BATTLING Kevin Spurgeon admitted he was not at his best in the first round of the British Seniors Open, but believes he still has a chance of making tomorrow's halfway cut. The 54-year-old Ferndown touring professional carded a two-over-par 74 at Sunningdale
WATER companies are warning improvements will be put on hold if bills fall as industry regulator Ofwat is demanding. Wessex Water had proposed average household bills for water and sewage should be £434 by 2015 but Ofwat wants them pegged at
BEST known for his collaboration with Santana for Latin hit Smooth and his own Lonely No More, Rob Thomas is back with his highly infectious pop melodies. With just one play of the album, tracks like Gasoline are so catchy you can almost sing along like
If you like your festivals relaxed, your music acoustic and that welcoming family appeal that's reminiscent of a much loved earlier time, then look no further than the Sundial Festival. Set in the beautiful garden of Bournemouth's Tudor Grange
IF ever you felt Sigur Ros don’t quite go far enough into the realm of ethereality and are holding something back from their euphoric trademark sounds, then this collaboration between frontman Jonsi Birgisson and his artist co-conspirator Alex Somers
ANXIOUS Bournemouth University student Andrew Symeou has been extradited to Greece to face trial for a manslaughter he flatly denies. The 20-year-old fears he will be in prison for many months before appearing in court. Symeou, who has
CHRIS Morgan has a crazy plan to tour the football clubs of London pushing a wheelbarrow. The Ferndown tiler is trying to raise money for Help for Heroes and the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation. “It was one of those silly bets
NOT even born in the 1980s, teenage MC Shortie has rallied all his parents’ proto-hip hop records, checked out the Grandmaster Flash dalliances of The Clash and Blondie and served up a lively, bouncy, fresh-faced update of the oldest of old school sounds
NOW, this is how you do a catalogue job on an artist. It’s a completist’s dream as the first four albums by Motown’s first girl group are rounded up with a live album and the stereo Greatest Hits set, plus every stray b-side, rare cut and a host of
“I MAY be blind but I’ve got acute hearing,” declares Blind Pew (John Cleese) to government agent Eric Idle, with the reply: “I’m not interested in your jewellery, cloth eyes!” Monty Python meets Carry On Pirates of the Caribbean in this 1983
NO, not those Ashes – there’s nothing for cricket fans here. Think more arthouse Merchant Ivory meets Brideshead Revisited in Spain, with particular interest for lovers of the arts. For this is the story of a meeting of artistic minds at a time of emerging
A cricket club’s pavilion has been bowled out by environmental health issues. A New Forest District Council environmental health officer visited Ellingham’s clubhouse at Picket Post last week and found mouse droppings in the kitchen. The officer told
CLIVE Barker, adapting his own novel for his directorial debut, delivers an original (at the time) tale of puzzles and perviness. Frank Cotton, a rather dark soul in pursuit of the ultimate pleasure, solves the Lament Configuration puzzle box
HAVING created Sir Vincent during a prolific period of songwriting, Jackie Leven now curates the full release of this last missive from the knighted pickled songwriter which had only previously been available to callers at the Troubadour coffee house
Rarely has a songwriter who is so familiar with the darker recesses of the human condition been so comfortable with the intimate live setting afforded by a small room, a guitar and a microphone. Jackie Leven is a master of such situations, creating a
WITH only three releases and a number one single – Bulletproof – under her belt, La Roux’s self-titled album has been eagerly anticipated. Elly Jackson is only 21, but she has already shown how diverse her electropop output can be. Opening with In
PARIS-based Dan Black’s debut album is unique and unusual from start to finish. The first track Symphonies sounds like a techno James Bond theme, and is one of the few songs that really stand out, along with I Love Life and Radio 1 favourite Alone.
