TWO 13-year-old boys who took a dinghy and paddled out into Holes Bay narrowly avoided disaster when the boat sank. The teenagers, both from Hamworthy, took the boat from the waterside near the former Hamworthy power station site just after 7pm on Tuesday
PURBECK District Council has a new leader. The finely balanced authority, which has 11 Liberal Democrat members, 11 Conservatives and two Independents, is now led by Lib Dem, Cllr David Budd. He takes over from Tory, Cllr Gary Suttle, who had been leader
Last year, the authors at Rough Guide gave Bournemouth and the surrounding areas somewhat of a drubbing. In their guide to Great Britain they said Bournemouth was little more than “the nucleus of a vast monotonous conurbation from Lymington
PEOPLE placed the comments below following the thanksgiving service for Ralph on Wednesday (May 20) See link below to add your voice. • Please restrict your comments to tributes. People have been charged with his murder and legally we can't
DORSET’S big two are on course for another title showdown after producing almost identical results in their second round galas in the Southern Junior League. Remarkably, defending champions Bournemouth Dolphins and last year’s runners-up Ferndown
AMELIA Maughan broke two records in one race at Crawley as she marked her 13th birthday on Saturday by adding to her stock of national titles. The Bournemouth Dolphins swimmer, representing Port Regis School near Shaftesbury, clocked 26.66sec in the
ELECTIONS for Dorset County Council are being held on June 4. Forty-five seats are up for grabs at County Hall, with residents served by district councils in Christchurch, East Dorset, North Dorset, and Purbeck among those eligible to vote.
DRILLING for wells in Sudanese villages, re-building an outpatients’ department in storm-ravaged Somalia and helping survivors of the Kashmir earthquake. It’s not quite how everyone spends their spare time, but it’s all in a day’s work for a Medecins
TWO sufferers of the mysterious “hum” that has been heard across Purbeck say they are sceptical about a new view on its source. As reported in the Daily Echo, the low-pitched drone has been causing some very real headaches across the district, other
A 25-year-old Dorset man has been jailed for life for the brutal murder of a frail pensioner who was tortured and beaten to death in his own home last autumn. Joby Barney from Ringwood Road, Alderholt, will spend at least 30 years behind bars
SCHOOL and college students were given an insight into the world of business during a two-day training event in Bournemouth. Young people from Avonbourne, Glenmoor, Portchester, Poole High and Bournemouth and Poole College visited LV= as part of their
OUTSTANDING teachers from Dorset and Hampshire are among the finalists due to attend the 2009 Teaching Awards in Winchester next month. The event will be hosted by BBC news presenter Sally Taylor and aims to reward unsung heroes of the profession. They
MORRISSEY has just announced a show in Bournemouth – his first since a BIC date in 1991. He’ll now play the Opera House, Boscombe, on October 26 as part of an extension to the Tour of Refusal. Tickets go on sale Friday at 9am.
A CAREERS officer at a Sherborne school has raised £3,000 for a children’s charity by trekking to base camp at Mount Everest. Emma Charlton took on the challenge to swell the coffers of Kids Company – a charity helping vulnerable children living in
A “LAST ditch attempt” is to be made to postpone a road closure that will divert traffic near a primary school in a tiny North Dorset village. Community leaders in Hazelbury Bryan will come face-to-face with County Hall highways chiefs on Friday in a
Heavy wind and rain in the New Forest has resulted in the death of one of the three newly hatched goshawk chicks. RSBP experts say the chick was probably blown out of the nest, 18 metres up a tree, on Monday night. Visit the nest cam
POLICE and council officials are investigating after a protected oak tree sited on public land was felled. Witnesses said the tree, thought to be 100 years old, was felled on Bank Holiday Monday May 4 on land in Valley Road, Throop. Dorset Police has
I’D been told to expect great things when I finally got to see Maxïmo Park live, and I wasn’t disappointed! From the moment they opened with crowd-favourite Graffiti it was clear this was going to be a good night. We were taken on a journey back in
A SOLITARY Lithuanian sailor has been stranded in Poole Harbour for almost a month on a boat too battered to go to sea. The rusty vessel, bearing visible holes, has been moored alongside Poole Quay since it was impounded by the Maritime and Coastguard
IF your only experience of Cinderella is a slapstick show during the Christmas panto season then now could be the time to look at this enchanting story from a different and more elegant angle. Graceful performances in Cinderella on Ice, a classy, flawless
A BOURNEMOUTH University survey listed (in their words) eight major problems with the Branksome Rec proposals. As I see it only one has been addressed, which is which way round to put the ground. There is still nowhere for parking. The speed ramps,
IT could take another 30 years for Purbeck heathland ravaged by fire to recover. A year ago today, 2.5 hectares – six acres – of land at Godlingston Heath, Studland, was destroyed in a blaze thought to have been started by a carelessly discarded
IN THE latest issue of the council’s usually self-congratulatory journal BHlife, education director Jane Portman has rather suggested the council has been getting things wrong with the Outdoor Education Centre at Hengistbury Head. She states
Amidst all this anger directed towards MPs, it’s important to ask, how we can promote positive change in Bournemouth? I used to be a member of the local Conservatives but the candidates they put up for high office didn’t seem suitable to me. If you
THE reason for the extreme anger now manifested in the public’s reaction to the expenses fiasco is that it surely represents the culmination of many years of political lies, deceit, broken promises, cheating practices and official whitewashes perpetrated
