Emma Hirst has been appointed as the sole head coach of Swim Bournemouth after a year of shared duties with Sam Woodward. The pair, who were respectively head coaches of Ferndown Otters and Bournemouth Dolphins before the clubs merged towards the end
THE last cut has banished rhododendrons from island jewel, Brownsea Island. Dorset Wildlife Trust is celebrating success in a 50-year battle to rid the Poole Harbour island of the invasive, yet attractive, bloom. Rhododendron ponticum gave the island
A FERNDOWN woman is off on a mercy mission to help 450 orphans in a Kenyan slum where 1.2million people are squeezed into 600 squalid acres. Helen Masters leaves for the Kibera, just outside the country’s capital Nairobi, on Thursday, October 13, with
DORSET GPs are among doctors across the country gearing up to offer free flu jabs to millions of people from Monday. Last year more than 600 people died from flu, most of them already identified as being at particular risk if they caught the
A FERNDOWN woman teed off on her 90th birthday – despite being registered blind. Irma Keyes, who is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other, uses a yellow ball to play with her seven friends, known as The Elderberries, at Ferndown Golf Club
A SPECIAL one-off screening of Georgina Starr’s Theda, accompanied live by the German soprano Sigune von Osten, takes place at the Pier Theatre, Bournemouth, on October 8 at 8pm. Georgina Starr is known for her large-scale art installations and films
IT should have been an occasion brimming with excitement and anticipation as Wareham collectively held its breath for its all important Britain in Bloom judgement. But as dawn broke on judging day in the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society competition
THREE of the world’s leading horror authors will be at a glamorous evening at Bournemouth’s Print Room restaurant. The event, on Friday October 7, is being staged by the Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival as part of its Horrorlitic programme
KAREN Butcher laughs when she relates how little people know about the condition she has had since birth – Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome. “Nobody has ever heard of it. Quite often they’ll say ‘is there something wrong with your teeth?’ The name doesn’
A RESTAURATEUR is hoping to change the way British people eat curry with his new Tuckton venue. Simon Rahman has opened up a restaurant alongside his established Sakib Spice takeaway, which has been trading for 13 years, in Tuckton Road, Tuckton.
A CYCLIST has come forward following an incident where an elderly lady suffered serious injuries after being knocked to the floor in Boscombe recently. The 71-year-old woman suffered a broken pelvis in the incident in Christchurch Road, Pokesdown
A COLLECTION by local Tesco stores to raise money towards a memorial for Red Arrow pilot Jon Egging raised more than £7,000. The week-long collection earlier this month took place in stores across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. The final total
DON’T you just love the great British weather? Just when we’ve all packed away the barbecues and the garden furniture, glorious weather is heading for Dorset. Temperatures are set to hit 72 degrees by Saturday – a spectacular start to
DAVID Croft, the Poole-born scriptwriter and producer responsible for Dad's Army and Are You Being Served?, has died aged 89. His agent Tim Hancock said he died at his holiday home in Portugal. Among his other hit shows were ’Allo ’Allo, It Ain’t Half
WHILST shopping in Christchurch, we passed a well known shoe shop and in huge letters across the windows was “Buy one get one free”. Puzzled, my husband remarked “That’s funny, I thought they only came in pairs!” P STACEY, Footners Lane, Burton.
