Tuesday April 7

Beaminster Museum re-opens for the summer 2026 season with a new exhibition. Fire Flood Frost explores the dramatic and often devastating impact of natural forces on the Beaminster area. New pre-history and geology displays. Open Tues, Thurs, Sat and Bank Holidays, 10.30am-4pm, Sundays 2pm-4.30pm. Free, but donations welcome. Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster DT8 3NB. beaminstermuseum.co.uk

Bridport Railway walk at 11am led by a Bridport Museum guide from the Co-op car park, Sea Road North. Tickets (£8) from the museum website include a single visit to the museum.

Wednesday, April 8

Weymouth Memory Café is held on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays 2pm-3.30pm at St Andrew’s Church Rooms, 4 Church Rd, Preston, DT3 6BU. People living with dementia and their carers/ families can just turn up. Free. admindorset@alzheimers.org.uk or 07860 592407.

Live Laugh Love Ladies Club meet at Crossroads, 1 Crown Square, Poundbury 7pm-9pm to hear from professional make-up artist Kirsten Sare. Call Sally 07703 171545, email sallyannchildsslade@gmail.com livelaughloveladies.club/sallycs

Friends of Lodmoor Country Park Weymouth host a free ‘Chicks on Sticks’ Easter Egg hunt 2pm-3pm – meet by the children’s play area. Find five different coloured chicks and bring to a Friends volunteer to receive a prize.

Thursday, April 9

Sherborne & District Gardeners’ Association meets at the Main Digby Hall, Hound Street, at 7.30pm for their spring show.

Royal British Legion will hold a Dorchester branch meeting at The Dorford Centre, Bridport Road, DT1 1RR at 7pm. More info from Carol Lewis at: dorchesterdorset.secretary@ rbl.community

Friday, April 10

Dorchester Oddfellows host a coffee and get together with bring and buy 10.30am-12pm at Crossways Village Hall. All welcome.

Saturday, April 11

Repair Cafe Weymouth at Southill Community Centre, 137, Radipole Lane, DT4 9SS, 10am-12.30pm. Bring items for repair by specialist volunteers for an optional donation. Electrical, clocks, jewellery, sewing and leather repairs, mechanical, sewing machines etc. repaircafeweymouth.org

Screen quiz at Moreton Village Hall at 7pm – £10 per person to include a ploughman’s supper. Raffle, bring your own refreshments. Tickets via buytickets.at/moretonvillagehall/2112789

Cider Saturdays have restarted at Dorset Nectar Cider! Come on down every week, 5.30pm to 8pm at the farm in Waytown, Bridport DT6 5FT and enjoy delicious food (veggie option) and live music from EJ Replay.

St Peter’s Church Dorchester (DT1 1XA), Choral Evensong for Easter at 4.30pm with music by Vaughan Williams, David Beeby, Stanford and Patrick Hadley. Admission free with a glass of wine to follow. musicatstpetersdorchester.org

There’s a flea market at Digy Memorial Hall, Sherborne, DT9 3NL, from 8.30am (£5 entry, £3 after 9am) till 1.30pm. Hilary Chisholm on 07736 666414 or hilarychisholm@aol.com to book a stall.

Cattistock Point-to-Point at Chilfrome, near Maiden Newton (signed off A356). An afternoon of pony races and steeplechase races with a big screen showing the races and The Grand National. Local food, bar, bookies, ice cream, stalls and children’s entertainment. Further info pointingwessex.co.uk, or njatkinson10@gmail.com

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7 mile walk from Langdon Wood, near Morcombelake. For info call 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.

Have a say on the return of beavers to Dorset’s wild places at a consultation event from 9am-3pm at Maiden Newton hall. The consultation will play a central role in determining whether a full licence application is taken forward. Take part at: dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/BeaverSurvey

Monday, April 13

Dorchester Oddfellows host an afternoon of tabletop games 2pm-5pm at PIP Café Poundbury, St John Way, DT12FG. Come and play or learn to play backgammon, Scrabble, Rummikub, mah jong and more. Free inc tea, coffee and cake. Rosemary 07788 436797/ rosemarywdt2@gmail.com

West Dorset Flower Club are holding a workshop on spring baskets at the WI Hall, North Street, Bridport, at 2.30pm. Non-members £6. Tel. 01308 456339.

