ELECTRICAL problems between Wool and Wareham caused delays between Weymouth and Bournemouth. This weekend saw 14 hours of disruption to journey’s over Saturday night as South West Trains experienced electrical supply and signalling issues between
HUNDREDS flocked to Weymouth for the weekend's Wessex Folk Festival. Live music performances, displays of traditional Morris dancing and food from around the world saw the crowds pack into Brewers Quay and the harbourside. Crowds gathered round
A PAIR of Crossways community stalwarts enjoyed a right royal occasion. Chairman of Crossways Parish Council Andrew Brewer and his mother Mary were invited to the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in recognition of their contribution to
END the half-term in style in the county town. Dorchester was a wealth of innovative museums and historic establishments ripe for exploring. They include the Dinosaur Museum, the Tutankhamun Exhibition, Dorset County Museum, The Teddy Bear Museum
Wessex Water is inviting people to an open day at the sewage treatment works in Dorchester on July 7 from 4pm to 7pm. It is part of national Sewage Week. Go to wessexwater.co.uk/sewageweek
BRIDPORT Carnival is to going to have a full complement of royalty this year with a queen, princess and prince. The crowns will be bestowed on the winners of the Bridport News-sponsored ‘Bridport Carnival’s Got Talent’-style competition in The
A guided walk around Durlston Country Park is being held on June 1 at 2.30pm. It costs £3 for adults and £2 for the Friends of Durlston and children. Call 01929 424443.
Get practical help with your CV or interview skills every Thursday between 12.30pm to 3.30pm at the Yarn Barton Centre Job Club in Beaminster.
AFTER a decade organising the Beaminster Festival Tanya Bruce-Lockhart has decided to move on. Tanya said: “I am so pleased that Beaminster is now at the forefront of the West Country’s music and arts festivals.” She says all the successful
A WEYMOUTH restaurant will feature in a new TV series. Janet Street-Porter and Brian Turner from BBC’s A Taste of Britain visited Weymouth on Saturday to film at The Dining Room on St Mary Street. They spent four hours filming with chef Taher
Portland Lottery will be drawn on June 27. Tickets are £1 each and are available from the Island Community Action office and Cards ‘n’ Celebrations in Easton.
A Sunday afternoon cream tea at All Saints Church at Wyke Regis will be supporting the Project Zoe sailing scheme. It is on July 20 from 3pm to 5pm and its costs £3.50 for tea with scone, cake or a sandwich.
Netherbury Gardens will be open next Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm. Home-made lunches will be available in the village from 12.30 to 2.00pm. Admission costs £6.50 for adults and children under 13 go free. More information can be found
The Weymouth and Portland Lions Club will host its first ever Summer Ball on Friday, June 13. The night will include music from two bands, Replay and The Decadettes, at the event which will be held at Weymouth Pavilion. It will take place between
The Ramblers have announced their programme for the new season of their Wessex Wanderer walks from stations along the Heart of Wessex railway line. It includes a circular walk of eight miles around Maiden Newton, including the Kingcombe Centre,
A WOMAN who lost loved ones to cancer and beat the disease herself is calling on women who took part in the Dorchester Race for Life to make their efforts count. More than 1,800 women took part in the event at Kingston Maurward and they are now
Want to try your hand at watercolour painting? A free taster session will be held on June 21 from 1pm to 3pm as part of the Festival of Learning. Booking is essential and for more information, call 01202 262300 quoting NN3400N.
Bustinskin Aquathlon Series starts on Wednesday and runs until September 10. The series of aquathlon events are held at Beachside Leisure Centre in Bowleaze Coveway from 7pm to 8.30pm. The events offer everyone from novices to experienced athletes
A DORCHESTER man came face-to-face with an unexpected visitor. Rhys Cole, 22, was watching TV at his home in the county town when he looked up and was startled to see a fox staring in at him through the window. However, as soon as he got up
THESE dramatic pictures show a potential twister forming over Dorset. They were sent in by Echo reader Jason Freeman and were taken by him on Thursday afternoon over Crossways. Mr Freeman said the clouds formed as heavy rain lashed the county
CALEB MORRIS writes: I AM a 13 year-old school boy who attends Budmouth College. I decided to undertake a challenge and raise money for a local charity. I organised a bingo evening at the centenary club in Weymouth. It was successful, and
JULIET GOSS, aged 17, writes: I am currently basking in the joy of my newly-found freedom after finishing all of my exams. I’m slowly adjusting to life on the outside, free from a constant niggling stress and guilt for not doing more revision.
