By Dan Goater One of the largest battery storage facilities in the world will be built just outside Weymouth after the controversial proposal got the go ahead. Dorset councillors approved Statera Energy’s plan to begin building the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at East Chickerell Court Farm, south of Coldharbour. The facility will include some […]
The effervescent four-time Olympic eventing champion Eric Smiley will be galloping into Whitchurch Canonicorum village hall at 7pm on July 12 to give an insider’s view of the Olympic Games in aid of The Friends of St Candida. Eric, who lives in the village, is a famous face in the horse world, and a popular […]
A man who spent more than 17 years in prison for a brutal rape he did not commit is finally free and healing – slowly – thanks to a Bridport lawyer and the peace and tranquillity of his adopted Dorset home. In what the Justice Secretary described as ‘an atrocious miscarriage of justice’ Andy Malkinson, […]
Members of the recently formed West Bay Swimmers Action Group, which campaigns to improve water quality in our rivers and seas, assembled on East Beach to protest about sewage pollution in the sea. The action was part of the Great Big Green Week, organised by Friends of the Earth. Current legislation requires water companies to […]
The new University Centre at Kingston Maurward has been opened by Countryfile presenter Adam Henson. The college’s principal and chief executive Luke Rake said: “A proud day for me as leader of Kingston Maurward – over the last three years, we’ve built a new Higher Education Building, gained formal University Centre status from the DfE, […]
Weldmar Hospicecare raised a staggering £316,846 in its Making Every Moment Matter crowdfunding campaign after an ‘overwhelming response’. The 30-hour marathon smashed its £250,000 target and raised the highest total of any appeal since the launch of the charity. A number of generous donors and trusts contributed to a match fund, which allowed donations from […]
Matt Rashleigh is well known to Dorchester car booters, with boxes and boxes of useful items piled high at bargain prices. But what the booters don’t know is that Matt has a degree in fine art and has been buying and selling antiques since he was 12. The boot sale bargains are just a fraction […]
The High Court has dismissed a judicial review which argued that Dorset Council has the power to enforce planning rules over the Bibby Stockholm barge at Portland. Lawyers for Carralyn Parkes said their client is “disappointed that a loophole continues to exist” whereby the Home Office can “avoid” local authority oversight of its use of […]
Thrilled Nicola Childs from Beaminster has won our John Bright Country Stores competition. Nicola chose the store shed on offer in our competition after counting the wooden fences, hidden among 96 pages. “I was absolutely shocked when I was told I had won,” she said. “This was the first competition I have entered in years, […]
Eighty years ago, Beaminster’s Royal British Legion President Tony Greenham was just eight. But he vividly remembers the stillness after the soldiers left Beaminster on D-Day. He then lived at Pattle (now Eggardon Close). He remembers soldiers being billeted all over the town – their HQ was at Parnham House. He said: “I remember the […]