VETERANS of the Second World War gathered at Weymouth Pavilion to remember friends and comrades who took part in the Allied invasion of Italy. Among those gathered was a man who saw action on the Italian campaign as a naval intelligence officer under
THE seventh annual Purbeck Film Festival starts today (Oct 10) and the Echo is here to show you to your seats. From the opening gala premiere at the Rex of Farewell My Concubine director Chen Kaige's new film, Together (PG) in which a 13-year-old piano
A BEAUTY spot in Weymouth spoiled by litter has been given a clean bill of health. Volunteers got their gloves on and grabbed a bag before heading down to the Rodwell Trail. They collected 30 sack-fulls of litter in just two hours and pledged to return
BURTON Bradstock's Anchor Inn has tasted more success with another top award for its restaurant food. The popular pub is part of the nationwide InnSpired chain and has just been named the area winner in its 2003 pub food competition. Landlord John Plunkett
ORGANISER Julie Croley hopes to persuade Jeffrey Archer to bring the hammer down at a charity auction in Dorchester. Mrs Croley, who lives at Poundbury with husband Mike, has written to the former prisoner to act as auctioneer at the event on December
RINGWOOD is to lose one of its three supermarkets at the end of the month, after a sudden announcement which left staff reeling. The Somerfields store in Southampton Road will close its doors on Saturday, November 1, after bosses decided it was "under-performing
FOOTBALL in Nottingham took a step back in time last Sunday and Cherries are aiming to roll back the years themselves as they travel to Meadow Lane tomorrow. Past players from Notts County and Notts Forest battled out a 'Legends' match to raise money
BOBBIES are going back on the beat in Uplyme. Village PC Andy Carmichael announced the good news at Wednesday's parish council meeting. He said that part of his duties as a newly appointed Community Beat Manager would be to carry out regular foot patrols
I'VE tried to resist as best I could, but it's happened again - despite my dislike of all things "reality TV", I've become hooked on the latest series of Pop Idol. There's just something compelling about watching a few gifted individuals battle against
UPLYME parish council complained this week that it had been kept in the dark over plans for the controversial Strawberry Field sports ground project at Lyme Regis. Details of the planning application were not made available to the village authority and
UPLYME Special Constable Andrew Turner made a very special offer to the parish council on Wednesday - free land for affordable housing. Mr Turner owns an acre-and-a-half plot of ground off Venlake Cross and says he is willing to give it away to help local
A WEST Dorset woman has told the remarkable story of how her grandfather helped the Japanese win a war against the Russians a hundred years ago. Paula Wyon-Brown, from Lyme Regis, called us after reading an article in the News about a new book on the
TOWN councillors in Lyme Regis confirmed their unequivocal support for the Strawberry Field project on Friday. At a special meeting of the planning committee, councillors voted in favour of the controversial planning application. Coun Ken Dibben said:
THE Tory conference has been criticised for being the worst in memory by former leadership contender Michael Portillo. Despite the dejected mood at the Blackpool meeting, Mr Portillo told the BBC he did not think Iain Duncan Smith would be replaced and
PUPILS who pulled together in an army challenge at Blandford Camp last term drew a crack army motorcycle team to their school in Christchurch. The visit to Twynham School by the Royal Corps of Signals motorcycle roadshow was the prize for the students
A LANGUAGE school teacher was falsely branded a criminal by a government agency after her details were submitted for a security check. The Criminal Records Bureau told Julie Eveleigh's employers that she had been convicted of causing actual bodily harm
A PENSIONER spearheading a pressure group for OAPs has received a letter from the office of the Deputy Prime Minister which he believes highlights government plans to reintroduce council tax capping across the country. Bournemouth pensioner Tony Fowle
A SWANAGE Railway steam train is making an historic run on the mainline from Wareham to London for the first time in 36 years. Swanage Railway volunteers and railway entrepreneur Roger Hardingham are organising the fund-raising event on Saturday, December
SEAN Walbridge is the new captain of Dorset's Minor Counties cricket team. The ex-Dorchester skipper succeeds Stuart Rintoul who stood down at the end of last season. Left-arm spinner Walbridge, who plays his club cricket for Bourne-mouth in the Southern
NIKI Caro's touching drama is already appearing in lists of the top movies of all time. In a world dominated by men, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) faces a struggle to take her place at the head of a Maori tribe. Although steeped in the warrior traditions
HOWEVER you slice it, it has been Johnny Depp's summer at the box office. With Pirates of the Caribbean still yo-ho-ho-ing in the background, Depp's second screen outing of the year finds him fully immersed in Robert Rodriguez's final part of the Mariachi
