LANDSLIDES and flooding have closed roads and threatened homes all over Dorset. Police warned motorists to take extreme care on all routes after floodwater closed a string of major roads. These included the A37 Dorchester bypass at Monkey's Jump, the
FILM fans wanting to avoid The Big Sleep are invited to saddle up with the Midnight Cowboy and enjoy a Boogie Night. Cinema staff are hoping people will sign up for 'action' at a 24-hour film marathon in Weymouth to raise money for a good cause. Cineworld
NURSE Ramela O'Malley has had a classroom in a Ghana school named after her. Ramela, 33, who is a staff nurse at Weymouth Community Hospital, has helped raise £6,500 for a newly built school in the remote village of Abrafo in Ghana. To show their appreciation
TWO 11-year-old Weymouth schoolgirls will be appearing on national television after being interviewed on a garden trampoline. Laura Bond and Jenny Gilmore both go to All Saints School and earned their small screen places by outshining nearly 600 other
MOTORISTS travelling through the heart of the New Forest are warned to expect delays this week, following the start of new roadworks in Lyndhurst. The right-hand lane at the top of the High Street by the Romsey Road junction will be closed from today
CHRISTCHURCH have nipped any potential ill feeling with WimborneTown firmly in the bud after the recent war of words between ex-football referee Derek Nippard and Magpies boss Alex Pike. Although Nippard is a committee member at Hurn Bridge and president
BOOST your health and career prospects by stepping forward for voluntary work. Becoming a volunteer can build your confidence and beat depression, experts claim. Annie Newbury, of North Dorset Volunteer Action, explained: "Volunteering is a two-way street
Businesses in the West are at the top of the table for job prospects, according to Manpower's latest survey. It indicates that 38 per cent of employers within the region (which includes Dorset) plan to take on more staff during the fourth quarter of 2000
* AMBITIOUS plans have been put forward for the creation of a mini-housing estate in Christchurch. Council officers are studying proposals for 22 two-storey homes and two flats, on spare land between Portfield Road and Grove Road East, near Christchurch
NOW that Portland Partnership has been established with local businessman and town councillor Ron Davis as chairman, an open meeting is to be held at St John's Church Hall in Ventnor Road, Fortuneswell, on Monday, November 13, commencing at 7.30pm. It
AS the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is the arranged time and date for All Saints, Easton, Christmas Bazaar, the proceedings will start off inside the church with a tribute to the war dead. Bugler Fred Caines, from the Portland Corps Salvation
FORDINGBRIDGE strolled into the fourth round of the Tetley's Bitter Junior Vase with a 55-9 thrashing of Overton. Already 24-9 ahead by the interval, the hosts really turned on the style at times following the break and added four further tries. Following
CHRISTCHURCH have nipped any potential ill feeling with Wimborne Town firmly in the bud after the recent war of words between ex-football referee Derek Nippard and Magpies boss Alex Pike. Although Nippard is a committee member at Hurn Bridge and president
Full time results from the top teams in the South Southampton 3 - Chelsea 2 QPR 1 - Portsmouth 1 AFC Bournemouth 2 - Peterborough 1
WHEN Britain's most popular sailing waters are your cruising ground chances are you will meet up with one or more of the country's most interesting craft. Such was the case when I took my own boat up the Solent to the Beaulieu River this season and found
RINGWOOD Town were unlucky not to progress in the Hampshire Senior Cup as they went down 3-2 at Jewson Wessex League outfit Fleet Town. The visitors found themselves 1-0 behind in the 20th minute after Fleet capitalised on some sloppy defending. Furthermore
AN EX-SMOKER from Bridport has collected a Quitter of the Year award at a ceremony in London. Nigel Lee was presented with his award and a prize of £1,000 by TV personality Fiona Phillips at an award ceremony at the Langham Hilton Hotel in London. He
A MIXTURE of balloons, games and classical music provided a rousing start to a new campaign aimed at keeping youngsters on the straight and narrow. Scores of families descended on Allenbourn Middle School at East Borough, Wimborne, for a fun day designed
ACTRESS Paula Wilcox jumped at the chance of appearing in the comedy The Memory of Water because she loves the thought-provoking way in which it gets people laughing at themselves. The fact that it focuses on bereavement and death might have hindered
THIS tale of murder, intrigue and time travel, combining comedy with elements of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Hamlet, seemed an ideal choice for a dark November night during which the rain lashed down and the wind howled across Swanage Bay. However, although
SHAUN Webster suffered the misery of being ousted from a qualifying place for next season's European Tour at the final event of the season in Cuba. The Parkstone star held the last but one promotion spot going into the Challenge Tour finale at Varadero
A new book tells the story of the philanthropist behind those attractive workers' cottages dotted around the Poole area IF YOU live in or around Poole you will have almost certainly spotted paired Tudor-style cottages built of mellow brick. Their pointed
WIMBORNE Town cruised in to round two of the Wessex League Cup after beating Downton 4-0 in their rescheduled first round second leg tie at Cuthbury. With the aggregate score delicately balanced at 2-2, the Magpies took the lead in the 22nd minute thanks
Hallelujah! The BSO and the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus are once again offering the public to join in a recital of Handel's Messiah on December 10. Messiah In A Day challenges the BSO, BSC and members of the public to learn, rehearse and perform Handel's
IF CHERRIES have many more turning points this season, they could start getting very dizzy. Sean O'Driscoll's side took a step forward on Saturday when goals from Jermaine Defoe and Warren Cummings helped them secure only their third win of the season