BASED on the true events of a family that moved into a former funeral parlour for ease of access to their son’s cancer treatment, this reasonably frightening film veers between the acceptable and the ridiculous, the impressive and the embarrassing. Horror
Queen Victoria has always had a bit of an image problem. To be blunt, she has always come across as a stumpy grey-haired harridan with a complete sense of humour failure. In short (and she was a veritable midget), a miserable old trout. Refreshing,
GOODNESS me, the Secret of Moonacre may well be the enormous load of cakes that Tim Curry has eaten for his role. It isn’t, but by heavens Tim has piled it on here. However, what the secret is, is a rather generic fantasy tale with some horrible CGI
A LOW-BUDGET sequel to a flop horror flick based on an ageing video game franchise is not the most auspicious start for any movie. And sadly, despite a spirited effort, this doesn’t rise above its disadvantages. Having little to do with the original
THE only way to observe one of the world’s rarest monkeys is to share its environment. Cue primatologist Julie Anderson and her camera crew spending six weeks living in what resembles an Ewok tree village. The filmmakers endure the hardships of the central
Big Brother Britain! We get so annoyed with the government keeping an eye on our every move and holding all our important information, don’t we? Well, before we organise a protest group and storm the Houses of Parliament we should be more worried about
LIKE most people of my age, I can trot out the usual list of historical stepping stones of the last 50 years and tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time. First there was the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 (
A NEW £12 million school for children with severe learning difficulties in Poole has been approved in principle. Montacute School at Canford Heath, which has 75 pupils with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism, could be rebuilt
TRAFFIC-calming plans are being proposed to slow drivers at a New Forest crossroads which claimed the life of schoolboy Aarron Keeping. Aarron, 12, died when in collision with a car outside the Crown Inn at Bransgore on September 30 last year. His untimely
MOTORISTS on the A31 endured mile-long tailbacks on Thursday after a diesel spillage closed the westbound carriageway from the Ashley Heath roundabout for nearly four hours. Traffic travelling west bound on the dual carriage way queued from
Tomorrow we'll arrive in Lysekil, Sweden to prepare ourselves for the start of the ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championships. The Worlds will take place in the 6 person (and very demanding) DS37 boats so size and style wise it's a little different
A COMMUNITY that has joined forces against plans to close a pedestrian railway crossing has been reassured over the plans. As reported in the Daily Echo, locals in Wareham are worried over proposals to close the pedestrian crossing between Carey and
AMELIA Maughan this afternoon claimed her third medal of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Finland. The Bournemouth Dolphins star collected a bronze medal in the 50m freestyle final to go with the individual gold and relay bronze she won
FEARS that £300,000 of lottery funding to help finance a long-awaited crossing over the River Stour could be lost have finally been dispelled. Dorset County Council’s cabinet had been recommended to reject a scheme aimed at connecting Throop
IT'S one of my husband’s great moans that when he was a boy his mum wouldn't let him buy a shrunken head. He was living in Southampton at the time, and a weekend treat would be to go down to the docks to look at the liners. In those days there was little
WORKERS at a specialist plant near Poole are still in the dark about their futures. As reported in the Daily Echo, around 50 skilled jobs are under threat at the National Oilwell Varco (NOV) site at Holton Heath, which is part of a multi-national company
OLD cynic that I am, I sense that Nurofen’s survey citing Bournemouth as one of the most painful places to live might be an effort to garner cheap publicity... and it’s worked. Having lived in the most beautiful part of the UK for 22 years now, I suppose
HAVE put in two good days on the bike from Calgary. The scenery has totally changed - not a mountain in sight now; it's completely flat. There's only farmland and oil drills and a shimmering Highway that is as straight as an arrow for as far
ALL eyes will turn to the sky when the Red Arrows roar in for the Damerham Show on Saturday. Phil Tandy has been attempting to get the RAF aces to the show for some years and has at last succeeded. The team will start their display at
A RANDOM passer-by had a spectacular dance-off with Britain’s Got Talent Stars Flava in Bournemouth Square The seven-strong dance group were promoting public transport when the man took on group founder Kyle. Amateur dancer Dario put a on
DORSET-based swimming star Amelia Maughan this morning remained on course for a third European Youth Olympic Festival medal. The Bournemouth Dolphin, who has already claimed relay bronze and individual gold this week, qualified for this afternoon's
A BOURNEMOUTH University student will face a manslaughter trial in Greece despite claims the case against him is flawed. Campaigners fear Andrew Symeou will not get a fair trial and the case is built on “mistaken identity and conflicting evidence
I HAVE lived in Bosley Farm, Christchurch, for the last 52 years, and in those years I have studied the wildlife in my garden. I have had voles that owls have come after, then for years I have had the pygmy shrew, only 30mm long. A family of song
I AM writing on behalf of the Meningitis Trust to say thank you to those who took part in our two 36hr Three Peaks Challenges on 15- 17 May and 10-12 July; scaling the highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales in order to raise vital sponsorship for
The South West Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Green Party group are pleased to announce that the well respected human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is to visit Bournemouth. Whilst here Peter will be holding a public event in the town, speaking
