Archive

  • Offender jailed for GBH attack in Weymouth

    A MAN whose ‘powerful’ punch left his victim with a fractured skull has been jailed for 13 months. Joseph James Gibson, 27, was sentenced at Dorchester Crown Court for an offence of inflicting grievous bodily harm. The charge related to a punch

  • Friendly to take place behind closed doors

    WEYMOUTH'S hastily-arranged friendly with Chickerell United is to be played behind closed doors. The clash is scheduled to take place at the Bob Lucas Stadium tomorrow night (7.45pm) but there was not enough time for the match to be sanctioned

  • Have your say on travel in Dorset

    A CHARITY is appealing to disabled people and their carers to take part in a survey to have their say on how they get around in Dorset. Access Dorset is undertaking the survey to find out how accessible the county is from public transport to parking

  • Improve on your driving skills

    DORSET drivers can become safer by taking part in a popular course. Places on county council-organised sessions, which are designed to help motorists of all ages improve their road knowledge and hazard awareness, can be booked online. The two-hour

  • Enjoying a jurassic kick about

    FUNDRAISERS are aiming to score for Weldmar Hospicecare Trust by kicking a football along the Jurassic Coast. The 11-strong group of pals from Weymouth and Dorchester aim to net £1,000 from the 26-mile long Jurassic Kickabout. They will be

  • Dorset call for carrier bags restrictions

    ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners from Dorset are calling for a compulsory restriction on single-use carrier bags. The Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England is leading the bid locally to urge the Government to require retailers to introduce

  • Magpies' trip to Rec is cancelled

    TOMORROW night's friendly between Dorchester Town and Hamworthy Recreation has been called off. The Magpies are, however, still expected to send a team to Portland United on Wednesday evening (6.30pm).

  • Undress set to impress

    FRESH from their inaugural performance at Sidmouth Folk Festival, State of Undress are one of the fabulous bands opening Bridport’s Festival of Culture on August 11. The Best of the West, which is being held at Bridport Arts centre, is an eclectic evening

  • Back in black

    A CLASSIC children’s tale that has inspired generations of horse-lovers and launched the animal welfare movement has finally been turned into a play. And the debut production of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty comes to Lulworth Castle next week. Black Beauty

  • Princess Anne gives Ben Ainslie a telling off

    PRINCESS Anne presented Ben Ainslie with his London 2012 Olympic gold medal and told him off for making the race so close. The Royal Yachting Association president had ‘choice words’ with him about making her so nervous as she watched history being made

  • Dorchester youngsters turn music into vital charity funds

    TWO youngsters brought music to the air when they took their talents to the streets to raise money for charity. Oliver Bailey and Max Blaff-Laker, both 13, raised almost £400 for the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust in a seven-day music marathon on the

  • Beaten Dane salutes Ben

    THE man who nearly claimed the Finn Olympic champion crown from Ben Ainslie at the London 2012 Games has praised his great rival. Jonas Hogh-Christensen, of Denmark, said it was ‘immensely enjoyable’ to race against the world's greatest sailor and ‘almost

  • Modest Ben plays down knighthood chance

    What next for the greatest greatest sailor in Olympic history? That is the title Ainslie has earned after winning a fourth successive gold medal after what he described as “the toughest week of my life”. The 35-year-old is up there with Sir Matthew

  • Windsurfers next up for medal chance

    A SPECTACULAR first day of medal races gave the British Sailing Team a boost as they head into the final week of the 2012 Olympic regatta. Team GB’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson brought home the first sailing medal – a silver – in the men’s Star keelboat

  • Percy and Simpson say 'We're gutted'

    HEARTBROKEN Star sailors Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson achieved silver for Great Britain but were ‘gutted’ to so narrowly miss out on gold. The Beijing 2008 Olympic champions put on a dominant performance this week to defend their title but were

  • Ben Ainslie reveals stress of great expectations

    QUADRUPLE gold medallist Ben Ainslie has told of the huge pressure of expectation he felt going into the home Games. The sailing legend, who has now made history, said no matter how much he tried to play down the chances of beating Danish sailor

  • Weymouth live site at the beach cheer on Ben Ainslie

    THOUSANDS of people got to their feet on Weymouth live site to cheer as Ben Ainslie took gold. Hordes descended on the free site on Weymouth beach to watch as the drama unfolded and hundreds more watched from outside the gates, which closed after

