Archive

YES Prime Minister, the show that famously provided comic relief for Margaret Thatcher during her Downing Street years, made a welcome return at Poole’s Lighthouse Theatre last night. This much-loved political satire, which leaves many modern-day pretenders

WE are used to seeing him battling nature in some of the most inhospitable places on earth, so how was Bear Grylls going to tackle a near-packed theatre of scouts, dewy-eyed females and blokes wearing serious outdoor gear? Descending down on to the

A CHRISTCHURCH secondary school has slipped down in the Ofsted rankings following a recent inspection. The Grange School in Somerford was marked by Ofsted inspectors as “satisfactory” following the visit at the end of February this year. At their last

AS shops and businesses count their stock, so do RSPB nature reserves. For the second year running reserves at Arne in Purbeck and Radipole at Weymouth are carrying out a wildlife count and calling on people to help. On Saturday April

THE disabled children who inspired her are set to benefit from the launch of Helen Ross’ new book. Helen, who has cerebral palsy, has spent four years writing Tough But Very Blessed to tell people that disability can be positive and to prove that life

DAVE Ewen’s penalty a minute from time handed Bournemouth Poppies a fourth consecutive league victory as Ken Vaughan’s men defeated Totton & Eling 1-0 last night. Both sides were thankful to their goalkeepers in the first half as Poppies stopper Kenny

BRAVE members of the public chased off would-be robbers who threatened a Bournemouth taxi driver. Two offenders attacked the driver who had taken them to Glenmeadows Drive in Kinson at 10.45pm on Friday March 16. They threatened him

AN ARSONIST who destroyed his ex-girlfriend’s house because she ended the relationship has been jailed for four years. Derek England appeared before Dorchester Crown Court charged with arson recklessly endangering life and was sentenced to

THE FAMILY of a teenage girl who was killed in a car crash branded the driver's sentence an "absolute disgrace" after he was spared a jail term. Esther Walters died after Richard Hadler lost control of his car while speeding in the New Forest

A BLANDFORD woman will appear in a new Channel 4 show on hoarders called ‘Get Your House in Order’. Sylvia Stewart, 59, had a shopping addiction so bad she had £100,000 worth of unopened bargains filling her home. Her seven-bedroom home

THE first thing you’ll do when arriving at the newly-refurbished Cottonwood Boutique Hotel is take a sharp breath and marvel at the opulent surroundings. It’s a flamboyant celebration of shocking pink and gold, with crushed velvet seats and

COBBLER to the stars Moors Brothers is celebrating its centenary this year – although the exact date its first shop opened in Bournemouth is a bit of a mystery. Since being founded as a shoe menders by Charles Moors in 1912, the business has been handed

THE Bournemouth Balloon has passed its annual inspection ready for the summer season. The attraction, in the town centre gardens, has to be given a Certificate of Airworthiness from the Civil Aviation Authority, whose inspectors are more used

MICHAEL Kiwanuka has a lot to live up to since being named BBC’s Sound Of 2012, but the first album from the British-Ugandan soul singer is a promising debut. Working alongside Paul Butler from The Bees in Paul’s home studio on the Isle Of Wight, it

GRAB your best trilby hat, jiving suit and ration book for a vintage dance lesson at Pavilion Dance. Transport yourself back to the swinging world of the 1940s and learn the dance sensations that took the era by storm. Dance teacher Ruby Adams knows

IT’S not just the weather that’s heating up, as The Old Fire Station has a packed week of scorching club events. Kicking off with student night Lollipop tonight that sees three rooms of music and sweaty mischief. Lollipop remains one of the most successful

TAKING their name from The Jam track Eton Rifles, London mod rockers The Rifles pay a visit to the Old Fire Station on Sunday night. The band released their third studio album Freedom Run last year, with the new material going down a storm on the road

PRICES at every Bournemouth town centre and shopping area car park are being frozen for the third year running, it has been confirmed. Motorists have been promised they will not have to pay any more to visit shops in either the town centre

POLICE have renewed their appeal for witnesses to a head-on crash which left a 48-year-old motorcyclist fighting for his life. The Poole man was airlifted to Dorset County Hospital after his custom-style bike was in collision with a blue Subaru Forester

A FERNDOWN woman is preparing to scale a 2,000ft cliff face on what would have been hero Royal Marine John Thornton’s 27th birthday. Maxine Tomczynska, who will turn 50 herself on April 12, the day of her gruelling Lake District slate mine

