STRUGGLING Pirates got a taste of what their new-look team will have to live up to as they were comprehensively beaten by a solid Swindon side with more strength in depth tonight. Strength in depth, that was precisely what Poole Castle Cover lacked after
SEARCH those pockets, look in broken jacket linings, down the back of settees and under car seats. There’s a small fortune to be claimed in the form of National Lottery ticket worth £96,404 that was drawn on Wednesday, November 12 last year. The unclaimed
WHERE are the negatives? That is the question the vice-chairman of Poole Town Football Club is asking in the wake of fierce reaction over the decision to back plans for a new ground at Branksome Rec. As reported in the Daily Echo yesterday
WHEN John Lewis announced it was to open the first of its new format home stores in Poole, it was as if the last piece of the retail jigsaw had fallen into place. Yes we’ve got a few Waitroses, the chain’s supermarket arm. But if you wanted one of the
STAFF at two businesses were confronted by robbers who threatened them before making with cash. A 42-year-old shop worker is recovering from shock after trying to stop a crook who struck at Martins the Newsagents post office store on Culliford Crescent
A PEDESTRIAN is lucky to be alive after jumping out of the path of a speeding stolen car during a police pursuit through the streets of Bournemouth. Motorists were forced to swerve out of the way of the blue Nissan Micra, which struck an oncoming
THE South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) is being urged to honour its promise of investing £200,000 in the refurbishment of Bournemouth’s historic Shelley Theatre. The ambitious project to reopen the Boscombe theatre is under threat
EVEN before Wednesday night’s amateur dramatics, Didier Drogba would surely have made it into almost every football fan’s Top Ten Most Disliked Footballers. Well, I’m pleased to announce that Didier has now firmly secured his place at no.1 on
HAVING never before seen this highly thought-of political satire, jumping headfirst into the special episodes was perhaps a silly idea. And since indulging in the first six instalments, I can announce that it is best the early ones are digested before
OH BRYAN Singer... if only you hadn’t scuttled away and made that hideous Superman Returns, perhaps we’d have a triumverate of tremendous X-Men films. But no, you had to leave it in the hands of Brett Ratner. Come on, the guy directed the dumb-as-cheese
THE very definition of “quirky”, this period comedy-drama with fantasy elements is pure movie Marmite. You’ll either be won over by a witty script, top-notch performances and a heartwarming tale, or, like Peter O’Toole’s grumpy Horatio Fisk
Here’s a movie that brings new meaning to the idea of getting into a good book. Brendan Fraser stars as Mo, a “silvertongue” with a gift for bringing stories to life when he reads aloud. But conjuring up a character from a book has its dangers – especially
As bad as you’d expect this third instalment of the Boogeyman series to be, it actually managed to induce a few shrieks and jumps, despite its predictably shoddy storyline and lame attempt at Ring-style baddie effects. We follow a group of students
Mischievous Australian director Baz Luhrmann is not a man to be hurried, given that this is his fourth film in 17 years. The man takes his time, and this love letter to the country that spawned him is every bit as sprawling as the time it took to shoot
Ask anyone to name one truly great “threequel” and you could be in for a long wait. The third in any franchise generally looks tired in comparison, but hand it to Transporter 3 for at least knowing its limitations and playing to its strengths. Stunning
ALTHOUGH it landed a couple of notable film awards on its release in 1990, Ultra arrived far too soon after Hillsborough the year before to have made much impact in this country. Now available on DVD, it feels more like a history lesson than the smudged
PROPHETS of doom may be worrying themselves silly over the prospect of swine flu but a cafe owner in Christchurch has seen a lighter side and put a porker in a mask. John O’Callaghan at Naughty Corner cafe in Bargates put a mask made of napkins on the
AN ACTRESS once married to film director Ken Russell has lost her claim for a share of Dorset sculptress’s £2,285,000 will. Hetty Baynes, 52, wanted an inheritance as a ''dependant'' of the late Mary Spencer Watson, who had a lesbian relationship
Poole's Summer Breeze festival starts June 4 Summer Breeze on the Quay kick-starts the summer programme of events with its usual host of family fun, street entertainment, live bands and spectacular fireworks every Thursday in June and July
A MAN charged with burglary and conspiracy to burgle the Landford home of a pensioner found beaten to death in September has said he had no idea what happened and was “devastated” to be arrested. John Wayne Wilkinson, 40, of Ford Lane, Ferndown
THIS is the fourth in the series featuring Charlie Bassett, which is set in 1948 at a time when the tension in Berlin between the Russians and Allies escalates and the people he loves are threatened by the effects of the blockade. It’s a
WHEN sports agent Myron Bolitar’s ex-lover urges him to fly from New Jersey to Paris 10 years after she disappeared from his life, his decision to go sparks a chain of events that leaves a trail of bodies... and unearths an unthinkable terrorist
TO avenge his sister, Stryker, at the head of an army of demons and vampires, plans an attack on his enemies, which includes the human race. Christmas approaches and while humans carry on with their lives, the predator amasses his forces.
