IT HAS been four years since 16-year-old Will Mackaness lost his fight for life against a brain tumour. Yet his name resounds around Wey Valley School and Sports College in Weymouth where he was head boy and the main school hall, which is named in his
A CURRY and quiz night organised by the Dorset Echo in aid of the Will Mackaness Trust is being held on Friday, July 20 and everyone is invited. Olympic and Paralympic sailors have thrown their support behind the fun family event, which will
SELFLESS Dorset youngsters who do extraordinary things in their community can be nominated for a special award. The British Red Cross is appealing for nominations for its Humanitarian Citizens Awards to give recognition to generous young people who
CATTISTOCK WI will be holding an open meeting for local WI’s and any interested women at 7.30pm on Thursday, July 5. The speaker will be Lynn Kerr and she will be speaking on ‘The Queen at Sandringham’. Admission is free, refreshments
A SCHOOL reunion will be held in memory of two former pupils who sadly lost their lives. The Wey Valley School class of 2002 will unite in tribute to their classmates Karina Glynn and Claire Clements, who both died aged 17. It will be held at Rendezvous
A COLLECTION dating back 250 years is likely to attract collectors from around the world when it goes under the hammer in Dorchester. One of the largest collections of silver bottle and sauce labels ever sold will go up for auction at Duke’s in Dorchester
PREVIOUSLY unseen work by John Fowles, West Dorset’s most famous literary son, has just been published. His widow Sarah has welcomed the work – Selected Poems by John Fowles – published by Flambard Press. In many cases, it is thanks to her discoveries
A FAMILY of potters from Mosterton are celebrating a jubilee of their own – 50 years in the same premises. The Eeles Family Pottery is holding a special exhibition of ceramics to mark the golden anniversary at their showroom. The exhibition contains
SHOPS, charitable organisations and churches have been rallying round to support a fishermen’s memorial fund. Donations have been pouring in to the Purbeck Isle Memorial Fund which was set up in the wake of the tragic loss of the Weymouth fishing boat
MORE people are being caught this year in Dorset Police’s summer campaign to tackle drink driving. The force said 52 motorists were arrested during the first two weeks of the campaign from Friday, June 1 to Thursday, June 14. During last year’s campaign
THE Dorset countryside rang to the sound of tank fire as Territorial Army soldiers from the Royal Wessex Yeomanry undertook their first live firing exercise in four years. TA soldiers from the Royal Wessex Yeomanry (RWY), the South West’s TA cavalry
AN ILLEGAL worker has been removed from the UK and four more remain in detention following raids in Blandford. Seven illegal workers in total, all men from Bangladesh, were found by the UK Border Agency at three restaurants in the town. A 21-year-old
IT WAS all the fun of the fair as a countryside college opened its doors for a family fun day. Hundreds of families poured into the grounds of Kingston Maurward College near Dorchester for the annual open day and country fair yesterday. As well as giving
STUDENTS cooked up a storm when they joined two top chefs for a GCSE practical food technology lesson. Year 10 cooks from Budmouth College in Weymouth spent a morning preparing two desserts with Masterchef finalist Claire Hutchings and London
THIEVES stole eight mobile phones valued at more than £3,000 from a store in Dorchester town centre. Police are appealing for witnesses to the theft, which took place at the Vodafone shop in South Street at around 3.30pm last Thursday. PC Melanie Caldow
HORRIFIED Weymouth residents awoke to the sound of explosions as fire tore through a car park destroying vehicles. Residents of Chelwood Gate, Chickerell, were woken at 2am yesterday as a mystery blaze took hold of three caravans, a car and a campervan
THE meeting of two ‘islands’ with remarkable stories was celebrated in a community get-together on Portland. Tied Islands was a free event to celebrate the impending arrival of the art project Nowhereisland, a piece of the Arctic that has been
A RENEWED appeal is being made to find a woman who was involved in a collision with a cyclist in Dorchester. Police said the woman, who was driving a silver-grey car with a sliding door, stopped to help the cyclist and took him to hospital following
I AM writing with regard to the services aboard South West Trains. On numerous occasions in the past, I have witnessed many people using the train without buying a ticket, because there is a lack of guards on duty. This is irritating when the majority
Being proud Weymouth residents, my wife and I decided we would go into town to see the new and highly heralded laser light attraction on Weymouth seafront. I really liked the visual impression provided on the beach front by the new and nicely illuminated
Yes, a big disappointment, the first laser lights evening with little to see and with the scratchy annoying noise from the PA system – it could be better! My evening was, however, improved afterwards firstly with a glass or two of wine with a relative
AS A place to be and be seen, Bridport is enjoying something of an extended renaissance at the moment. Locals and out-of-towners are all being drawn to the West Dorset town for its boho chic, regular markets and easy access to the beautiful countryside
HUNDREDS of swimmers took to the water on Father’s Day to raise almost £50,000 for the British Heart Foundation. The bad weather of the previous few days didn’t stop 250 determined swimmers from showing their support for the charity by taking part in
FOLLOWING three months of frustration, Alan Walker-Harris has spoken of his delight as he steps up his recovery from a broken leg. The Magpies’ keeper suffered the horrific injury 12 weeks ago in the dying stages of an impressive 1-0 win over Blue Square
MARTYN Richards felt the damp and blustery conditions were a big leveller in Saturday’s loss against Weymouth at Redlands. The Dorchester skipper was left extremely frustrated after the derby defeat but has vowed his troops will bounce back from the
DORSET stormed into the semi-finals of the MCCA Trophy with a comprehensive 77-run victory over Cheshire yesterday. Alan Willows’ men had Darren Cowley (50), Chris Park (30) and Tom Hicks (28) to thank for their 179-9. Wickets were shared between Scott
Dorchester 148-8 (5pts) lost to WEYMOUTH 124-7 rain reduced target (17pts) by three wickets MATT Lawes praised his side’s sensible approach on Saturday after the weather more than played its part in Weymouth’s victory over arch-rivals Dorchester
AFTER the previous week’s washout, players were back on Weymouth Beach for week seven of the ‘Go Spike’ League. The A series was thrown wide open with league leader Rob Sem-mence away on holiday, allowing the chasing pack to try and take advantage