Sherborne Memory Café is held 2nd & 4th Mondays 10.30am-noon at Digby Hall, Hound Street, DT9 3AA (next to library). Refreshments available, free, no need to book. Info from Mel: 07860 592407 or Jim: 07719 074485 email: admindorset@alzheimers.org.uk

Dorchester Townswomen’s Guild meet at Dorchester Community Church, Liscombe Street, Poundbury at 2pm to hear a talk on Future Bright Trust, educating orphaned children in South Africa, by Sue Hennessy. Visitors welcome at £4.

Tuesday, April 14

Royal British Legion, Dorchester Branch will hold a meet and greet social event 11am-1pm at The Junction Hotel, Great Western Road, DT1 1UF. Meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Everyone welcome.

Southill Gardening Club has a speaker from Poundbury Garden Centre on sweet plants and sugar sources. This talk will explore some of the traditional sugar/ sweetener sources and how they can be grown and used. Community centre, 7.30pm. Non-members welcome. Info from Nigel Smith on 01305 788939.

Thursday, April 16

Dorchester Art Club’s new term starts at St George’s Church Hall, Fordington, Dorchester, 2pm-4pm. First visit is free. The topic is ‘any mode of transport’. You can bring your own project and paint in any medium. Absolute beginners and more experienced artists welcome. 07747 049501.

A film about the climate emergency is to be shown at Digby Hall, Hound St, Sherborne. DT9 3AA at 6pm, attended by West Dorset MP Edward Morello. The film will last under an hour and there will be a chance for questions at the end. Free entry, donations welcome. Book at eventbrite.co.uk/ e/1985186294647

Friends of Bridport Millennium Green host a talk on Askers Road House by local historian Bernard Paull at 2.30pm at the WI Hall. Tickets £5 (members £4) on the door, contact: 01308 423078. Bernard was born and bred in Loders and is a retired Bridport Borough Surveyor and the author of Loders Back-Along and Dorset Bridges. Askers Road House was built overlooking the village of Askerswell and atop the hill above Long Bredy Hut along the A35 Bridport to Dorchester Road in 1931. Like other roadhouses built in the 20s and 30s it was a new concept aimed at younger, more affluent people. The roadhouses were elegant, spacious and superbly appointed.

There’s cash bingo at Charlton Horethorne village hall (DT9 4FY), 6.30pm, eyes down 7pm. 01935 814199. Proceeds to hall.

Dorchester Camera Club is celebrating its 90th anniversary in its 2025/2026 season with the production of its 90th Anniversary Collection – a hundred-page photobook printed by Kozu Books in Somerset. The book will form the basis of an exhibition from today until April 29 at The Shire Hall. The exhibition is free tand will feature over 70 images taken by members, including wildlife, landscape and street photography along with creative, impressionist work. Proceeds from the book to the West Dorset Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association after one of the club’s members, Frances Underwood, died from MND in 2022. dorchestercameraclub.co.uk

Friday, April 17

Friends of St Michael’s Church Beer Hackett are hosting an evening of laid-back jazz with Rebecca Chambers’ New Tricks jazz trio at Thornford Village Hall (Sherborne DT9 6QB). Doors open at 6.30pm with music from 7pm. Tickets £12.50 from friendsofstmichaelschurchbeerhackett.org

A fun quiz will be held 6.30pm-10pm at St Swithun’s Church Hall, Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. £5 a head includes tea and cake. Bring your own bottle, glasses and nibbles. Tables of 4 or 6 book in advance 07859 803734.

Saturday, April 18

Friends of Lodmoor Country Park Weymouth invite you to participate in a ‘Bee B&B Refurbishment’ as part of a National Day of Local Action for Nature and Green Spaces. See P64 for more details.

A coffee morning will be held at All Saints church, Wyke Regis, 10am to noon. All welcome for coffee, tea, cakes, books, Fairtrade stall.

People are invited to have a say on the return of beavers to Dorset’s wild places at a public consultation event from 9am-4pm at Dorchester’s Corn Exchange. Dorset Wildlife Trust has launched the consultation to explore the potential for reintroducing wild beavers to parts of Dorset. Share your views at: dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/ BeaverSurvey

Bridport Rotary Club hosts an evening of music from the Dorset Youth Jazz Orchestra at the United Church at 7pm. Tickets £12.50, U18 £5 at Bridport TIC or bridportandwestbay.co.uk/tickets, from club members or on door. Profits to the Portable Ventilator Appeal for Dorset County Hospital and other causes.

