LOCAL anglers figured prominently during the annual Boscombe and Southbourne Open held along the Southbourne beaches where over 100 competitors battled it out. Ron Dartnell, who is a member of the Christchurch club, came out on top with a brace of sole
THE River Avon barbel record took a tumble when Jim Eggleton from Southampton, who is a member of Ringwood and District AA, tackled the Severals section of the river near Ringwood. Eggleton caught the huge specimen, which tipped the scales down to 15-
Delegates attending Bournemouth conferences and exhibitions have boosted the resort's economy by a record £89 million, new figures have shown. While many hoteliers and guesthouse owners are struggling to make ends meet after a disappointing summer season
RAISING the roof has raised thousands of pounds for a small but remarkable charity striving to survive. Instead of an admission charge on Bank Holiday Sunday, clubbers at Elements nightclub were asked to donate a minimum of £1 to the Youth Cancer Trust
A 19th century stables has been transformed into a tea room and Christian bookshop by the combined forces of churches in Swanage. In the past year a staggering £94,000 has been raised towards the newly-opened centre in Commercial Road. The £175,000 scheme
Roger Tuddenham completed his most successful week of the season in winning the Portman Building Society company day Pro Am at Broadstone. He beat off a challenge from 23 more leading players in the West Region with an impressive four-under-par 66 for
A PAIR of penpals who spent 20 years exchanging letters are now preparing to sign the wedding register. Claire Taylor, 30, and David Hamblin, 31, searched for years for their perfect match before realising that true love was right under their noses. They
CHERRIES slumped to their biggest league defeat for 19 years when they crashed 6-0 at London Road. On a night to forget they fell behind in the second minute. And Cherries struggled to hang on to their dignity as Peterborough added five more goals. Cherries
EUROSPORT commentator Simon Golding stepped in to help veteran Danny Wol finish joint first as the Lipton Ice Tea Beach Volleyball Grand Prix series came to a close in Boscombe. Golding, who fronts Europsort's Hot Sands programme, played alongside Wol
WEYMOUTH wasted the chance to go back to the top of the Dr Martens Premier Division last night as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of struggling Bath City at Twerton Park. The Terras gave themselves an uphill task with a disappointing first-half
WELLWISHERS gave a standing ovation as an American Military Band took the stage at Bournemouth's Winter Gardens on Sunday. And later crowds surrounded the musicians, giving them words of support in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and
MIDFIELDER Andy Jones set Brockenhurst on a collision for former Conference club Kingstonian in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup after netting a dramatic extra-time winner last night. Jones, signed from Wimborne in the summer, smashed home a
THE sale of a £9 million estate to an overseas company has put paid to conjecture about the world's most famous woman performer moving to Dorset. Speculation that Madonna was about to buy Ashcombe House near Tollard Royal was rife when it went on sale
A LONG-awaited new hotel is set to rise from the rubble of the former Pontins riverside holiday camp at Christchurch. Council planners have given conditional approval for the 59-bed three-storey hotel, restaurant and functions complex designed by local
LAST week's charter boat fishing was somewhat slow. However, early in the week Just Mary skipper Mike Taylor took local anglers out and they found 11 rays. Tony Keepence and Andy Hall both caught blonde rays. Keepence's ray weighed 21lb while Andy Hall's
The figurehead of UK travel agents has urged people to help keep the industry alive by continuing to holiday in the United States. Stephen Bath cautioned against cancelling or postponing breaks to resorts thousands of miles away from affected areas. "
WOMEN are being urged to help raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care by taking part in a female driving challenge. The Always and Marie Curie Cancer Care Ladies' Driving Challenge takes place on October 7 at Bovington Army Camp. Last year the event raised
IT was a mystery that has taxed the villagers of Wool for almost two decades. And so the community gathered in the D'urberville Centre to witness the unveiling of this strange secret - just what does village doctor Chris Rumbold look like without his