LOCAL artists from the Artwey Old Town Hall group will be displaying their work. The studio at the hall will be open from 11am to 6pm until June 8.
DORSET Fire and Rescue Service will pay tribute to its volunteers as part of National Volunteer Week. The week, from June 1 until June 7, also marks the five year anniversary of the service’s volunteering scheme, which now boasts almost 100 active
ORGANISERS of Dorset Food Week from October 25 to November 2 are urging local food businesses to take part in this year’s week-long festival. To find out more about featuring at the event email dorsetfoodweek@dorsetfoodanddrink.org8.
The town’s Art Group is holding its annual exhibition in Weymouth Library from July 28 to August 2. Entrance is free.
The Dorset branch of the Myasthenia Gravis Association needs volunteers to take part in a fundraising tandem parachute jump on July 6. The money will be used to support local people with Myasthenia, a rare condition causing weakness in certain
Crossways Library will celebrate Crime Writers Month with an evening of entertainment. Bob Sharpe will present ‘The History of Crime Writing’ on Wednesday, June 11 from 7.30pm Admission costs £2 for Friends of the library and £3 for non-members
All are welcome to a Zumbathon in aid of Help for Heroes at Redlands Community Sports Hub on Saturday, June 7. Zumba Gold will be from 1pm to 2pm and Zumba Party from 2pm to 4pm. Admission will cost £10 for one session or £15 for both.
MEMBERS of Dorchester Youth Extra, pictured, have arranged to screen popular films on Saturday, June 7 in the Borough Gardens. The youth forum for Dorchester have chosen Finding Nemo as the first film, which will be shown at 4pm with bands and
VANDALS are being warned their actions will not be tolerated after an attack on Dorchester’s Borough Gardens. A gate was broken off the bandstand and bedding plants were ripped up on Thursday night. Residents of Dorchester have told of their
A SERIES of events are being held in Dorset to mark National Volunteers Week. Volunteer Centre Dorset is running recruitment fairs at Bridport Town Hall on Monday, June 2 from 9.30am to 12.30pm. at Dorchester’s Corn Exchange from 9.30am to 12.30pm
The garden and small arboretum at Domineys in Buckland Newton will be open tomorrow from 2 to 6pm, in aid of the national Gardens Scheme. Admission is free for children and there will be picnics and teas and plants for sale. Details are at domineys.com
Flash flooding after a thunderstorm caused problems for motorists on the A35 at Winterbourne Abbas and on the A352 at East Knighton yesterday. It came after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for Dorset.
More than £1,500 was raised from a sponsored dog walk around Netherbury. The annual four mile trek, led by Beaminster couple Sue and David Wells, will help support an animal shelter on the Greek island of Skiathos. Sue and David will be taking
The Bridport Art Society’s 57th annual exhibition will be from July 23 to August 2 at the Bridport Arts Centre, South Street, Bridport Admission is free from 10am to 4pm daily except on July 27 and 28 when the show will be closed. There will be
CLASSIC cars will be wending their way from Dorchester to Weymouth this weekend in a charity challenge. The Hardy Country Classic car rally takes place tomorrow and will see classic cars from across Dorset driving into Weymouth in aid of Weldmar
WEYMOUTH train passengers are being welcomed by a moving sight recently as resident Brian Coomber has planted poppies at the station to commemorate the First World War. Mr Coomber, 74, and his wife Janna, 70, have been maintaining the floral displays
£18,000 per badger! That’s what it cost to kill each one during last years’s cull according to Gloucestershire Police Commissioner Martin Surl. Money appears to be no object to this otherwise cash-strapped government in its increasingly desperate attempts
Several years ago I saw an excellent professional production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Bristol Hippodrome. The ticket was expensive but it was worth it. On Wednesday night, for £14, I saw Weymouth Operatic Society’s ‘amateur’ version and I can
Can I through your letters page address the parents of two boys who were on Camp Road, Wyke Regis at 8.20pm on 29 May. One was wearing a green hoodie and the other a tiger onesie. Although the item they threw at my car only caused a chipped windscreen
Here we go again. Yet another plea from Inspector Matt Butler of the Dorset Police’s Traffic Unit warning people not to drink and drive. And saying that there are still some people who ‘choose to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol’. But
A BODY has been found in a car in Bournemouth in the search for missing Poole nurse Rui Li. Detectives investigating the disappearance of the Poole nurse say the body is believed to be hers. Her next of kin have been informed. A spokesperson
A PRISONER who absconded is back in custody after being found in Dorset. Perre Whewell was wanted by the Metropolitan Police after he breached the terms of his release on licence. He had been serving time for an offence of burglary but had
Lulworth Castle is the setting for The Wessex Classic Car Show on June 8. It will be opened at 10.30am by Simon Clarke of Wave FM.