Portland Borstal Officers Bowling Club are holding free open days today and tomorrow 10am-2pm. Coaches will be available to assist beginners. A selection of bowls will be provided, please bring a pair of flat-soled shoes. Experienced players also welcome. There’s a 6 rink bowling green, changing rooms and a licensed bar. Membership is ‘probably the cheapest in Dorset.’ There is no need to be connected with the prison service in any way. At the far end of Grove Road, past the Jailhouse Diner, turn right, right again and then left. Free parking next to the green. The club participates in ladies’ and men’s leagues. They have friendly matches with touring teams and local clubs. There are various competitions within the club, or you can just join practise roll ups 11am-1pm Sundays and 2pm-4pm Wednesdays. Info from Stan Armstrong on 07917 316846 or email squidarmstrong@yahoo.com

It’s Cider Saturday at Dorset Nectar Cider! Come on down every week, 5.30pm to 8pm at the farm in Waytown, Bridport DT6 5FT and enjoy delicious food (veggie option) and live music from DJ Simon.

St Peter’s Church Dorchester (DT1 1XA) hosts a lunchtime concert by Christina and Graham Scott (violin & organ) 12.30-1pm. Free. musicatstpetersdorchester.org

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 8.5 mile walk from Lambert’s Castle near Broadwindsor. Call 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.

The Cerne Giant Festival starts today, and goes on till May 9, with history events exploring the Anglo-Saxon roots of Cerne Abbey which are slowly being revealed through the last three summers of archaeology. Lots of different events, including a quiz night! More info and tickets from cernegiantfestival.org, and Cerne Village Stores.

Monday, April 20

A six-week art history course starts today 2pm-3.30pm, about the ‘Group of 7’, Canadian artists at United Reformed Hall, East Street Bridport. Fee: £70. Also online on Fridays at 2pm, Fee: £65 from April 24. Individual lectures are £15. chris.pamsimpson@btinternet.com

Tuesday, April 21

Owermoigne Flower Club hosts a demo by The Gardens Group on container gardening at 2pm at the village hall, Pollards Lane, DT2 8XD. Visitors £7, includes refreshments. Info ofcprogramme@gmail.com, or call 07934 764094.

Beaminster Horticultural Society hosts a presentation by Anna May on growing dahlias (Anna has recently featured on BBC Gardeners’ World). The Public Hall, DT8 3EF. Doors 7pm, raffle, bar refreshments. Plants may be available. Guests £3. Info: bemhortsoc@gmail.com.

Wednesday, April 22

Weymouth Memory Café is held on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays 2pm-3.30pm at St Andrew’s Church Rooms, 4 Church Rd, Preston, DT3 6BU. Free, no need to book. Contact admindorset@alzheimers.org.uk or call Mel on 07860 592407 or Jim on 07719 074485.

Thursday, April 23

Dorset Museum & Art Gallery in Dorchester hosts an illustrated talk, Face 2 Face: Exploring the relationship between artist and sitter, by renowned painter and author Professor Paul Gough at 6pm. Insights into the clever (and sometimes amusing) strategies used to capture the essence of a sitter. dorsetmuseum.org

Yeovil’s Westlands is hosting a beer and cider festival today and tomorrow. More info at westlandsyeovil.co.uk

There’s live music with Dean Carter in Bard For Life at Durberville’s Café, 90 Cheap St Sherborne DT9 3BJ at 7pm. As it’s St George’s Day and the birthday of our national poet, Dean will be playing a special set of material themed around the works of The Bard of Avon and Blake, Wordsworth and T S Eliot. Songs and instrumentals plus new and unreleased pieces. Suggested donation £10.

Saturday, April 25

Dorchester Oddfellows: Spring prize bingo at Crossways Village Hall. Eyes down 7.30pm, refreshments and raffle. Contact Mary Brewer 01305 853125 marybrewer44@icloud.com

Singer/songwriter Nick Capaldi performs at St Nicholas Church in Broadwey, Weymouth (DT3 5DN). Praised by David Essex as ‘having an early Genesis and Supertramp quality’. Doors 6.30pm. Tickets £15. To book, call 07944 617553 or email susanamalik@yahoo.com. Bar.

Bring clothes you don’t want and swap for clothes you do at a swishing event at Beaminster Town Hall (DT8 3EF). Clothes drop-off from 10am, swapping from 11am-1pm. Free!

