Dorset Council’s long-awaited Local Plan – which went out to consultation in 2021 then again in 2025 – is now going to be redrafted, and councillors are being asked to approve spending up to £1m on a new plan at their meeting tonight. The move is said to be down to changes in how the […]
Upset residents have flooded Dorset Council with objections to plans for up to 360 homes on one of the last undeveloped pieces of land between Chickerell and Weymouth. Concerned locals and many people from further away have added their comments to a proposal to build on fields north of the Weymouth West police station, west […]
By Viviane Horne Stella New is one of the friendly faces that greet you at Portland Museum. Stella lived in Kingston-upon-Hull until she was 18, when she went to Leeds University to study physiotherapy. Her dad was a GP who sang in the local choir. Sadly she was only 19 when her mum died and […]
Who’d have thought the seismic shock of noise, energy and general mayhem that was punk rock was half a century ago? As a spotty, teenage oik in 1976, I certainly remember hearing John Peel play The Damned’s New Rose and blasting out the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK single (on the EMI label, obvs) […]
Dorset Council’s senior archaeologist has objected to the first phase of the North Dorchester Garden Community, saying the authority cannot make an informed decision because the developer has not dug the site. The North Dorchester Consortium, a partnership between Grainger Plc and Wyatt Homes, wants to build up to 3,750 homes. The first planning application […]
The chair of Cattistock Lawn Tennis Club has been talking to the West Dorset Magazine about their “fabulous” club and the many benefits of playing tennis on grass. Rosie Barfoot, who has served as chair for the past year, originally joined the club when knee pain meant that playing on harder surfaces became untenable. Rosie […]
By Kim Berlin July marks the Council for British Archaeology’s Festival of Archaeology and our wonderful Portland Museum is joining in with their Nature Unearthed event on July 29 and 30, when the buildings and garden will become a ‘living archaeology’ experience from 10.30am-3.30pm. Weavers and dyers will give visitors the opportunity to handle and […]
Dorset’s renowned Victorian novelist and poet will be celebrated at the 27th International Thomas Hardy Conference and Festival from July 25 – August 1 attracting literature buffs from across the globe. Lectures from keynote speakers followed by panel sessions at the Dorford Centre in Dorchester will give academics and scholars the opportunity to present their […]
There’s something wonderfully timeless about a summer agricultural show: the scent of fresh hay, the chorusing of livestock, the prize-winning produce. This August, the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show promises to pair that cherished tradition with a thrilling twist, as one of the world’s most exhilarating sports gallops into Dorset. Returning to Turnpike Showground, Motcombe on […]
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.
