A village swimming club has celebrated half a century of teaching kids. Bere Regis & District Swimming Club – The Orcas – was launched in June 1976, in the village school’s 10m pool. The first session attracted an incredible 120 people. As the years passed and more and more children’s clubs closed, the swimming club […]
An urgent crowdfunding appeal has been launched to secure the future of Bridport’s 250-year-old cultural landmark, The Lyric Theatre. Already, the Under This Roof appeal has raised more than £66,500 towards £100,000 needed for vital repairs before irreversible damage destroys the roof of the Grade II listed building. The Lyric’s roof has deteriorated badly over […]
Campaigners against a massive waste incinerator approved for Portland have suffered a further blow, after the Environment Agency said it was ‘minded to approve’ plans to burn potentially toxic waste there. The facility, which would feature an 80-metre chimney both near people’s homes and alongside globally renowned coastline, was approved by the government despite Dorset […]
A beloved family farm has reopened, thanks to a dedicated pair of animal lovers. Lee and Charlotte Porter have opened Porter’s Farm on the site of the old Fancys Farm on Portland, which had been there for 18 years. They are currently open Friday-Monday 9.30am-4.30pm and hope to open six days a week soon. Charlotte […]
Day in the Life at Dorset Studio School: From Work Experience to Apprenticeship For Year 11 student Tobyn Copp, leaving school will not mean stepping into the unknown. As he completes his final examinations at Dorset Studio School, Tobyn is preparing to begin an apprenticeship with The Brace of Butchers in Poundbury, Dorchester. A role […]
All eight on call fire stations threatened with closure are to stay open – for now. Andy Cole, chief fire officer for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, changed his recommendation to the board after a prolonged campaign by concerned residents and thousands of responses to a public consultation. The eight stations – Maiden Newton, […]
Clay Pigeon Raceway, the West Dorset karting track which helped to launch the careers of world champions Lando Norris and Jensen Button, is to be closed and turned into a holiday park. Dorset councillors approved plans to demolish the circuit near Dorchester, along with a static caravan park and a disused clay pigeon shooting ground, […]
The first planning application of a scheme dubbed ‘Norchester’ that will change the shape of ‘Hardy country’ forever has been submitted. The outline planning application launching the North Dorchester Garden Community has been described as “nothing more than cultural vandalism”. The plan for up to 500 houses, a new London Road junction and green space […]
A writer has traced the stories behind 43 names listed on a Weymouth war memorial. Charlie Owen asked readers of The West Dorset Magazine to help locate family members of the fallen from both world wars and the Falklands. They were commemorated on a monument built over 100 years ago in the graveyard of St […]
We are Bird Media – two experienced journalists who have decided to break free and launch
their own news publication The West Dorset Magazine.
Editor Miranda Robertson has worked for a number of local papers, including the Dorset Echo, Salisbury Journal and The New Blackmore Vale. She lives in Maiden Newton with her husband Peter, son Robert, jug PugsieMfanwy, pug Hugo and the ginger ninja Kitten Mitten.
Karen Bate has worked for the Salisbury Journal, Wiltshire Living Magazine, Bournemouth Echo and The New Blackmore Vale. She lives with husband Stuart, daughter Florence, dogs Sir Alfred Sticks and Buddy and cat Milton. There’s also a bonkers horse called Mars in her menagerie.