Five mums from Puddletown are raising money for British Dyslexia Association, St Peter’s Hospice and The Brave and Determined Charity, with a table top sale at the village hall from 10am. Cakes, a teddy bear zip line and in the evening there’s a quiz and a bar. The event will raise money towards a £3,000 target before the ladies take on a 100km endurance trek along the Jurassic coast in May.

It’s Cider Saturday at Dorset Nectar Cider! Come on down every week, 5.30pm to 8pm at the farm in Waytown, Bridport DT6 5FT and enjoy delicious food (veggie option) and live music from Simple Chaos.

Bridport & West Dorset Rambling Club 7.5 mile walk from Bridport. Info on 01308 898484 or 01308 863340. New members/visitors welcome.

Visitors are invited to enjoy a free, behind-the-scenes look at traditional boatbuilding in action at the Boat Building Academy (BBA) Open Day on Monmouth Beach, Lyme Regis 11am-4pm. Children’s activities, delicious food and drinks, music from the Lyme Bay Moonrakers.

A coffee morning will be held 10am-noon at St Aldhem’s Church, Spa Road, Weymouth (DT4 5EW) in aid of Family Matters Weymouth. All welcome.

Sunday, April 26

Netherbury Repair Café is held at the hall on the last Sunday of the month, 10am-12pm. Bring garden tools for repair and sharpening, plus electricals, bikes, textiles, ceramics, electronics, wooden and metal items. Home-made cakes. Contact Lisa Willis on 07870 950 666 or info@repaircafenetherbury.org repaircafenetherbury.org

Dorset Cottage Garden Society meets for a talk at 2pm at Puddletown Village Hall. Derry Watkins of Special Plants Nursery, nr Bath on Summer Flowers From Seed. Plant stall, raffle, tea and cakes. Guests £5. Info: 01305 832995.

Monday, April 27

Places & Faces: An exhibition of original art by local artists Jayne Muth and Kevin Smith at The Duchess of Cornwall, 12 Queen Mother Square Poundbury, DT1 3DD, until May 10, 9am-11pm. Meet the artists: Saturday, May 2 11.30am.

Blending wildflower planting into your outdoor space is the title of a talk by the Blooming Wild Plant Nursery at Piddletrenthide Memorial Hall (DT2 7QF) at 7.30pm for the Piddle Valley Gardens Club. Refreshments, all welcome. Guests £2.

Tuesday, April 28

Bridport U3A meets at The Bridport United Church Hall, East Street, DT6 3LJ to hear a talk by Peggy Griffin on the history of nursery rhymes at 2pm, followed by Q&A, then refreshments. Visitors £3.

Thursday, April 30

Bride Valley Films will be showing The Choral, a ‘poignant and funny’ movie ‘with excellent music’ written by Alan Bennett, at Litton Cheney Village Hall DT2 9AU. As the First World War rages on, a choral society in a small English town has lost most of its men to the army. The Choral’s committee engages a driven new chorus master. As conscription papers start to arrive, the community discovers the best response to war is to make music together. Doors 7pm, film 7.30pm. Tickets £6 on door inc a glass of wine.

Friday, May 1

Portland Coves will play a May Day concert at Wyke Memorial Hall, DT4 9EZ at 7.30pm. Coves play mostly Celtic roots based music from the UK and around the world including Portugal and Japan. Often played upbeat but always with the Coves unique twist. Morris dancing outside beforehand. Doors 7pm, cash bar. Tickets £10, booking advised but tickets may be available on the door. Call Ian Cox on 07966 439161 or Rick Potter on 07479 532159.

Saturday, May 2

Wessex Military Band is playing a concert in Bucky Doo Square Bridport – free, with a collection – from 10am-12.30pm, dependent on the weather.

Have a say on the return of beavers to Dorset’s wild places at a public consultation event from 9am-4pm at Wareham Corn Exchange. Dorset Wildlife Trust has launched the consultation to explore the potential for reintroducing wild beavers to parts of Dorset. Go to dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/BeaverSurvey

A plant sale at will be held 10am-11am at Piddletrenthide Memorial Hall DT2 7QF by the Piddle Valley Gardens Club.