FRESH from the Dorset Music Award Semi-Finals, local favourites Yellowgroove are hitting the road. Key dates include a gig at Bournemouth bar Smokin Aces next Friday and the O2 Academy Bournemouth on May 26. Music isn’t their only lifestyle

HUNDREDS of students showed off their stunning dance and drama skills to compete in Rock Challenge 2012 at Bournemouth's Pavilion. Competitors from 12 schools battled it out in front of an enthusiastic, sellout audience in a bid to win a place

POLICE are still appealing for witnesses to the A31 accident that claimed the life of Dorset dad and motorbike enthusiast David Bartholomew. Crash investigators want to speak to anyone who saw the collision between the Honda CBF 1000 motorcycle

Elderly games have a habit of rearing their wrinkly faces after spending years in a care home eating mushy peas and watching whimsical performances by school children. Kid Icarus is 25 years old which, in gaming terms, makes him eligible for

TWO contractors rushed to the aid of a pregnant woman when fire broke out in her Bournemouth home. Ricky Jacobs and Luke Sellwood removed fuses in the house in a bid to stop the fire spreading further. They also gave a T-shirt to a toddler

MICHAEL WILLIAM KITSON aged 19 of Avenue Road, Christchurch. Admitted driving a Citroen motor car on the A338 without due care and attention. Fined £100, victim surcharge £15, costs £35 and disqualified from driving for 28 days. GEORGE BARTHOLOMEW BROWN

STUART JAMES FISHER aged 44 of Connaught Crescent, Poole. Admitted driving a Volkswagen motor van on A338 Wessex Way in excess of 50 mph. Fined £400, victim surcharge £15, costs £35 and disqualified from driving for 21 days. PAUL GEORGE GOFTON aged 39

RICHARD RONALD HAWKSWORTH aged 28 of Rushton Crescent, Bournemouth. Proved in absence to driving a Volkswagen car whilst using a mobile phone. Fined £175, victim surcharge £15, costs £85 and licence endorsed with three points. Also proved in absence

Are you taking part in Sport Relief this year? Maybe it's John Bishop who inspired you. Perhaps it's Frank Skinner fighting his fear of water to swim across the deep end of a pool. Or maybe it's the work Sport Relief funds in the UK and abroad.

THE farmification of open public land in Bournemouth is such a disgrace. The council have taken over most of the public space to cattle grazing. Why has this been allowed to happen? This is not only happening in Bournemouth but all over the south

SO many times we hear of people not helping others when they are in trouble. We read. for example, stories of passers-by walking on the other side of the street to avoid going to the aid of a battered victim. We are told of folk not venturing into the

TOUCHING tributes have been paid to a much-loved man who died following a crash a short distance from his Southbourne home. Commercial estimator Robert Matthews, 33, was at the wheel of his silver Volkswagen Golf before the vehicle veered into

RE: New tent leaves me feeling blue (March 15, 2012, about Oakmead College’s new structure). My husband and I completely agree with Mr Darren Jones and his article about the above eyesore. It puts us in mind of an aircraft hangar. We are also in the

THIS is the 21st century isn’t it? Can someone explain to me why civil engineers are not prepared to work 24-hour, seven days a week to repair Tuckton Bridge in half the time scheduled? This is an essential crossing point of the River Stour. The queues

CLLR Ann Stribley’s letter of March 6 contained inaccurate statements. She wrote as chairman of the ‘Bridge Action Team’ (BAT) which has not been active for 14 years. In that time she seems to have forgotten that BAT was, in fact, highly political

RE your article in the Daily Echo about a person who lay undiscovered dead in a block of flats in Poole. This is the saddest story your paper has had for a long time. How such an event like this should have occurred leaves me speechless. What a resident

I AGREE with comments made (re Ice Rink project on hold) – Bournemouth Council make so much red tape that developers become disinterested in putting forward plans for anything. Yet, look at the surf reef. The money spent on that could have been used

DEVELOPERS battling to keep their £50million cinema and restaurant project alive have amended their plans to remove a strip of council-owned land. Bournemouth council tried to pull the plug on the West Central leisure scheme planned for

A SEMI-PROFESSIONAL footballer from Bournemouth has been jailed for 14 months after admitting an assault charge. Dorchester Town player Rico Wilson pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Sebastian McWilliams.