IT WAS only a decade ago that the traditional paving slabs in Poole High Street and the Orchards were removed and replaced by low maintenance asphalt – reducing the risk of pedestrians tripping, and making underground pipe repair simpler. Now a programme
I AM disappointed that Mr Howitt (Have Your Say, May 23) feels that Bournemouth council does not listen when it comes to providing CCTV coverage in the town. Over the last two or three years the council has invested more than £2 million in replacing
I AM writing on behalf of the South West Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Greens Group and the South West Green Party to personally thank Bournemouth council and their equalities and diversity officers. In February, when we launched the
A PIECE of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding cake is up for auction in Wareham on June 2. The 28-year-old slice of history is still in its original presentation box and was given to the seller, who was a member of the Royal Household
BLOOMING beautiful bonnets lovingly created by a top trainee florist are exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show today. Lauren Curry from Burton, an apprentice at Sarah-Ann Florists in Fairmile, has entered the Young Florist of the Year competition to create
VODAFONE has withdrawn its application to put up a mast nearly 80 feet high near Station Road in West Moors. The communications giant said it had made the decision because of district council concerns over nearby trees. It had wanted to site the 24
THREE visits to the High Court in London and an afternoon garden party at Buckingham Palace have been the highlights of the career of Fordingbridge council clerk Helen Tague. Mrs Tague retired last week after being employed in the town hall for 31 years
TWO new mayors have been elected in East Dorset. Cllr Queenie Comfort has been sworn in as the new mayor of Ferndown, while Cllr John Burden has taken the helm in Wimborne. Cllr Comfort has chosen The Barrington Centre as her charity for the year and
THE number of rapes in Dorset has risen by almost one third while prosecutions of alleged offenders have dropped, according to new figures. Dorset’s Chief Constable Martin Baker will reveal on Wednesday how 209 rapes were committed from June
A consultant paid thousands of pounds to save Poole council money has been axed after it was revealed he had been jailed for taking bribes. Adam Osman, who was appointed after a personal recommendation from the head of finance, was called in
Lord of the Dance: Lighthouse, Poole CAN it really be 14 long years since Irish dance sensation Michael Flatley split from the phenomenally successful Riverdance and did the impossible by creating this breakaway box-office busting mega-hit
FORGET Gordon Brown and David Cameron, people in Dorset would much rather see Joanna Lumley or Simon Cowell running the country. TV presenter Esther Rantzen has already announced plans to stand against Luton South’s Margaret Moran, one of the
MOST of us suffer with aches and pains now and again, but 42-year-old Rachel Fay is in constant pain most of the time. The 42-year-old mum from Christchurch has suffered with fibromyalgia for almost 20 years, a condition which causes persistent pain
PENNILESS student Pete Smith tore up the unwritten rulebook and admitted his move to Poole Town was purely down to finances. Smith last week walked out of the Wimborne Town exit door and put pen to paper on a deal with Tom Killick’s Wessex
Only Alexandra Park and Boscombe Cliff remain unbeaten in Section One – and next Saturday they meet at Alex. After 19 ends, and trailing by 11 shots at Meyrick, Alex’s 100 per cent record was in doubt. But Bournemouth failed to score one more
GRAND Prix star Hans Andersen has agreed to rejoin Pirates seven years after originally leaving the club. The dynamic Dane has been brought in as the struggling Elite League outfit’s new number one in a bid to resurrect their fading title hopes. Andersen
A Poole family has been left heartbroken after their pet dog was stolen from outside a DIY store. Lynn Taylor’s brown toy poodle Coco was taken from outside Homebase at Yarrow Road, Poole, while she and husband Dave visited the store between
SOUTH Dorset MP and government minister Jim Knight has claimed for a toaster, Freeview box and an iron, he revealed yesterday. The schools minister published his second home expenses in a bid to reassure constituents. He said he was
PALS of a cricket-mad lad from Bransgore who died in a road accident last year have contributed to a bench dedicated to his memory. Aarron Keeping, 12, was captain of Bransgore Cricket Club’s under-13s team until his death on September 30 last year when
IT’S several hundred years since Cavaliers were last at Corfe Castle, but one villager reckons there might still be some around. Keen fisherman Don Goodwin, 68, who has lived in the village for 24 years, was out at a playing field in the early
A CHRISTCHURCH-based charity may have to cut the lines of a free local advice service if it cannot secure funding for next year. The Wessex Autistic Society’s successful information service, which offers free and confidential advice to those affected
JOE Screen wants to give the Grand Prix one last blast by finishing high enough in tonight’s British Final at Poole (7.30pm) to grab a wild card for Cardiff. The rejuvenated Pirates star believes that on current form |he is as good as anyone
TV presenter Tim Vincent is urging cat lovers to take the lead from their feline friends by getting out in the fresh air and having fun to support a leading animal charity. Paws Outdoors is a new initiative by the Cats Protection League that aims to
WEST Moors blasted visitors Braeside 6-0 as home skips Janet Price (36-13) and Ann Jenkinson (32-9) took total control leaving the hosts at the top of the A Division on shot difference. Lymington and Poole Park also gathered in maximum points