A reptile roadshow by the RSPB will be hosted at the Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre between 11am and 3pm on Sunday. The event is free and no booking is required. For more information call 01202 420909.
Local artist Laila Meadow is exhibiting her Embracing Summer collection of paintings at the Mulberry Gallery at Weymouth Library until June 6. Entry to the exhibition is free. Call 01305 783202 or 07769 578063 for more information.
The band Replay will be entertaining visitors to Greenhill Gardens tomorrow. The event in association with Weldmar Hospicecare Trust is from 2pm to 4.30pm and organised by the Friends of Greenhill Gardens. There will also be stalls.
The Southill Short Mat Bowls Club is appealing for new members. It meets every Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm and Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 10pm. For more information call 01305832309 or visit southillsmbc.btck.co.uk
The Lübbecke Society has extra seats remaining on their annual spring bus trip to Weston-super-Mare. The trip will take place on Friday, June 6 and the first stop will be at Sandringham Court. If you would like to travel with the group, contact
A teenager will be walking over 40 miles to help raise money for cystic fibrosis. Jack Buckingham, aged 17, from Grange Road, Weymouth, has organised a charity walk starting from his home today at 12pm, and finishing at The Old Harry Rocks, east
Part of the A350 was closed after a Honda Jazz car crashed and landed on its roof at 11.40am yesterday at Iwerne Steepleton. The elderly driver suffer minor injuries, police said.
Work starts on Monday to carry out emergency repairs to a collapsed sewer in East Street, Bridport. Wessex Water will start the work after the morning rush hour and it is due to take around three weeks.
Ricochet, the support group for parents of gay children in Dorset, holds its next meeting on Saturday June 7 in Hamworthy. Fathers and mothers from across the county attend the meetings, which offer a private time to share concerns over tea and
St Andrew’s Church in Charmouth will be hosting The Wessex Big Band on June 7. As well as music and dancing there will be canapés, a bar and a raffle. Tickets, which must be bought in advance, are £10 each from 01297 560446.
THE haunting sound of Ewan McLennan is coming to one of the county’s quirkiest pubs. The folk singer is to perform at the Square and Compass, Worth Matravers, tomorrow at 2pm. He first emerged onto the UK folk scene with the release of his
Arsonists torched a car close to the tennis courts in Weymouth. Fire crews were called to the car park for the tennis courts at Radipole Park Drive just after 2am this morning. Firefighters extinguished the blaze but the car was destroyed.
The Wareham branch of the RNLI will be holding a fundraising cruise from Wareham to Poole on June 16. The cruise, boarding at 10.30am, takes in Brownsea Island. There will be a raffle and cash bar on board. Tickets are £20 per person, including
SOME of the world’s top Olympic and Paralympic sailors will compete for championship honours this week, as the 2014 Sail for Gold Regatta kicks off at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA). The annual regatta will start on
LIGHTS, camera, action! West Dorset is becoming a Mecca for filmmakers as a new film and TV series are set to be shot in the area. Following the success of hit ITV series Broadchurch and with hopes high for the upcoming film Far From the Madding
WEYMOUTH Ladies enter their first major tournament of the season today at the Ashcombe School in Dorking. The team starts the competition as defending champions and expectations remain high that the club will be in contention to retain their title
NATHAN Walker insists he is ready to lead Dorchester Town into next season, but knows that the man he succeeded as club captain is going to be a hard act to follow. Following his appointment by boss Phil Simkin, the central defender has described