  • Crowds go crazy at the Nothe when Ben Ainslie wins gold

    RULE BRITANNIA rang out over the Nothe, thousands of flags were waved and the crowds erupted after Ben Ainslie won his fourth historic gold medal. Thousands of people packed the hillside to watch as Ainslie powered to victory. At one point

  • Ben Ainslie makes sailing history

    HISTORY was made in Weymouth yesterday when Ben Ainslie became the greatest Sailing Olympian of all time. Ainslie cemented his place as the most successful sailor in Olympic history after securing a fourth successive gold medal. The 35-year-old

  • Medals for sausages

    WEYMOUTH has two new Gold medal winners – in the Sausage Olympics . Echo reporters Samantha Harman and Emma Walker went head to head in the sausage-off but both came out with first prize. Samantha Harman takes us through what happened: Crowds

  • Weymouth-Bridport coast road crash horror

    AN 18-year-old man was left fighting for life and another man was seriously injured in a horror crash on the Weymouth to Bridport coast road. Two other people, including a five-year-old boy, were also hurt in the accident on Friday night. All

  • Solid gold for this Weymouth ristorante

    WITH the Olympics in town and exam results to celebrate, there was no better excuse for my partner and I to eat out. Enzo on Weymouth Esplanade was our venue of choice. Anticipating a busy restaurant we booked ahead and this proved a wise decision

  • Thanks for time we won’t forget

    I came to Weymouth today with my two children to soak up the Olympic atmosphere. From the moment we arrived in the Monkey Jump park and ride till we left, we captured a time that we will never forget. We came from Basingstoke and was not sure

  • Pitch could have ended business

    I was offered a pitch at the doomed festival at Weymouth. I was told by Mainsail that this would be the making of my streetfood stall Spice&Rice. A moment’s thought and I decided it was too risky. In fact it would have been the end of my steady

  • So who hyped up all the numbers?

    In September 2005 the Olympic organisers were predicting no more than 15,000 visitors to Weymouth and Portland during the current events (Echo Letters Sept 16 2005) because sailing is not essentially a spectator sport. Indeed, in the August 2008

  • Let’s make most of Olympic events

    After a week of seeing reports veering between scorn and support of the local Olympic events, I wanted to point out that the experiences my family have had in Weymouth over the last week have been overwhelmingly positive. The seafront, beach

  • Olympics: Match Race girls eager to avenge loss to Russians

    DORSET’S Match Race Girls admitted it was a ‘massive relief’ after booking a quarter-final showdown. The Poole trio of Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor will be going up against Russia in the Elliott 6m keelboat event at the Olympic

  • Occupant led to safety after Weymouth flat fire

    THE occupant of a flat had to be led to safety after a fire broke out. Dorset Fire and Rescue were alerted to the fire on Market Street, Weymouth, shortly before 11pm last night. A spokeswoman said the fire was quickly extinguished and the

  • Smith agrees to Terras’ deal

    DAN Smith has agreed to sign non-contract terms at the Bob Lucas Stadium and is expected to put pen-to-paper tomorrow night. The ex-Truro City forward once again impressed in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Dorchester Town and Terras’ boss Brendon

  • Simkin: Certain players are constantly letting me down

    PHIL Simkin accused certain contracted players of constantly letting him down following Saturday’s below-par performance against rivals Weymouth in Ian Hutchinson’s testimonial. The Dorchester Town boss also questioned the timing of the fixture

  • Bridport make perfect start

    BRIDPORT made the perfect start to the new season as they returned home with all three points. The Bees went into Saturday’s Toolstation Western Premier Division curtain-raiser on the back of a “disjointed” pre-season. But Dan Wise’s opener

  • Super Seasiders topple league leaders

    WEYMOUTH 186-7 (19pts) beat WIMBORNE & COLEHILL 164 (6pts) by three wickets PROUD skipper Dean Janaway hailed Weymouth’s tremendous team ethic after they became the first side this season to topple high-flying Wimborne & Colehill on their

  • Dorchester get back to winning ways

    WINTON 84 (1pt) lost to Dorchester 85-3 (19pts) by seven wickets DORCHESTER stopped the rot of three straight defeats as they made light work of lowly Winton. The hosts were skittled for a paltry 84 before the county town side successfully