DOZENS of pupils young and old gathered to pay tribute to a 101-year-old Portland school, closing its doors for the final time. Yesterday Isle of Portland Community Aldridge Academy (IPACA) students and VIPs gathered at Underhill School in Fortuneswell
DILYS Grant and Sally Davis have been crowned County Interclub Foursomes champions after representing Weymouth Golf Club Ladies in the silver section. The two-day competition saw the top four pairs from the first day’s strokeplay go through to
TIME is running out for Dorset residents to vote for Chickerell’s Dave Drage to secure national honours at Wembley. The United stalwart was the proud winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Community Football Award in Dorset, and now has the
DORSET MP Richard Drax has come under fire after he suggested the recent promotion of women to the Conservative cabinet was ‘because they are women and a quota needs to be filled’. In a post on his website last Friday, the South Dorset MP said
The Superfast Dorset programme has been hailed a ‘fantastic success’ after reaching 8,000 local homes and businesses. Communications Minister Ed Vaizey has praised the success of the £31.75 million Superfast Dorset programme as it reached a major
THE second year of the Schools Junior League has finished with 30 teams and more than 70 young players taking part over the six rounds. Budmouth’s experience again won through to win the Ronald Burke Memorial Trophy, but All Saints and Wey Valley
BEAMINSTER 120 (2pts) lost to CERNE VALLEY 121-3 (20pts) by 7 wickets BEAMINSTER’S tough campaign continued at the Memorial Playing Field, as they suffered another loss in County Division Two at the hands of league leaders Cerne Valley. When
SOUTH Dorset MP Richard Drax says David Cameron's reshuffle is "tokenism" and that the women promoted to the cabinet are "venturing out of their depth". In a post on his blog he calls the reshuffle the "Night of the Petticoats" and says the women
HOW well do you know the area you live in? Take our quiz and find out. What is the average age of people in Weymouth? What proportion of people in Dorchester are Christian? Take this quiz and test your knowledge of your area. Statistics can give a
WEYMOUTH Sea Life Adventure Park and Tower offer guests a world of discovery and fun. The park itself at Lodmoor is home to more than 1,000 sea creatures including crocodiles, penguins, seals, sharks and green sea turtles. Visitors can stroll
STUDENTS spent the day learning about life during the First World War. Wey Valley School students commemorating the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of war. The whole school took part in an assembly with a guest speaker from the Royal British
LAST WEEK saw the end of term across schools in Dorset, and for some, the end of their time at first and primary as they go on to secondary and middle School. Here Broadmayne First School student Hebe Taylor talks about time at the school.
THE new Vicar of the Close for Salisbury Cathedral is The Rev Canon Ian Woodward, vicar of Bere Regis and Affpuddle with Turnerspuddle. He succeeds The Rev Canon Charles Mitchell Innes who leaves the cathedral in August after seven years in the
DORSET students were celebrated with an awards day at Yeovil College. More than 300 students, staff and teachers attended the awards events to celebrate the achievements of more than 70 full and part-time students studying a variety of courses.
How often can it be said that we read the word congratulations in the letters page of the Echo? Not very often I'm sure you'd agree, but today, I do. At long last the word congratulations can be said to Sainsbury's Weymouth. They have listened
James Wellman is correct that there are a small number of suicidal cyclists who prefer to dodge and weave amongst cars, lorries and buses on main roads even though there is a suitable and safe cycle path. In The Netherlands it is illegal to cycle
Please could I thank through your letters page the kind people who helped me when I had my fall in South Street on May 30. Two kind ladies from the shop Julia’s House and several men who I have no idea who they were. I have been in a care home
I've just come back from a public meeting held at St Nicholas Church Hall, about the closure of Castle Cove Beach. Just under 80 people turned up, and they were angry. A councillor explained why the council had closed the beach - it was apparently
A DORSET author who volunteered for lifesaving charity the RNLI told how she was inspired to write a book about the organisation’s founder. Janet Gleeson, from Wareham, investigated the life of Sir William Hillary after reading some of his letters
Dorset County Council has added eight sites to those being considered as potential gyspy and traveller sites. Why are these sites being added to those under consideration? In a report in September, the council's consultants said there were
THE Chesil Beach Visitor Centre at Ferrybridge has been highly commended at the prestigious Royal Town Planning Institute South West Awards 2014. The centre, owned by the council but operated by Dorset Wildlife Trust, was recognised in the "Schemes
EMPLOYERS in Dorset must ensure they deal properly with a new right to request flexible hours, a Weymouth law firm has warned. From the start of this month, employees throughout the United Kingdom with more than six months service can now expect
A CLUB helping people with learning disabilities make friends in the community has said thank you to people who have offered it support. The Friendship Club, which helps adults with learning difficulties go out and enjoy new experiences, held an
MOTORISTS faced traffic delays in North Dorset this morning after a car crash on the A350 in Fontmell Magna. The incident happened shortly after 7.30am on the road between Blandford Forum and Shaftesbury when two cars collided outside the Fontmell
PORTLAND Coastguards helped rescue an unconscious woman, a lost man and an injured dog yesterday on a busy day for the service. At 10.55am, Portland Coastguard received a report of a box washed up on Swanage Beach marked as property of the RAF.
A QUARRYING company looks set to win support to build a housing estate on an industrial site on Portland after a few attempts. A number of applications have been put forward by Stone Firms Ltd to develop a yard of old quarry buildings off Bumpers
ALMOST £12m is owed to Dorset County Council – but the authority has decided to write off hundreds of thousands of pounds of the debt. Debtors include academy schools, departments within the council – and thousands of residents who haven’t paid
The biggest fundraising event of Margaret Green Animal Rescue’s (MGAR) year is set to take place next month. Hundreds of people are expected to attend the charity’s dog show and family fun day, which takes place at the Church Knowle animal sanctuary
PHIL Simkin has admitted that he is worried about the effect Saturday’s “demoralising” defeat at the hands of Bournemouth will have on his players. The Dorchester Town boss always knew the pre-season friendly against the Cherries was going to be
