This family musical, freely adapted from the story by Hans Christian Andersen, may give the superficial impression of being just another festive show. After all there’s snow on the stage, Christmas trees, gifts and plenty of laughter and song
CHRIS Holder will swap his race jacket for a spanner this weekend to help younger brother Jack continue to pursue his speedway dreams. Pirates’ star lines up in the senior Australian Championship second round at Gillman in Adelaide tomorrow. Poole Castle
THREE Bournemouth area swimmers returned with gold medals after joining 400 of the world’s bravest – and some would say maddest – swimmers at the annual UK Cold Water Championships. The water temperature at London’s Tooting Bec Lido was a cool 3C – but
HARRY Kemp recorded six of the best as he led a 53-medal haul by Poole and Bournemouth swimmers at the Exeter City Level 1 Open Meet held, despite its name, in Cardiff’s 50m pool. Swimmng against many of the best swimmers in the South, the Midlands and
A BOURNEMOUTH band has released a single in aid of a charity that helps children whose parents are killed serving with the armed forces. Constellation – made up of Ali Davis, Josh Wyatt, Jason Harris, Martin Whitfield and Mark Harris – recorded The Flower
POOLE Town boss Tom Killick was delighted with his side’s resilience and doggedness as they claimed a vital 2-0 victory at Alresford. Going into last night's game a mammoth 16 points behind Wessex League Premier Division leaders Winchester City, Dolphins
CHRISTCHURCH chief Graham Kemp picked out Marc Fairbrother as their star in a 4-2 home triumph over Blackfield & Langley last night. The wide midfielder didn’t get on the scoresheet as Priory plundered four second-half goals to hit back from behind and
NEW Milton were happy with their 2-2 home draw against Brading despite conceding a late leveller last night. Alex Baldachinno and Ashley Booker twice fired Linnets in front, but Brading grabbed a point with an 85th-minute goal. Linnets: Amey, Wiltshire
SIMON Browne watched his high-riding Premier Division outfit Hamworthy United held 1-1 at Laverstock & Ford and then admitted “I wasn’t happy with what I saw from my side”. Manager Browne added: “In fairness to our guys, they’ve been excellent for the
KENNY Vaughan admits he’d love a quick chance to atone for Poppies’ luckless top-flight defeat at Winchester City in the Wessex League Cup last four. The Victoria Park-based outfit led the Premier Division leaders 1-0 going into stoppage time in a league
BASHLEY'S play-off hopes nose-dived following a 2-1 defeat at Windsor & Eton in the Zamaretto Premier Division last night. Dave Allen fired the New Foresters’ in front in the first half, but Adam Bernard and Jake Parsons bagged Windsor’s win. Bash:
A RESPECTED former Dorset Police detective has died suddenly at the age of 65. John Homer’s career involved some of the most complex inquiries ever dealt with in the county. He was commended for bringing killer Peter Taylor to justice in 1993 for the
A father-of-six died of massive injuries after ploughing into the back of a broken-down vehicle during a cycle race, an inquest heard. Peter Tindley, 76, was probably travelling at more than 20mph when the tragedy happened during a time trial on the
A WIMBORNE greengrocer says they may have to shut up shop after nearly 15 years, unless a bridge between the town centre and Waitrose goes ahead. Carolyn Nash, who run Minster Greens, in High Street, says trade has dropped significantly since the superstore
ROAD collisions claimed the lives of five New Forest ponies last week, equal to the number killed on the area’s roads in the whole of December. Ironically, the tragic toll follows hot on the heels of the Verderers’ announcement last week that in 2010
Chris Holder only needs a top-six finish in the final round of the Australian Championship at Mildura on Saturday to lift his third national crown. Pirates’ star stormed to his third straight victory in this year’s series as he triumphed at
A £10,000 sum has been set aside to refurbish Ferndown’s controversial Dugdell Close play area. Last year the town council accidentally moved to knock the popular playground on the Heatherlands Estate down, not realising what they were voting for. The
A RECENT poll found that websites aimed at helping consumers during the recession tended to use the most annoying tactics to attract attention – with GoCompare leading the way. The excitable opera singer star of the GoCompare commercial has
FIBRECITY has released details of its management buyout and said it would reveal its strategy in “the next few weeks”. The broadband firm is part way through a project in Bournemouth but suddenly stopped work in October. Council staff met directors
IT may be three inches long and made of plastic – but that didn’t stop a toy soldier’s gun being branded a “firearm” by zealous airport officials. Ken Lloyd and his wife bought the “signaller crouching” figurine during a recent visit to the
COLD War tension descends on the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne with Hugh Whitemore’s award-winning play Pack of Lies on February 10-12. Fifty years ago, the nation was gripped by the Portland Spy Ring court case at the Old Bailey where three men
There is a strange yet fantastical world beyond the radio waves where king of musical mavericks Richard Thompson spins Scottish wheels, folk, roots and rock and roll with sublime aplomb. What is amazing is how few people know about it. Granted, Salisbury
THIS performance is the latest stop on The Cult’s New Blood, Deep Cuts tour, whose attendant PR promises a mix of new material and live rarities. The majority of the set comes from the band’s classic first three studio albums but is peppered with more