A FLICKER of hope for Marconi - that is what staff workers and shareholders in Poole discovered at an informal pub meeting. The first step in a rescue plan to save some, if not all, of the 570 workers facing redundancy when the Wallisdown site closes
IS THE dog having its daily walk? Is the cat getting its regular cream treat? How about the budgie - is it safe in its cage? Not life-and-death issues in patient care for a busy general hospital, you could be forgiven for thinking - but you would be wrong
BROCKENHURST had mixed luck in the singles finals of New Forest BA at New Milton. Kevin White took the four-woods against Anthony Clarkson (Lymington) but Brockenhurst were runners-up in the Champion of Champions where Alan Jennings went down 21-15 to
Injury-hit Bournemouth Poppies suffered their second defeat in four days as they went down 1-0 away at Portland Town. Mid-table Poppies, who lost 5-0 to Cirencester in the FA Cup on Saturday, went down to a Dave Whalley strike midway through the first
Southern Counties League side Oakmeadians came out on top after a scrappy local derby with arch-rivals Bournemouth in the first round of the RFU Intermediate Cup. The Meyrick Park side's second-row, Will Croker, landed all of their points as they ran
DORSET Badminton County second team ended last season with promotion for the second year running but the county's other teams are hoping to regroup to take on the challenges of the 2001-02 season. Sarah Staley led her team to promotion and the second
A LIONS Club is furious over a decision not to allow visiting dignitaries to wear their chains of office at a prestigious annual church service. The Lions Club of Wimborne and Ferndown was outraged after chairman of East Dorset District Council, Cllr
A five-try haul helped Wimborne into the second round of the Intermediate Cup courtesy of a 25-17 win over Ivel Barbarians. Dave O'Bryan powered home in the early stages before captain George Leyland scored the home side's second try. Ivel replied with
A DORSET police station is throwing open its doors for the public to enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at modern-day policing. Dorset Police assistant chief constable (operations) Chris Lee will officially open Sherborne police station to visitors on September
WHAT attracted so many Poole Runners to the Bradbury Rings 10km race is a bit of mystery. It certainly wasn't the hope of setting fast times as the off-road course is notoriously tough. But 43 club runners, both junior and senior, turned up regardless
CHERRIES' manager Sean O'Driscoll put on a brave face after they lost 6-0 at Peterborough last night - the club's worst league defeat for almost 20 years. The Posh took the lead through Marc Joseph in the second minute and added a second soon after from
SWANAGE and Wareham crashed out of the RFU Senior Cup despite taking an early lead as they lost 34-10 to Old Colfeians. The South Western First Division side began brightly with Mark Warn outwitting the OC full-back to score after just ten minutes. Phil
FOUR local MPs have been given senior ministerial jobs within the shadow cabinet. The new Conservative team has been picked by new leader of the opposition Iain Duncan Smith, following his victory last week over Kenneth Clarke. Vice chairman of the party
THE victim of a violent stabbing is recovering today in hospital after an attack in broad daylight. Police launched a major inquiry after the critically injured man was found slumped on a grass verge in Kinson yesterday. The 36-year-old local man was
PLANS to enlarge a Bournemouth secondary school to cope with increasing pupil numbers could be put on hold because borough education bosses cannot afford it. At their meeting today, local education authority members are being recommended to delay plans
A SCHEME to remove abandoned shopping trolleys from the streets of Bournemouth is going well, cleansing and waste chiefs at the council have said. The scheme, launched in July, has seen a reduction of trolleys in some areas, members of the environment
BOSCOMBE shoppers were captivated by the antics of Covent Garden street performers on Saturday. Three top entertainers, who recently returned from the Edinburgh Festival, showed off their skills to a spellbound audience. Richard Garrity and Dave Evans
THE Echo has teamed up with Sainsbury's to offer readers the chance to bid for a whole host of the supermarket's goodies. Don't miss the Daily Echo six days a week for your chance to join this great give-away auction. Below is a list of the latest bidders