THE Dorset coast has again scooped awards for cleanliness. Keep Britain Tidy awarded Blue Flags to beaches at Sandbanks, Shore Road, Canford Cliffs, Branksome Chine, Alum Chine, Durley Chine, Fisherman’s Walk and Southbourne. The Quality Coast Award
THE funeral of one of Britain’s oldest citizens and much-loved resident of a Christchurch care home will be held on Friday (May 8). Jack Ellis celebrated his 107th birthday at the Avon View Rest Home last year surrounded by friends and family. He credited
A MOBILE phone mast nearly 80 feet high could be built in a residential area of West Moors. Communications giant, Vodafone, has applied to East Dorset District Council (EDDC) for permission to put up the 24-metre mast on a field near houses
I AM writing with concern over the condition of the road signs within Dorset. Recently my partner was driving from our house in Bournemouth to Verwood to visit friends. She has a small car and was travelling with our friend’s dog.
I write in reply to the “Gym Won’t Fix it” letter of last week and the Colin Henderson letter on Tuesday, May 5, regarding the lack, in Branksome, of outdoor gyms and other facilities, creating a town divide. I can advise the readers it’s only because
READING the various letters regarding cancelled bus routes and stops because of financial problems for the companies, surely an idea to help them would be for pensioners with bus passes to pay £1 or 50p a day. It is also crazy to allow pensioners to
I am so angry that I can hardly speak. My daughter and her son had their bikes stolen on Bank Holiday Monday from outside Waitrose, Winton. The bikes were chained to a post, but still some scumbags managed to cut the chains and steal the bikes – and
Further to Fiona Dougherty-Price’s letter (Letters, May 4) concerning plans to regenerate the Triangle as part of the Town Centre Master Vision, she is well wide of the mark in suggesting that Bournemouth council is favouring one group over another.
