CHRIS Holder was quick to blame himself for missing out on Elite League Riders’ Championship glory after finishing third behind Leigh Adams and Chris Harris at Coventry tonight. Poole’s young gun tied for top spot in the qualifiers with 13 points alongside
IT’S early morning, but Christopher Biggins answers his telephone with the same enthusiasm he uses on the pantomime stage. With that signature laugh, he cheerily explains the secrets of his successful career and why charity fundraising is so important
Harry Redknapp dismissed any notion that he was about to leave Tottenham after odds tumbled on him becoming the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season. Bookmakers slashed odds on Redknapp, who lives in Sandbanks, leaving White
ONE of Bournemouth’s top council officers has resigned after just six months in the job. Manjeet Gill was known as the town’s “director of transformation,” although her official job title was interim executive director for business improvement
POOLE’S Lighthouse will be a magnet for gourmets of all ages later this month when it hosts a star-studded day of food-related events. Bite the Lighthouse on Sunday, October 25, is being staged by Dorset’s own Screen Bites, the only annual celebration
Excellence and quality in Poole’s tourism industry was celebrated at The Palms, the prestigious Sibbett Gregory Poole Tourism Awards, held at Hytes restaurant, Harbour Heights. In its seventh year, Poole’s annual awards ceremony, sponsored by local
A FORMER head chef of a Poole bistro is proving he can stand the heat as he bids to become the UK’s top professional Masterchef. Steve Groves, who formerly ran the kitchen at Branksome Beach, has reached the semi-finals of the BBC’s current cookery
A POPULAR Bournemouth care worker managed to fulfil her dream when she wed her long-time sweetheart five weeks before she died of cancer. Nicky Mogg, 41, proposed to Mark Jones after she was diagnosed with lymphoma last autumn. She underwent
A CHARITY is appealing against the refusal of planning permission for a new support centre for drug addicts, homeless people and domestic violence victims. The controversial plan to convert an office in Lansdowne Road, Bournemouth, into an
Review: Bat For Lashes, O2 Academy, Bournemouth ATTENDING a Bat For Lashes show is like being sprinkled with fairy dust and whisked into a magical kingdom. The stage was filled with mysterious clouds and full moons that wouldn’t look out of place on
TAXI drivers are calling for “common sense” from council parking chiefs after being caught on camera dropping off passengers in bus lanes. The plea follows a report in yesterday’s Daily Echo of cabbie John Walker’s battle with Bournemouth council
PEUGEOT has unveiled a concept version of its exciting RCZ 2+2 coupé, the RCZ HYbrid4. Based on the same power train as the 3008 Hybrid4, it’s powered by a 2-litre HDi FAP diesel engine with a maximum power of 163bhp and a 37bhp electric motor giving
FIRST, Patrick receives DVDs in the post. They show invasive footage of him and his wife washing, dressing, going to work – all taken by cameras hidden in his house. Soon they find themselves questioning everything and everyone as their lives unravel
AN INSPECTOR has backed Bournemouth council’s decision to refuse planning permission to replace Southbourne Conservative Club with four new houses and a block of seven flats. The application sparked 79 letters of objection, including a petition signed
BOURNEMOUTH shoppers will be asked for their views on how best to create a new National Care Service. The Big Care Debate Roadshow will visit Castlepoint shopping park on Friday and Saturday to explain the three options for a widespread reform of adult
A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 26-year-old woman was found fatally injured in Bournemouth. Police were called to the car park of April Court in Wellington Road at around 12.04am this morning after the woman was found
You might think democracy is an open and honest process. You vote, someone wins and runs the country in your name, and for your benefit. Well, I’ve got news for you. If the candidates have enough money, how you vote may add to their bank accounts –
THE TEENAGE schoolboy who was rushed to hospital with life-threatening head injuries following a collision with a bus is off the danger list, doctors say. Carter Community School pupil Michael Baxter, aged 14, is currently in a stable condition
IT’S always a treat to get a tantalising glimpse of a rare species in its natural habitat, which is why, this week, TV took us halfway round the globe and across vast oceans, to a far-flung, sun-baked island just to get up-close and personal with
Art Loan Exhibition ’08-’09 Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus Manga to Mural: The Sketches of John Thomas Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth Hidden Gems: 20th Century Faces Russell-Cotes Art Gallery Discovering Poole: An Artists’ Haven
THE truth about Ricky Gervais’ new comedy, co-written and co-directed by Matthew Robinson, is that it is mean-spirited, misconceived and starved of big laughs. Set in an alternative reality in which everyone instinctively tells the truth and the concept
RED Heroine, a kung fu feast uniting silent film and live music, visits Lighthouse on Wednesday with a live original score performed by the Devil Music Ensemble from the USA. Wen Yim’s 1929 silent film is the only surviving complete Chinese
JEAN-Francois Richet’s two-part biopic won three Cesars (the Gallic equivalent of an Oscar) including the director’s prize and Best Actor for Vincent Cassel in the title role. Mesrine is an epic and brutal tale of crime and punishment inspired