BASED on Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies, Stephen Fry acquits himself well with his first film as a director. A clever satire on the social mores of English upper class youth between the wars, Fry draws out Waugh's central conflict - between the passion for
POOLE Pottery's factory shop on Poole Quay has been put into administration as the future of the pottery factory itself remains undecided. For the past four months the shop has escaped the turmoil that engulfed the pottery at the start of the summer when
Poole's Mark Worley and David Gamblin added to Dorset's rally silverware on Saturday when they clinched Group N in the National Tarmacadam Championship. Seventh overall on the City of Truro Rally - despite a puncture on the penultimate stage - was enough
DANNY O'Hagan will not be in Dorchester's side at the Wessex Stadium tomorrow after all. The striker Magpies boss Mark Morris wants to bring back to add some muscle to his attack has been called up for Cornwall's county side to met Jersey after banging
WEYMOUTH are giving trials to a French defender on the recommendation of Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier. Damien Perinelle trained with the Terras last night and makes his debut in tomorrow's Two Counties Cup showdown against Dorchester Town at the Wessex
DAME Edna impersonator Colin Hile has given up his stage career to start a goat farm - no kidding. The former Broadoak dairy farmer who swapped his wellies and waterproofs for high heels and a pink frock has decided to return to his roots. Mr Hile hit
FORMER Pirate Mark Loram has paid tribute to injured Poole rider Lukas Dryml in the build up to his guest appearance at Oxford tonight (Oct 10 7.30pm). Loram guests for the Czech Republic rider, who played such a big part in Pirates' Elite League title-winning
THIS stunning model walked the catwalk in just a camisole and camiknickers and also in a low-cut fitted dress with pencil-thin straps. And, like every other woman at this very special fashion show, she has received treatment for breast cancer. Glamorous
STUDENTS used photography and poetry to create outstanding and inspiring artwork. Budmouth Technology College pupils who took part in the 'Traces' project of Dorchester Arts Centre and Dorset Literature Network to celebrate the Jurassic coast have outdone
THE seventh annual Purbeck Film Festival starts today (Oct 10) and the Echo is here to show you to your seats. From the opening gala premiere at the Rex of Farewell My Concubine director Chen Kaige's new film, Together (PG) in which a 13-year-old piano
SEAFRONT walkers and workers were shocked yesterday when a white van drove over the cliff edge and tumbled 60ft before the shaken driver emerged with a head injury. According to witnesses, the van's sole occupant initially reversed his vehicle to the
Forget Calendar Girls! A pooch from Poole is set to become the ultimate pin-up in the canine calendar world. Four-year-old Golden Retriever Caesar will be travelling from his home in Broadstone to Berkshire on Monday for a photo shoot with a difference
IT took just two days for Daily Echo readers to meet the challenge of our latest appeal. Touched by the plight of charity worker Helen Alford, you responded with great generosity towards the £2,500 target and cash poured in to pay for a much-needed new
THOSE responsible for keeping Bournemouth bloomin' beautiful have been praised at a special awards ceremony. The winners of Bournemouth in Bloom were presented with prizes at the annual event in the Pavilion. From schools, gardens, balconies, nursing
IF you have any young nieces or nephews, or perhaps even godchildren, you may want to borrow them for an afternoon as an excuse to dive into the latest full-length computer animated feature from the wizards at Pixar, who previously made Toy Story, A Bug's
AFTER a summer of mixed fortunes for the lavish action movie, many will approach this much-trumpeted reworking of the popular graphic novel (that's comic book to you and me) with some caution. Set in an alternative Victorian age, renowned adventurer Allan
HARRIET, aged 12, is determined to solve the long ago mystery of her older brother's murder. Her mother's grief has made her a vague, drifting presence, her father has left town and her aunts and grandma don't want to talk about it. It is up to Harriet
DORCHESTER have a chance to make amends for last week's lack-lustre display at Ivel Barbarians when they entertain Powergen Southern Counties South League leaders Tabley at Coburg Road tomorrow (3pm). Head coach Geraint Hughes said: "I can only describe
FORMER Portland skipper Nigel Evans could be making his debut for Dorchester United at home to league leaders Gillingham Town tomorrow - several months after he first signed for the Dorset Premier League new boys. The tough tackling midfielder did his
BISHOP Sutton are the visitors to St Mary's Field in the Screwfix Direct Premier Division tomorrow, at the start of a big week for Bridport (kick-off 3pm). It's a fixture that manager Peter Conning expects his team to win and with Devizes Town to come
