“We must have some VERY thirsty villagers,” says pub protagonist Barrie Lovelock, after pledges to help buy Tolpuddle’s Martyrs Inn topped an astonishing £400,000 in just a month. Villagers are hoping to buy the building and spend a further £50,000 turning the inside into a ‘proper’ pub rather than a gastro destination. They feel so […]
The Dorchester Bayeux Twinning Society may “wither and die” if it cannot find new members in 2023, its chairman has warned. Gareth Jones says maintaining strong links with our continental counterparts is more important now than ever before in the wake of Brexit and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Mr Jones told West Dorset Magazine: […]
Bridport’s exceptional freelance photographer NEIL BARNES is well known for his work in the West Dorset area and with a regular market stall on Saturdays and a gallery in the Customs House in West Bay, Neil’s stunning photographs captivate locals and visitors alike. The West Dorset Magazine asked (nicely) if Neil would review 2022 for […]
Suffering a life-changing brain injury in a head-on car crash nine years ago has not kept Bridport antiques trader Tristram Latimer Sayer down. The former drummer for 1980s dream pop band Breathless, Tristram can now be found selling country primitive antiques from his unit at the Alleyways Antiques Centre on St Michael’s Trading Estate in […]
Budding writers are being urged to get out and let Dorset’s countryside inspire their craft. The new Green Words scheme is a walking and writing wellbeing project taking place in the Bridport area this spring. Coordinated by Bridport Arts Centre, the project will be led by keen walker Dr Kevan Manwaring, senior lecturer in creative […]
The developer building controversial new homes at Vearse Farm in Bridport has offered to make ‘reparations’ after they tore up an ancient hedgerow on land they do not own. At an emergency meeting hosted by Bridport Town Council, the development consortium admitted a series of ‘weaknesses in the administrative, communications, and supervision processes’ led to […]
Channel swimming septuagenarians who believed they had won a world record with their relay have seen their fundraising top £10,000 after telling their story on national TV. The six-strong One Foot in the Wave team, average age 75.6, four of whom are from Dorset, swam the Channel in September – battling terrible conditions. But they […]
Campaigners against 4,000 new homes in Dorchester say a councillor’s comments in response to their concerns are ‘misleading’ and say they fear the plan is a done deal – despite thousands of objections. Members of STAND (Save the Area North of Dorchester) were pleased to see their concerns aired in our last edition. However they […]
Miranda with Pugsie and dog warden Alexandra Whittington An adventurous dog sent her owner on a 120-mile rescue mission after she boarded a train on her own while out on a walk. Pugsie-Mfanwy the jug (pug crossed with jack russell) decided to bolt for the westbound train as her owner, this magazine’s editor Miranda Robertson, […]
Dorchester woman who runs her own hedgehog rescue shelter is urging everyone to be more aware of the creatures’ plight this winter. Chris Legg, who runs the Prickly Prickles shelter from a shed in her garden, warns these ‘endearing’ creatures are in decline due to the impact of climate change and unseasonal shifts in the […]