DIRECTED by Lucy Akhurst from a script by Charles Thomas Oldham, this faux fly-on-the-wall documentary follows a team of talented Morris dancers as they flout convention and the rules laid down by Quentin Neely (Sir Derek Jacobi) to drag the art form
PAUL WS Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt haul the sets of their 1997 collaboration Event Horizon out of storage and give them a new lick of paint for this deep space thriller directed by Christian Alvart (Antibodies). The nightmare is as much for the
AN eye-popping revamp of the 1995 computer-animated adventure from the wizards at Pixar. As Andy’s birthday draws near, his toys – especially cowboy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) – grow increasingly nervous about new arrivals usurping them for
QUEEN’S Park Infants School is closed today amid fears of an outbreak of norovirus. Staff confirmed that children were being turned away from the East Way school, which caters for children aged four to seven. It is not yet known when it will re-open
Submit your event to our FREE calendar listings ART Art Loan Exhibition 2008-09 – Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus Manga to Mural: The Sketches of John Thomas – Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth (until April 30)
AN ACTIVE member of the Wareham community has been honoured for his work. Charles Patterson, of Folly Lane, has been made an Honorary Townsman and was presented with a lavish certificate, by mayor Cllr Audrey Tighe, to mark the achievement. Scotsman
THE official launch of the Boscombe Surf Reef is imminent and I can’t wait. That’s not because I can carve a surfboard through the waves as did the late Patrick Swayze in Point Break, because I can’t. In fact the last time I attempted surfing at Boscombe
A PENSIONER who has devoted the past 13 years to helping the elderly and disabled get out and about has been crowned Bournemouth’s Hero of the Year. Michael Bliss, 76, from Townsend, drives the Bournemouth Accessible Transport Bus three days
A NEW study of Britain’s ageing population has revealed Dorset has two of the oldest population areas in the country. The average age of Christchurch residents is 50.1 years with those in East Dorset at 49.7, putting the two areas in fourth and fifth
MY wife has been diagnosed with a debilitating condition called fibromyalgia and also has arthritis in her hip and back. She has severe difficulty walking any distance and cannot navigate steps or slopes with any ease. As a result of
May I please take this opportunity through the letters page of our local paper to express, on behalf of Citizens Advice Bournemouth and the Mayor’s charities, our gratitude to all those who attended and took part in the Beach Festival which was held on
In response to Mr Lawrence Williams (Have Your Say 30th September) the word ‘psychobabble’ does, indeed, exist and is by no means new. The word was invented in 1975 by R D Rosen, author of Psychobabble: Fast Talk and Quick Cure in the Age of Feeling
A few months ago, I was walking peacefully through Kings Park when a dog came running very fast towards me away from its owner. The next thing I knew it had pushed my right leg so hard that I lost my balance and fell over, badly spraining my ankle.
BETWEEN September 1955 and October 1959 I was a pupil at Twynham School. I have since spent my life away from the Christchurch area. I would very much like to hear from those that I was at school with, maybe with a view to a reunion. This would include
IN boxing terms, Boscombe has been seen as one of those journeymen sluggers, winning a few fights, but taking a few hefty beatings along the way. Its fanbase has been very much local, but often vocal, and while some cynics have been quick to write off
MY granddaughter and I have just had a most rewarding summer despite the poor weather. We helped Youth Cancer Trust at Tracy Ann House, Alum Chine. There, teenagers to 30-year-olds from the UK enjoy a week’s holiday. My 15-year-old granddaughter felt
THIS is the striking design chosen for four iconic new beach huts for disabled users, which are to be built at Boscombe. But although the winning design, The Seagull and the Windbreak, won the unanimous approval of the judging panel, it did not make
Last Saturday was street collection day for the local group of Amnesty International, and we would like to give heartfelt thanks to all those who generously gave to the cause of human rights. The money we collected by shaking our tins in Bournemouth
IT was a nice surprise to go to the Community Café in Cunningham Crescent. There was a really nice atmosphere and a good value breakfast. I felt a strong sense of community in this café and I encourage people to go there. It is somewhere I would not
We are a small local business who have banked with a leading high street bank for five years. The recession has restricted the flexibility the bank afforded us, but we have always been allowed access to un-cleared funds. We bank several cheques daily
How many times have your readers sat in a restaurant and said their food is fine when it’s not, just to be polite? It’s such a British thing to do. We just don’t question where our food comes from. But I think it’s time we started asking. That’s why
POLICE have sealed off part of Wellington Road in Bournemouth after an incident last night. A number of officers including forensics are on the scene. Activity seems to be centred upon a footpath near the bridge in Wellington Road.
