February 3, 2026
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News and Features

News

Snack attack? Call Tuck by Truck!

Are you in the area between Weymouth and Bridport, feeling peckish right now? Do you want your snacking to make a difference to people with additional needs? Then look no further – as this bunch of sunny souls are on their way to save the day. Dorset Abilities Group is extending the reach of its […]

News

Developers closer to finalising blueprint for ‘Norchester’ project

A building consortium is one step closer to finalising its blueprint for the massive North Dorchester development. Grainger Plc and Wyatt Homes want to build up to 3,750 homes on 897 acres of fields at Cokers Frome and the surrounding area, between Stinsford and Charminster. They have submitted a preliminary report to seek the opinion […]

News

Monday night fever with bells on at Charminster Village Hall

Wessex Morris Men will now be hanky-swinging, stick clashing and bell ringing from Charminster Village Hall on Monday nights, followed by ‘après Morris’ at the Three Compasses pub. It’s a new chapter for the group, established in 1957, after rehearsing in Pulham for years. Bagman Ray Dyson said: “This move helps to satisfy a desire […]

News

Dorset Studio School: The land-based learning leader with a 750-acre classroom

When my practical daughter started secondary school, I knew it probably wasn’t the best fit for her. While she has an encyclopaedic memory and an aptitude for the academic, she spends every waking moment outdoors, on horseback or on foot with tools in hand, and I knew her restless spirit wouldn’t be satisfied sitting in […]

News

Villagers celebrate a decade since book Remembering Piddletrenthide was first published

Villagers celebrated a decade since Remembering Piddletrenthide – A Picture Book of Village Memories, was published with an exhibition of photos, videos and memorabilia. The 200-page A4 book, compiled by Bridget and the late Dave Bowen with the photographs edited by Ian Condon, traces the social history of Piddletrenthide from the end of the 19th […]

News

Saved! Relief as Sturminster Newton philanthropist gives historic pub a new lease of life

A town centre pub which closed last year, leading to speculation it would be turned into flats, has been saved – to the great relief of the community. The Swan Inn in Sturminster Newton has been serving customers for nearly 300 years. Its central location, near the old cattle market, has seen it bustling with […]

News

F1’s World Champion Lando Norris discovered his passion for driving at Dorchester raceway, Clay Pigeon

Newly-crowned Formula One champion Lando Norris discovered his passion and talent for driving at Clay Pigeon Raceway near Dorchester. Incredibly, he is not even the first F1 World Champion to have cut his teeth at the Dorset track – Jenson Button, who was crowned in 2009, also started his career there. Lando’s first karting coach […]

News

Dorset Studio School: where the county is a classroom, and learning is a hands-on experience

In a county famed for its landscape and heritage, Dorset Studio School is a pioneer in land-based education. Here, the country is the classroom – giving pupils a powerful head start in the world of work. I met principal Jason Malone at the Kingston Maurward campus. “A student can study ecology from a textbook – […]

News

Let’s talk about a brilliant career…in conversation with Janet Street-Porter

She hates ‘rainforest’ showers, thinks Jeremy Clarkson is ‘appalling’ and loves her clashes with Coleen Nolan on Loose Women. Now audiences in Dorset can quiz Janet Street-Porter as she hits Dorchester and Lyme Regis next month on her The Bitch is Back tour. I think we can safely peg Janet, who turns 80 next year, […]

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.

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

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