Chideock mechanic Billy Kitcher is driving 900 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in his vintage tractor to raise money for #Willdoes. While most people are planning a more relaxing summer, this 23-year-old will be trundling from top to bottom of the country in his 1954 Fordson Major tractor, which has no cab and […]
Every time I drive past the deer park on Stock Gaylard Estate, I slow down to catch a glimpse of life beyond those black, metal railings which embrace 1,800 rolling acres of fields, park and woodland. So, when I was invited to stay for a glamping trip in Sawpits, a shepherd’s hut on the estate, […]
An outcry from the public has forced Dorset Council to partially row back on plans to introduce a booking system at the tips. The authority unveiled the plans to a cacophony of opposition last month, then bullishly told the public it was “determined to move forward” on the plans. The authority wanted to spend £120,000 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]