June 19, 2025
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News and Features

News

A new hedgehog sanctuary opens near Briantspuddle and Bere Regis after a surprise bequest

“It takes over your life,” says Tracy Dunne wryly, scooping a baby hedgehog from an incubator – one of two survivors from a litter of four dug up by a dog in a garden. And she should know: Ten years ago she started caring for just a couple of hogs in her three-bedroom home. A

News

All beer and skittles: you just can’t stop when you do the Dorset Flop!

When Karen Bate, the WDM news editor, asked me to write a story about the Dorset Flop, I was dumbfounded because I thought, naively, I might be turning my attention to something more heavyweight in the political arena. I know The West Dorset Magazine won Hyperlocal Newspaper of the Year and so obviously they know

News

Ziggy played guitar, Woody played drums

The WDM’s NICK HORTON chats to drummer Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey – currently on tour with his ‘supergroup’ Holy Holy and celebrating the music of his former Spiders from Mars bandmate, one David Bowie Imagine having some sort of superpower and be able to turn back time more than half a century, to a glorious epoch

News

That Riviera Touch: From high class to Risk List, here is the history of the

Built between 1936 and 1937, the Riviera Hotel at Bowleaze, Weymouth, had a problematic start when its owner went bankrupt just as construction was nearing completion. It finally opened under new ownership in 1939, only to be disrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. From 1958 to 1999, the Riviera was one of

News

Immerse yourself in WW2 history at the Castletown D-Day Centre in Portland this Easter

The award-winning Castletown D-Day Centre is ready to transport visitors back in time with its hands-on, immersive living history experience this Easter. Step into a faithful recreation of a bustling wartime Portland dockyard, where thousands of American troops from the US 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions embarked for the beaches of Normandy. The museum will

News

A stellar set of designs for Weldmar Hospicecare’s Stampede by the Sea art trail, opening

A herd of artists have been hard at work creating a simply stellar set of designs for Weldmar Hospicecare’s Stampede by the Sea art trail, opening later this month. Terry Whitworth Bridport’s Terry Whitworth enjoyed this task so much he painted two. Terry, who has been a professional illustrator for more than 40 years, invested

News

Villagers poised to make offer on beloved Langton Herring pub after netting half a million

Villagers are poised to make an offer on their pub after a fundraising campaign netted more than half a million pounds. Residents of Langton Herring are trying to raise £600,000 to buy the historic Elm Tree Inn, and are within £100,000 of their target after donations and a share offer. They pulled together, attracting global

News

Abattoir expansion in Bridport meets with approval much to the dismay of locals

Objections to expanding a Bridport slaughterhouse and its operating times fell on deaf ears as councillors approved the proposal. After being closed for a year, the abattoir in Mangerton Lane was bought out by Pickstock Telford Ltd, who have now successfully applied for longer working hours at the reopened site. Local residents objected to the

News

Hardy Farmers Breakfast Club attract bumper crowd at public meeting in Bridport

A public meeting to discuss family farm tax and other pressures in Bridport attracted a bumper crowd. The meeting, organised by Hardy Farmers Breakfast Club, was chaired by local journalist Dr Paul Lashmar. The panel included Trevor Cligg, who runs Pipplepen Farm, South Perrott with his wife Penny. Having farmed elsewhere they moved to Pipplepen

Welcome to The West Dorset Magazine

We are Bird Media – two experienced journalists who have decided to break free and launch
their own news publication The West Dorset Magazine.

Cartoon Miranda small

Miranda Robertson

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.

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Karen Bate cartoon small

Karen Bate

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 Jarvis and Buddy and cat Milton. There’s also a bonkers horse called Mars in her menagerie.
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