Beaminster Horticultural Society is holding a plant sale in the Square from 8.30am. A wide selection, come early to avoid disappointment. Info: bemhortsoc@gmail.com

Sunday, May 3

Taize at 6pm in St Mary’s Church, Dorchester DT1 2HJ. A multisensory act of worship on the theme of Christ’s resurrection and ascension with beautiful chants, silence and iconography framing the reading of a Gospel story.

Mapperton House, near Beaminster, is holding a Best of West Dorset Market today and tomorrow (DT8 3NR), 10am-4pm. £5 entry, free for kids, enjoy Dorset’s finest food and drink, stalls filled with artisan produce, handmade goods and local specialities, nine food vans and live cooking demos from local chefs sharing seasonal dishes. Tickets include access to the gardens. A percentage of proceeds will support West Dorset Wilding, helping to care for the local landscape. Keep little explorers entertained with a mini market trail as Pippa’s animal friends roam the stalls. The Coach House Café will be open.

Monday, May 4

Alweston car boot sale: Sellers 7am, buyers before 7.30am £5, buyers after 7.30am, donation. See Facebook for more.

Tuesday, May 5

General Witchfinders podcast presents a Folk Horror talk on British films and fiction including Hammer Horror, Nigel Kneale, and The Wicker Man. The King’s Arms Hotel, High East St, Dorchester (DT1 1HF) at 7pm. Age recommendation 15+. Tickets £8 from Teasel & Skylark bookshop or online at teaselandskylark.com/events/the-general-witchfinders-folk-horror

There’s a Bridport Railway walk at 11am led by a Bridport Museum guide from the Coop car park, Sea Road North. Tickets (£8) from bridportmuseum.co.uk include a visit to the museum.

Thursday, May 7

All are welcome at a memory café in Bridport’s St Swithun’s Church Hall, North Allington, DT6 5DU, 2pm-3.30pm (1st & 3rd Thursdays). Refreshments, free, no need to book. Mel: 07860 592407 or email: admindorset@alzheimers.org.uk

A community coffee morning will be held 9.30am-11.15am at St Swithun’s Church Hall, Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. Free bacon butties, cake and coffee. All welcome. 07741 457505.

Friday, May 8

There’s a chance to watch an open rehearsal of Tudor music and dancing at 11am as part of Dorchester Town Council’s informal annual town meeting at the Corn Exchange (DT1 1HF), celebrating twinning between Dorset and Normandy. Step back in time with Courtlye Musick and Ars Nova of Cherbourg as they whirl you through Tudor and medieval dance music and love songs on period instruments. Free entry. courtlyemusick.co.uk or call 01305 854915.

Saturday, May 9

Sherborne & District Gardeners’ Association meets at the Main Digby Hall, Hound Street, at 7.30pm for its AGM, followed by Malcolm Balmer on choosing and preparing photos for display. Non-members £3. 01935 389375.

Dorset County Show’s Spring Show is on today and tomorrow near Puddletown, with an epic range of entertainment! See pages 4 and 47.

There’s bingo at Maiden Newton Village Hall, doors 2pm, eyes down 2.30pm.

It’s Cider Saturday at Dorset Nectar Cider! Hoe down 5.30pm to 8pm to Waytown, Bridport DT6 5FT for food and live music from Jordan Watts.

There’s a vintage toy fair in Sherborne at the Digby Memorial Hall, DT9 3NL, from 8.30am (£5 entry, £3 after 9am), closing at 1.30pm. Around 30 toy sellers, offering vintage favourites and rare items, who will also buy items visitors bring along. Call 07736 666414 to book a stall.

Repair Cafe Weymouth at Southill Community Centre, 137, Radipole Lane, Weymouth, DT4 9SS, 10am-12.30pm. Bring items for repair by specialist volunteers for an optional donation. Electrical, clocks, jewellery, sewing and leather repairs, mechanical, sewing machines etc. repaircafeweymouth.org

A plants and car boot sale 10am-1pm at St Swithun’s Church Garden and Hall, Allington, Bridport, DT6 5DU. Sellers £12. Stalls clothes, bric a brac, tombola, garden items, jazz cafe with bacon butties and refreshments. 07887 483228.

Step back in time with Courtlye Musick and Ars Nova of Cherbourg at Broadmayne Village Hall, Cowleaze Road, DT2 8EW at 2.30pm. Medieval and Tudor dance music and love songs played in costume on period instruments. Free with collection. More details at courtlyemusick.co.uk or call 01305 854915