed more hurricanes than in any other year in recent times.

I was delighted to hear the other day, that Sport England had recently provided a substantial sum of money to help those of us who have sadly passed beyond the stage where we can comfortably call ourselves "middle aged" to remain fit and healthy.

As I mentioned in this column last week, I recently spent a little time at the Conservative Conference in Manchester, partly signing copies of a book I have recently published and partly doing some broadcasting.

One of the many joys that come with leaving Ministerial Office is that I no longer have any official obligation to attend the Conservative Party Conference – or indeed, any other party conference.

Rather more than 20 years ago, when I was getting ready to be a candidate for the first time in a West Dorset election, I drew up a list of local issues that I thought were likely to concern the electors of West Dorset in the years ahead.

Last week, I referred to the Melplash Show.

This week, I see that the Melplash Agricultural Society has awarded a set of handsome bursaries for young men and women who are training for the agro-industries.

Late August and early September seem to be the parts of the year when our local agricultural shows - at Melplash and Dorchester - take place.

A constituent wrote to me recently about blood.

Being of a somewhat squeamish disposition, I find this a difficult topic to discuss. But the enquiry was a serious one - as it was about blood cancer which remains as a serious killer.