IT MAY only have been October 1 to you. But for Britain’s bookworms it was Super Thursday, the day when 800 new novels, biographies and celebrity musings hit the nation’s bookshops. Constant readers – and you’d have to be to get through that lot –
BY GEORGE he’s done it again! Veteran designer George Davies has been credited with changing the face of fashion three times. Now he’s got a fourth style innovation up his tailored, hand-stitched sleeve. And he’s chosen Beales as the launch pad for
THIS is the squalid scene that greeted visitors to a New Forest beauty spot. Bags of rubbish were strewn across the car park at Hatchet Pond – one of the most popular picnic areas in the New Forest – after the litter bin overflowed. The bags attracted
RINGWOOD School has been awarded a prestigious prize after bringing the wider world into its classrooms. The International School Award has been given to the school for its work in introducing an international dimension into its curriculum so students
FRONTLINE services at Hampshire County Council will remain protected as new measures are taken to mitigate the effects of threatened government public spending cuts. Members of the efficiency panel met recently to consider how the county council will
Residents of Hamworthy, Poole, will get their first chance to view the plans for their new Co-op at a public meeting. The store is being scaled down from the original plans, following the destruction of the Blandford Road supermarket in a fire
LOAN recruit Anthony Edgar set his sights on making a positive impact after revealing that cousin Jermain Defoe gave his Cherries move a seal of approval. Manager Eddie Howe yesterday signed the highly-rated teenager on a month’s loan after being given
INJURIES again look set to heavily influence Eddie Howe’s team selection as Cherries bid to get their League Two form back on track tomorrow. The league leaders travel to Port Vale with a four-point advantage over the chasing pack, despite Tuesday’s
NEIL Middleditch believes Chris Holder’s spectacular Grand Prix Challenge success at Coventry two weeks ago could help inspire the Aussie to more glory on the same track tonight. The Pirates star lines up at Brandon (7.45pm) as one of the favourites
TOM Killick believes the completion of Charlie Austin’s drawn-out move to Swindon Town will finally allow his squad to learn to live without the prolific frontman. Austin was due to be unveiled to the press at the County Ground this morning after signing
Verwood Town go into tomorrow’s Vase trip to Wells City (3pm) on the back of an impressive 3-2 Wessex Cup win over Romsey Town on Wednesday night. Dan Baguley’s double and an Adam Faulkner strike saw off the Premier Division outfit and booked
WE want the traffic back. That’s the plea from some Businesses in Boscombe, almost two decades after the centre of the Bournemouth suburb was pedestrianised. A campaign is lobbying Bournemouth council to re-open the shopping precinct to
TOWN hall officials have been accused of replacing a “no parking” sign in a lay-by AFTER they fined a taxi driver for stopping there. Cabbie John Walker, 37, pulled into the bus stop on Tuckton Road, Bournemouth, to drop off an elderly customer
ANDY Bye believes Hamworthy United will rise from the ashes of Phil Simkin’s acrimonious departure, but is more than willing to pile extra misery on the County Ground outfit tomorrow. Bye’s New Milton and the managerless Hammers meet tomorrow
CHAPEL Gate new boy Frazer Wilford believes Bournemouth’s players will have no excuses if they don’t clinch promotion this season. The 22-year-old hooker switched from Havant to the Lions in the summer and has played every minute of his new club’s National
JAMES Croker was keen to play down Oakmeadians’ early-season promotion potential, but did admit the lure of National League rugby was a target for the Meyrick Park club. Croker’s charges have made a stunning start to life in South West One East, notching
BROADSTONE’S Luke Gray (Hargroves/Scott) secured third place overall in the the British Mountain Bike XC Series. His fine end to the season was capped when he took the runners-up spot in the final round of series at the former World Cup venue at Plymouth