THE recent news of the lady knocked down by a cyclist on the pavement (Daily Echo, September 22) does not shock anyone. However, it is worth bearing in mind how rare this kind of collision is. I think there has been a lot of demonisation of cyclists
ONCE again Philip Whitelegg is trying to curb cycling on the promenade (Letters, September 23). Last time he did so I suggested that he tried cycling from Poole to Christchurch by road before trying to condemn cyclists to life-threatening journeys. The
HAVING just read the article today regarding “the A35 road from Bakers Arms to Bere Regis”, I am amazed that the fact that deer are also a major factor of accidents along that road was not mentioned at all. All along that stretch of road are fences
A DARK car sweeps down the narrow, winding street of Port Isaac, the idyllic fishing village in north Cornwall and the location of successful ITV series Doc Martin. The sound of applause and cheers fill the air as Martin Clunes arrives. It’s the kind
RETAIL giant Marks & Spencer has been fined £1million for failing to protect customers, staff and workers from potential exposure to asbestos during refurbishment at one of its stores. The management was more concerned about the works being ‘
WITH reference to the article about an out of date pack of bacon having been purchased by the mum from Ferndown (Daily Echo, September 24), I question why Heidi did not check the date on this particular pack prior to purchase. Perhaps she was in a
I REFER to the letter on Friday September 23 2011 by Robert Readman, “The ultimate freedom is a choice of life”. I am all for choice and I am not coming at this from the religious side of the argument. But I would refer to the case of Dr Harold Shipman
I READ with interest the front page story of Miss Endecott banned from selling the Enid Blyton inspired golliwogs at the Boscombe Vintage market (Daily Echo, September 23), together with the comments from Bournemouth council’s equality and diversity
IT’S good news that some roads in the Bournemouth and Poole area are to be upgraded to allow cycle lanes. Now perhaps it’s time for all cyclists to comply with the law, and have fitted front and rear lights to their cycles now that the nights are drawing
THE Coalition government has made something of a virtue of the U-turn since May 2010, on the basis that changing policy as a result of public pressure shows that you are listening. This was amply demonstrated on with the forestry sell-off.
IT seemingly appeared overnight, a fully-formed three-storey hotel on the side of the Pavilion Dance building in the lower gardens. The star attraction of the Daily Echo backed Bournemouth Arts festival proved to be just as surreal as the earlier Grand
PHILL Jupitus, a man of many parts perhaps best known for regular appearances on BBC’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks and QI, is now returning to what he does best – stand-up. And he brings his latest show, Stand Down, to Lighthouse in Poole this autumn.
A WOMAN was taken to hospital after a reported serious assault. Police officers were called to a report of a fight in Roumelia Lane, Boscombe, at 11am on Tuesday. They cordoned off an area behind a set of flats almost opposite La Boheme art gallery
A POOLE restaurant employee was seriously injured when a man walked in through the kitchen, picked up a knife and attacked him. The incident took place shortly before 5pm on Monday at Georgie Porgies Buffet World restaurant in Tower Park. The restaurant
THREE potential traveller transit sites have been identified in Poole after 20 more were rejected as unsuitable. All are on council owned land and Borough of Poole, which also has a permanent site at Mannings Heath, has identified a need for
Why is this process happening? The government wants to significantly increase the number of traveller sites with planning permission and to address the shortage of such sites. It’s a requirement of the 2004 Housing Act. Who is involved
FOUR potential locations for gypsy and traveller sites have been earmarked in Bournemouth, the Daily Echo can reveal. Three of them are on green belt land. The suggestions, drawn up by consultants Baker Associates, are • 10 transit pitches
Traffic was down to one lane this morning at Parley Cross, Bournemouth, after an accident, believed to be between a van and a motorbike.
HARRY Arter tentatively crossed the Watford Gap and saw the northern light. For a 21-year-old brought up a stone’s throw from the Valley in Eltham, South London, Carlisle seemed a universe away, let alone a world. But a month-long loan
MATT Ford and Chris Holder hailed Darcy Ward’s “top-drawer” heat-13 heroics after the Australian prodigy lit up Pirates’ semi-final win over King’s Lynn. Maximum man Ward was the headline act as Poole Castle Cover booked their place in the
THE term ‘great’ is overused in sport. Often thrown around like confetti, performers undeserving of the description lap it up. But for those that witnessed something truly special at Wimborne Road on Monday night, uttering the word was not
WIMBORNE Road chief Matt Ford has highlighted the team performance that guided Pirates into the Elite League play-off final. Poole booked a two-legged tie with Eastbourne after beating King’s Lynn on Monday night. Darcy Ward (18) and Chris Holder (13
Cherries’ summer recruit Steven Gregory insists he is steadily improving as he bids to make the grade following his “big step” to League One. Gregory admitted it would take him time to adjust to life in the third tier after jumping from