CARETAKER boss Pete Turrell has told his Portland United's players to forget all about former manager Nick Preston. Preston quit the Grove Corner hot-seat on Tuesday following an indifferent start to the season, which saw the Blues make early exits from
A GIANT statue of Morecambe and Wise which for years brought a little sunshine to the Parnham estate near Beaminster was back in the limelight this week. Efforts were being made to establish its present whereabouts after Eric's home town of Morecambe
PLUCKY Diane Cook returned to earth faster than she expected when she took her first skydive. The Bridport charity worker found herself rocketing towards the ground at 160mph when her parachute got twisted. Diane was attached to top Army parachute instructor
BEAMINSTER church was full of musicians and audience for this year's Voices for Hospices 2003 concert. As in previous years, they performed Handel's Messiah, which attracted nearly 90 singers from a wide area. There was a similar number in the audience
VILLAGERS in Dottery are risking their lives every time they walk along the road, says their vicar the Rev Canon Nerissa Jones. She wants to see speed limits to control the motorists. Writing in the parish magazine, the Eggardon View, she says: "I found
DORSET-BASED Hamworthy KSE has won a £19.85 million contract (NKr 230 million) to help Norwegian oil companies cut gas emissions during their tankers' offshore loading. Hamworthy KSE is supplying three volatile organic compound (VOC) recovery plants so
CHILDREN who are being abused in Dorset may not be receiving the protection they need due to a shortage of social workers. Dorset County Council's social care director Steve Pitt says six council childcare posts are lying vacant because qualified workers
SHOP assistant Valerie Watts was so thrilled on hearing she had scooped £2,900 in this week's Echo Find Ball competition that she could hardly speak. The runner-up prize was a perfect late birthday present for the Weymouth-born woman. A regular entrant
VISITORS were greeted by a grinning creature when they arrived for the first day of a major business exhibition. Hundreds of guests were welcomed at the Open4Business exhibition held at Weymouth Pavilion's Ocean Room, by the giant alligator built by D
A SECOND attempt to windsurf across the English Channel is being made today. High winds hit Andy Bramah's plans to make the first official crossing yesterday. Mr Bramah, 25, and friends David Schick-ler 25, from London, and James Potten, from Yeovil were
BUS company First is scrapping its Weymouth to London service because not enough passengers are using it. Operations manager Simon Newport said the service, which runs via Dorchester, had been operated since the 1970s but it was no longer viable. He added
ETON-educated West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin has declared he would 'go out on the streets and beg' to avoid sending his children to an inner city comprehensive, it was reported today. The Shadow Home Secretary said he would send his children to state schools
A GRANT from the Countryside Agency has enabled a Portland group to embark on a project which will benefit present and future generations on the island. The agency runs a grant scheme to create 'Doorstep Greens', utilising open spaces that are close to
THE seventh annual Purbeck Film Festival starts today (Oct 10) and the Echo is here to show you to your seats. From the opening gala premiere at the Rex of Farewell My Concubine director Chen Kaige's new film, Together (PG) in which a 13-year-old piano
CHILDREN and parents are set to be entertained tomorrow during a fundraising fun day for four-year-old Bosnian boy Stefan Savic. The event, at Sharky's Play and Party Warehouse, is running from 10am to 5pm and will include Uncle Peter's Puppet and Magic
SWANAGE Railway volunteers and an enterprising Dorset man are soon to make a special piece of county history - by running the first mainline steam train from Wareham to London since the summer of 1967. Thirty-six years on from the end of steam traction
WEYMOUTH teacher Penny Lee is lining up for a national award. Penny, 55, is the team leader for special educational needs at Wey Valley Sports College and has created a website for teachers and pupils to help improve literacy. She said: "The online activities
DORCHESTER Brownies came face to face with a real brown owl after raising cash for a bird sanctuary. Girls from the 1st Dorchester pack handed over a £50 cheque to members of Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue, after taking part in fundraising activities. Terri
ENTHUSIASTIC youngsters have drawn up a wish list of facilities for their North Dorset village in an attempt to stamp out a rise in anti-social behaviour. A skate park, tennis court, five-a-side football pitch and a shelter were among the items suggested
SEAN O'Driscoll has temporarily shelved plans to bring in a loan signing to bolster his wafer-thin Cherries squad. Cherries will be down to the bare bones when they face Division Two rivals Notts County tomorrow, with a 16-man squad on duty for the Meadow
BOSS Sean O'Driscoll has described Cherries utility man James Hayter as "someone we can't do without". O'Driscoll has lavished praise on Hayter on the eve of the 24-year-old entering the Dean Court hall of fame. The Isle of Wight-born ace will become