POLICE are hunting the mindless vandals responsible for smashing 29 panes of glass at a prominent Swanage landmark. Youths are thought to have systematically broken all the toughened glass windows in the town's Blue Shelter, situated on the seafront by
AN INDIAN eagle owl, a barn owl and a buzzard proved a big hit with pupils at St Mark's First School in Swanage. The birds were brought in by Jane Whittle of Home to Roost, a sanctuary for birds of prey. She also took along a kestrel and a South American
IF CHERRIES have many more turning points this season, they could start getting very dizzy. Sean O'Driscoll's side took a step forward on Saturday when goals from Jermaine Defoe and Warren Cummings helped them secure only their third win of the season
BASHLEY'S impressive season so far took another giant step forward with the scalp of Dr Martens Premier Division outfit Salisbury City in the FA Umbro Trophy first round, after a 1-0 win at the Recreation Ground. The game looked to be heading towards
LYMINGTON and New Milton recovered from going 1-0 down to see off Combined Counties League outfit Cove 2-1 in the Hampshire Senior Cup second round. New signing Nick Miles was the Linnets' hero firing home a sensational 89th-minute winner from 25 yards
POOLE MP Robert Syms has backed calls for help from the Scout movement, which is facing rising costs for vetting its volunteers. When the proposed Criminal Records Bureau opens next year it could cost the Scouts Association an extra £750,000 each year
One thousand years of local history were celebrated when Shillingstone's oldest resident helped make a millennium presentation to the community's most junior members. At the age of 97, Alice Yeatman has seen numerous changes in the North Dorset village
IT WAS touch and go whether the area's biggest one-day boat lifting operation would go ahead in the face of winds gusting to force six. But how lucky it did, for far worse was to follow. Member owners of the 75 cruisers craned out for the winter at Christchurch
TOP trad jazzer Max Collie brings his Rhythm Aces to Bournemouth tonight. The band - considered among the finest exponents of New Orleans music in the world - will be guests of the Dorset Coast Traditional Jazz Appreciation Society at the Durley Hall
HUNDREDS of families were on flood alert today after another ferocious storm swept Dorset. More than 600 people were preparing to leave their Dorchester homes as the River Frome threatened to burst its banks. A major emergency plan was put in place early
MORE heavy rain is predicted to sweep across Dorset today and tomorrow. Every river in the county is on Flood Watch today and many carried more serious Flood Warning alerts. The Environment Agency said that homes were still at risk in Dorchester and issued
REVELLERS looking for some sparkle braved the cold to enjoy some cracking good firework displays and bonfire parties. The bad weather forced many organisers to cancel events over the weekend including the giant beach bonfire in Weymouth and the celebration
A NORTH Dorset butcher is celebrating after being shortlisted for a prestigious award. Simon Harvell, who owns a shop in Iwerne Minster, will find out on Thursday if he has scooped Country Life magazine's Best Butcher in Britain award. The award seeks
Pupils at a Dorset school are staging their own version of the hit television series Big Brother in aid of charity. Seven sixth formers from Shaftesbury School are taking part in "Li'l Bruva" which will involve them spending seven hours locked away from
Portland St John Ambulance Badger Bunch is now 13 years old and the birthday was celebrated at the ambulance hut in Easton Lane where the bunch meet every Saturday from 10am-11.30am A Bertie Badger celebration cake was made as always by leader Terri Shakespeare
'The tornado in the denim jacket' was how Mrs Margaret Cranny, one of the organisers of a fundraising event at Our Lady and St Andrew's Church in Grove Road, Portland, described the guest of honour, two-year-old Connor Ankers. A cream tea afternoon, which
ALL who look after the needs of the less able in the community are invited to attend a meeting of the Carers National Association which is to be held at The Lawns, Fernhill Avenue, Weymouth, on Tuesday, November 14, at 2pm. A representative of Help and
WITH the Mellstock Band booked to appear in concert on Saturday, December 2, the Royal Manor Workshops, (RMW), have scooped another "first" for Portland. RMW's Don Brown said: "We are very excited about this and as we are sure that there will be a big
THERE is still a month to go, but the organisers of the Isle of Portland Heritage Trust's, (IOPHT), annual photographic competition want to allow people time to look out the best of this year's snaps. Colin MacFarlane, chairman of the IOPHT and one of
BEADLE'S about - and, in a situation resembling one of his famous practical jokes, he has unwittingly set two councils on a Christmas collision course. Santa Claus may need a high-speed sleigh this year after being asked to switch on Christmas lights
MEMBERS of Portland Floral Decoration Society were transported into the realms of mythology in a demonstration of floral art given by Gwen Calnan from Marshwood at the society's October meeting. Ms Calnan featured deities from the Romans and Greeks in
THE big sound of Weymouth Concert Brass, the voices of the audience of 120 people added to those of the Portland Singers and the Casterbridge Male Voice Choir - all within the sturdy walls of All Saints Church in Easton, drowned the noise of the storm
LITTLE blue boxes, which the congregations and friends of All Saints and St Andrew's Churches on Portland keep at home to put their small change in, have produced £488 for the Children's Society. Anyone at Tophill who would like to contribute can obtain
BRIC a brac, books, cakes, a raffle and piping hot drinks to warm up supporters on a wet and stormy day were all available at the coffee morning held at Easton Methodist Hall. The event which was organised by members of Easton Ladies Group raised £166