CHRISTCHURCH bounced back to the top of the Jewson Wessex League with a comfortable 2-0 win at home to mid-table BAT Sports. Striker Robbie Woolner struck two second half goals as the Hurn Bridge side continued their impressive unbeaten run. The youngster
An attempt by two Poole-based Royal Marines to row the North Pacific Ocean has been scuppered after a dramatic collision with a fishing boat. Nearing the end of their record-breaking feat, Corporals Tim Welford and Dom Mee's 23-ft rowing boat Crackers
LYMINGTON are the toast of the New Forest Women's League after waltzing to the title by a convincing margin. Their two triples rinks of Sandy Nailard, Phyl Hall, skip Doreen Graham and Jenny Ollis, Jean Burchell and skip Patsy Little were 18 points clear
LIFE-LONG Cherries' fan Richard Kingham will this week be named as the stand-in chairman of big-spending Brockenhurst. The 35-year-old property developer will step into the breach while current chief Keith Collins takes a break from the club. Collins
WORLD-CLASS aerospace group Cobham has unveiled record results ahead of the US government's announcement next month regarding its $123 billion Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme. Dorset-based Cobham stands to gain $2.6 billion in business over the next
BEZIER Corporate Print will next month open a new mailing house creating eight new jobs after a "six figure" investment in the business. The firm is changing from printer to full service provider with three arms of the business: consultancy - client consultancy
THE possibility of a six per cent rise in next year's council tax has led Poole residents to start a protest campaign. Around six residents' associations from all over the borough have already joined forces to urge councillors to restrict any increase
Irena Critchley and Athene Hunt from Talbot Heath School, continue to send shock waves through the national junior squash scene. At the Millfield Junior Open in Somerset they were drawn against each other in the opening round of the under-13s. Critchley
BRIDPORT went unrewarded last night for another industrious but ultimately pointless performance. They were within seven minutes of the draw they deserved when they conceded the penalty that decided a hard-fought but untidy Screwfix Direct Premier Divison
PORTLAND United succeeded where Dorchester Town failed at Grove Corner last night - they beat Bournemouth Poppies. Not that that's much consolation to the Magpies, who'll be counting the cost of last month's humiliating FA Cup preliminary round exit for
DEFEAT at Bath City last night cost Weymouth top spot in the Dr Martens Premier Division. The Terras would have moved back into pole position had they beaten the struggling Romans at Twerton Park. But first-half goals from Jamie Gosling and Adrian Foster
RUMOURS that a police station is to close have been firmly quashed - but chiefs have conceded there may be some changes. Top officers have moved to reassure Wimborne residents that they will not be losing the police presence in their town. A vote currently
THOMAS Hardy's masterpiece Tess of the D'Urbervilles quite literally comes home on Saturday. The Dorset author's own stage adaptation of his famous Wessex novel will be staged at the Dorchester Corn Exchange... the scene of its debut 77 years ago. The
LYMINGTON are the toast of the New Forest Women's League after waltzing to the title by a convincing margin. Their two triples rinks of Sandy Nailard, Phyl Hall, skip Doreen Graham and Jenny Ollis, Jean Burchell and skip Patsy Little were 18 points clear
LIFE-LONG Cherries' fan Richard Kingham will this week be named as the stand-in chairman of big-spending Brockenhurst. The 35-year-old property developer will step into the breach while current chief Keith Collins takes a break from the club. Collins
Ellingham and Ringwood have qualified for the second round of the National Cup for the first time in the club's history. The Ellingham side beat Stoneham Park 10-0 with all of their points coming in an action-packed first half. An Alan Bingham penalty
CO-PROMOTER Matt Ford today stressed he hoped Craig Watson could still have a future with Poole despite the Australian making way for David Ruud from Friday. The 25-year-old Sydney-born rider began the season in Gas Appliance Superstore Pirates' number
BOURNEMOUTH thrower Matt Frampton was the star of the show as the town's youngsters won promotion to next season's National Junior Premier League. He finished first in the hammer and in the shot, and second in the discus as Bournemouth AC clinched the