A FORMER Boscombe arts centre is to be turned into offices for social services and other organisations working with children and families – despite impassioned pleas from angry campaigners and councillors. After hearing from a deputation who argued that
You're invited to our Free Open Evening 14th September 2009. Come along to our Free Cosmetic Evening It's Your opportunity to: * Meet our Surgeon and the Hospital Staff * Find out more about the procedures you are interested in. * Ask specific
OUR criminal justice system is failing. England and Wales has one of the highest per capita rates of imprisonment in Western Europe and the majority of prisoners are re-convicted within two years of release from custody. Whitehall has demonstrated it
WITH the school holidays starting, I would like to appeal to parents to ensure their children stay safe – by staying out of quarries this summer. Already this year, two teenage boys have been killed after entering quarries. A 15-year-old drowned in
I WAS quite amused reading the letter by Mr Traves (Echo, Friday, July 17). What is he moaning about? The fact is that he broke the law. Maybe with his “it was only a split second” attitude, perhaps we should be giving bank robbers a 10-minute start
HOW difficult is it to get rid of unwanted furniture in these days of a throw-away society? I have an electronic organ in perfect condition which I no longer have time to play. I have put adverts in papers (including the Echo) and magazines, contacted
IF there’s one thing about a trip to the seaside that’s sure to give you the hump, it’s this. Two camels will be figuring in many people’s holiday snaps from Bournemouth this summer. The mother and son camels, nine-year-old Veneta and
DORSET’S universities remain positive over reports that cuts in government funding could reach 20 per cent. A contingency plan to slash funding by a fifth has allegedly been drawn up to anticipate general cuts in public spending. The news comes as
SEVEN Nigerian students will begin university courses this year after successfully completing the International Access to Business course at Bournemouth and Poole College. Six will study law and one computing following the course, sponsored by the Rivers
A FAST-FLASHING speed camera prompted widespread panic among Poole motorists – only for it to emerge the device was just being tested. The newly installed camera on Broadstone Way has been going off almost at will since Tuesday, even with drivers
ARNEWOOD School in New Milton is to move to Trust status in the autumn term after governors agreed to give the move the go-ahead just before the summer break. The school has three partners in the trust – computer company Toshiba, the South’s hands-on
STUDENTS from Sherborne School and Sherborne Girls School have achieved outstanding International Baccalaureate results. Eleven boys and nine girls embarked on the courses covering six subjects, taught using mixed classes and joint teaching. The average
FIREFIGHTERS claim a working smoke alarm saved two people from tragedy in a blaze in Poole. Dorset Fire and Rescue were called to Kinson Avenue at 1pm on Wednesday following reports of two people trapped inside a property. The householder
HANS Andersen admitted he rode through the pain barrier to help Pirates wallop high-riding Peterborough 52-41 at home last night. The Dane had missed Poole Castle Cover’s impressive 45-45 draw at Lakeside on Monday with a hand injury. But he returned
PIRATES showed the Elite League play-offs what they will be missing by crushing high-flying Peterborough on home shale last night. Chris Holder, Bjarne Pedersen and Hans Andersen all banged in double figures as a full-strength Poole Castle
NEWLY-crowned European Youth Olympic champion Amelia Maughan highlighted the support of her Great Britain team-mates following her dramatic success in Finland. The 13-year-old Bournemouth Dolphin was boosted by the sight of the British swimmers
BOSS Eddie Howe is keen for supporters to keep expectations in check after Cherries turned in another impressive display against loftier opposition. Howe’s charges maintained their decent vein of pre-season form when they held Premier League
IRELAND'S gold reserves are depleted after a visit from Bournemouth Dolphins’ 12-year-old Dan Speers. The youngster, whose father is Irish, returned from Dublin with five gold and two bronze medals after plundering the Irish National Age Group Championships
HE lived his life as a lie, but the extraordinary exploits of the Fourth Man in the Cambridge spy scandal can finally be exposed today. Anthony Blunt was born in Bournemouth and spent his infancy in a vicarage before going on to become Surveyor of the
DORSET’S only state boarding school is set for a multi-million pound expansion. Work on a £2.9 million sixth form block at The Shaftesbury School’s Barton Hill site is due to start on September 1. Andy Thompson, the school’s director of boarding, said
It’s one of my husband’s great moans that when he was a boy his mum wouldn't let him buy a shrunken head. He was living in Southampton at the time, and a weekend treat would be to go down to the docks to look at the liners. In those days there was little
KARL Broadhurst says he harbours no grudges after being shown the door by Kevin Bond – but is hoping Eddie Howe could provide him with a route back to Dean Court. The combative central defender ended a 14-year association with Cherries when he became
DORSET hammer thrower Andrew Elkins booked his place in the European Youth Olympic Festival final yesterday – but was made to sweat in the Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Finland. The 16-year-old only registered one valid throw of 64.09m on his
Bournemouth SC’s men’s water polo team staged a dramatic recovery to win the Dorset Shield cup final against 2008 champions Weymouth and Portland in the Stokewood pool. The home team were 6-1 down at one stage in the second quarter before beginning an
MYSTERY still surrounds the future of Karen Hardy and this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. The former champion from Bournemouth is one of several professional dancers who reportedly haven’t signed new contracts. The star dancers are unhappy that their