WALKING through the underpass in Broadstone this week, I met a girl of about 15 coming towards me. She started to jump against the wall making footmarks where it was painted white. I stopped her and said: “Do you realise that your parents’ rates money
WITH the warm weather fast approaching, we have already had reports of children and dogs getting snakebites. Would it be possible for display notices showing emergency numbers of local vets and doctors able to treat snake bites? Notices
AFTER a recent visit to Poole, my home town, I was awaiting my train on Poole Railway Station when I noticed that all the platform signs say “Welcome to Poole. The home of Bournemouth University”! I know that the main campus is, indeed, in
A MAJOR police investigation was launched after the body of a Bournemouth refuse collector was found in the sea, an inquest heard. No one knew why Krystian Parecki had gone to the beach after a night drinking with friends, district coroner Sheriff Payne
IT’S back. The roar of the historic Sea Vixen could be heard across Bournemouth as the fighter plane took to the skies before its appearance at the town’s Air Festival later this year. The twin-boomer De Havilland plane wowed the crowds at last year’
An accident caused chaos on the A31 at Poulner Hill this morning. A car and a lorry were involved in the smash, at about 8am, on the eastbound carriageway. The accident, at the junction of the slip road on Poulner Hill, saw one car rolled
A GRIEVING widow is searching for the Good Samaritan who ensured she got the chance to spend the last precious hours at her husband’s bedside. When elderly Vanetta Westell took the call she’d been dreading for weeks – that her husband, Ken,
THIS was Andrew Litton's night, one that shone a spotlight upon his outstanding talents often shared with the BSO over the last twenty-five years. An inspired choice to open the concert; Finzi's gorgeous Eclogue for piano and strings. The unforgettable
YOU’VE chosen the wants of the few over the needs of the many. That was the reaction the day after councillors voted by the slimmest of margins to back Poole Town Football Club’s controversial plans to build a £1m ground on part of Branksome Rec. Opponents
BATTLING Lee Thompson dem-onstrated his powers of recovery with a top-10 finish in last week’s Cornish PGA Festival, sponsored by Waverley TBS, at Perranporth, St Enodoc and Newquay. He played his opening round at Newquay, by far the easiest
CHRISTCHURCH manager Graham Kemp has revealed that Hamworthy United forward Tom Jeffes has agreed to join his Priory side. Jeffes, the former Bournemouth Poppies and Brockenhurst frontman, decided to quit the County Ground following the club’s Wessex
PAUL Baker last night confirmed that a bid had been lodged to buy Cherries and then reiterated his desire to quickly conclude the club’s takeover saga. The Cherries co-owner told the Echo last week that seven parties had declared an interest in purchasing
POOLE council economy chiefs have welcomed retail giant John Lewis’s announcement to open a new £6 million store in the town. The new format shop, creating 100 new jobs, opens at Poole Commerce Centre, Branksome, in the autumn. Poole
STARS of Strictly Come Dancing Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone took to the dancefloor of a Bournemouth hotel and showed off their moves, then danced with those learning the steps. The Hotel Piccadilly on Bath Road held the dancing holiday
A DOG owner is warning other walkers and parents to be on their guard at a Sandbanks beach. It comes after her greyhound, Barney, came within 1cm of a fatal injury when he ran into an “almost invisible” fence at the Midway Path dog-friendly beach. Ali
DANIEL Davidsson believes bottom-of-the-table Pirates still have a realistic chance of replicating their Elite League title success of last season. To do that, Poole Castle Cover, boosted by a 46-44 win over Belle Vue at Wimborne Road on Monday, have
A DAIRYMAN died from a rare brain injury three days after an accident at a Purbeck milking parlour, an inquest has heard. Father-of-one David Cheadle, 47, informed his family that he had hit his head at Barn Dairy Farm in Kimmeridge on September 4 last
A beach party billed on Facebook as a “night of mayhem” at Sandbanks, Poole, attracted more than 1,000 partying youngsters. But the “biggest and best beach party ever” turned into a damp squib after a strong force of Dorset Police prevented
IT'S something I’m sure we would all do. We catch sight of a distraught elderly lady as we’re driving past and pull up to help. It’s the classic tale of the Good Samaritan and a big thumbs-up to the gentleman who helped 73-year-old Vanetta Westell in
CHERRIES’ resounding 4-0 victory at Morecambe brought down the curtain on a tumultuous season for the club – and also had the statisticians thumbing the record books. Brett Pitman’s double, coupled with goals from Joel Ward and Liam Feeney at Christie
POOLE Town are set to reject a bid from Eastleigh for star striker Charlie Austin, according to manager Tom Killick. The teenage frontman hit the headlines after his goals helped Dolphins claim the Wessex League title in some style.
SENIOR managers at Poole-based Synergy Housing Group could lose their jobs as part of a staffing review announced yesterday. The group, employing around 350 people, is one of the area’s largest landlords with offices in Ferndown, Weymouth and Wareham