A PARALYMPIC cycling gold medallist has warned cyclists to be on their guard against potholes as road experts warn of 10 potholes a mile on council-maintained roads in England and Wales. Darren Kenny OBE, 40, who has won six Paralympic gold
“WE need to keep the pressure on the government about our funding for schools here in Poole,” said Cllr Elaine Atkinson. Her letter, which describes the situation as “dire”, is calling for a meeting with Lord Hill of Oareford, Parliamentary
POOLE is in a ‘dire situation’ over school funding, millions of pounds short of being able to meet its obligations. The borough, which is facing around a 55 per cent reduction in capital funding for schools, is appealing for urgent help from
I have been eyeing up various packets of Ras-el-Hanout spice mix for what has been a quite ridiculous length of time. I was terribly tempted to get some and then find out what to do with it, but knowing how quickly spices lose their best, I
Mushroom and Chestnut Casserole Serves 4 200g whole roasted chestnuts 2 carrots, sliced 2 leeks, sliced 2 onions, sliced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 12oz mixed sliced mushrooms (chestnut, open cup, portobello
AN UNEMPLOYED carpenter has been jailed for nine months after admitting sexually abusing a teenage girl. Father-of-two Matthew Bond from Suffolk Road, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to molesting the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, in Christchurch
IT IS a theory of popular culture that the amount of information you store about a specific song is in direct relation to how much you actually enjoy the ditty. Which is probably why a friend and I recently joined forces to recite and sing the entire
NORMAN Hamilton (Letters, January 21) is right to be concerned about oil prices and the need for fairness in allocating resources. A June report from Brussels forecasts shortages of 14 critical mineral raw materials. Growing demand is driven by developing
SO the educational stats prove just how poor the system of today’s education really works. No matter what title you call the school, such as academy or college, it just shows that today’s children do not learn the three Rs as taught in the basic elementary
I WOULD like to reply to the criticism of the coalition government by Dr Charlie Willingham (Letters, January 19) over their handling of the economy. On David Laws’ first day as chief secretary of the Treasury in May 2010, he was greeted with a note
IT seems totally unbelievable that the Borough of Poole ‘stands down’ the noise abatement officer (or whatever the formal title is) after 2am because ‘there were not many complaints after 2am’ (Echo, January 22). As we all know, it only takes one
POOLE Soroptimists are currently welcoming applicants to their new funding scheme called Grants for Girls. Many young women in the Poole area undertake voluntary work both near to home and far away. With this in mind Poole Soroptimists want to encourage
ON MAY 5, voters will be asked to vote in a referendum on the Alternative Voting system of electing our parliamentary representatives (MPs). AV is a system practised in only Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrats
WE were overjoyed at the front page headline, ‘council finds cash to save vital services’ (Echo, January 13). Good - those people should never have had their welfare in question, anyway. But Cllr Peter Charon says: “The final £1.1m had been found from
YOU’D have to be living on Mars not to know that The King’s Speech, a film about King George VI’s fight to overcome his stammer, is hotly tipped for Oscar glory. But did you know that his first public speech was made right here, in Dorset? The year
MOTORISTS have been warned to expect delays when a five-week road improvement scheme from Ringwood to Bere Regis starts next week. Engineers will shut one of the busiest sections of the A31 between the Roundhouse and Bere Regis roundabouts, overnight
STAR turn Marc Pugh believes Cherries’ victory over seaside rivals Brighton proves they have the mettle for automatic promotion. Cherries climbed to second in League One following Saturday’s triumph over the league leaders – one in the eye for pundits
STEVE Fletcher is urging Michael Symes to make up for lost time and insists the enigmatic striker has a key role to play in Cherries’ promotion push. Symes has endured a frustrating and injury-interrupted debut campaign since joining Cherries on a free
HUNDREDS of new jobs could be created in Bournemouth if civic chiefs finally kick-start legal agreements with developers planning to build the UK's first hotel school. After more than a decade of planning and protracted negotiations, the four-star training
POOLE Town’s rumoured attempts to ground-share in Kings Park have been criticised by a former president of Bournemouth Athletic Club. The Dolphins are understood to be looking into a possible switch to the athletics stadium in Kings Park and that prospect
MATT Ford is urging British fans to give Mark Loram a send-off worthy of a world champion. Poole’s promoter has confirmed the 2000 Grand Prix winner will stage his ‘Farewell to British Speedway’ meeting at Wimborne Road on March 30. Ford said: “Mark
EX-BUCCANEERS ace Kyle Newman is set to line up for Pirates this year after securing a shock squad place. In a surprise move by Wimborne Road chief Matt Ford, the Poole-born teenager will be handed either the number seven or eight race jacket. Newman
Another good day for Mary, Kate and I today as we won 3 out of 4 races to earn our place in the gold fleet and quarter finals. It was another tricky day with close races throughout but an improvement on yesterday was that we were giving our opponents