COMING soon to a seafront near you ... a blockbusting line-up for this year’s Bournemouth Air Festival was last night announced at a spectacular launch event. A thrilling twilight display just off Bournemouth Pier by the SWIP team twister duo

PLANS to include the Purple Haze quarry in Hampshire’s Minerals and Waste Plan have moved forward after a draft plan was sent to the Secretary of State. The council proposes to turn the 70-hectare site just outside Verwood which is linked

SKIPPER Chris Holder is backing new recruit Adrian Miedzinski to play a starring role in Pirates’ Elite League title defence. Miedzinski came to the party in style when he delivered the goods in the second leg of Poole Coastal Aluminium’s Elite Shield

MANAGER Tom Killick has described as “a major boost” the return of talisman Lamin Dibba for Poole Town’s Division One South & West run-in. Dibba, who has endured an injury-ravaged campaign, has been named in the Dolphins squad for tomorrow’s Tatnam tussle

ISOBEL Glaisher starred as the Dorset Schools girls squad finished second in their class in the English Schools’ Cross-Country Championships at Ilton. Glaisher, a St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury pupil, finished eighth in the intermediate girls

HOSTS Swanage and Wareham finished runners-up in both events of their under-14 sevens tournament. In the 10-team event Swanage entered as the Vikings and Saxons. Vikings came second to Bridport A in the plate competition, while Saxons were runners-up

REIGNING mini champions Wimborne under-12s will defend their Dorset & Wilts title at Devizes next month. The Leigh Park youngsters qualified for the round robin competition by winning their Dorset decider 7-0 against Dorchester. Max Hewson opened the

GRANGE Athletic’s under-9s claimed the BYFL league championship after downing title rivals Twynham Rangers. Both sides had been neck-and-neck all season, but it was Grange who claimed the honours thanks to goals from Ben Howe and Josh Haynes. Grange

KARTING double act Jessica Hawkins and Macaulay Austin have made winning starts for their newly-formed Ferndown-based team. The teenage Super KF3 drivers won club championship races in their new Dino DR50 karts at Buckmore Park (Kent) and Clay Pigeon

RISING netball star Ashleigh Stock is hoping her hard work – both on the court and in the classroom – can help her fulfil her international ambitions. The Bournemouth teenager played a part as England under-17s claimed European Championship glory by

BOURNEMOUTH chief David Dunn insists his men possess the firepower to successfully pursue their place in the local rugby record books. Dunn is adamant Lions have nothing to fear as they bid to take a giant leap towards elevation to the fourth

POOLE Town vice-chairman Chris Reeves has called for “common sense” from the FA ahead of the club’s imminent second ground grading inspection. The club’s Tatnam headquarters needs to achieve the Football Association’s ‘D grade’ by the end of March for

A NEW Cherries fans’ forum is set to launch on the Daily Echo website next week. The online meeting place for Echo readers will allow supporters to discuss goings-on at the club, on and off the field, and is intended to bridge the gap while

POPPIES’ FA Vase hero Jon Blake was last night set to complete a move to Southern League neighbours Wimborne Town. The midfielder is expected to go straight into the Magpies squad for tomorrow’s Division One South & West trip to Cinderford. Poppies

BOSS Adie Arnold believes Cowes Sports could pose the stiffest test to title-chasing Verwood Town during their Wessex One run-in. The Potters, seven points clear at the summit, will be looking to take another step towards promotion when they head to

STRIKER Russell Cook appears to have conceded defeat in his bid to cut it in the Southern League after returning to Wessex Premier Christchurch. Cook, a product of the Priory youth ranks, had spells with both Poole and Wimborne at a higher level but

SKIPPER Scott Arnold has challenged his Wimborne Town team-mates to eclipse last season’s finishing position. A three-match unbeaten run, including back-to-back wins, has lifted Magpies clear of relegation trouble in Division One South & West. Wimborne

DAVID Dunn admits he has been left with a major selection headache because of the “awesome work” of the club’s medical team. Led by head physio Andy Curtis, the Chapel Gate backroom staff have managed to provide Dunn with a virtually fully-fit squad

SWANAGE & Wareham will have to overcome the power of Maidenhead if they are to enhance their South West One East record. Lowly Swans face the daunting prospect of a trip to Berkshire to lock horns with the division’s leaders tomorrow. Maidenhead have

BEN Neilson bagged a hat-trick as Poole Town Wessex under-13s finished their season as runners-up in Division One of the Dorset League. Poole completed their fixtures with a 4-2 win over Weymouth Cougars. Despite conceding two early goals, Poole hit

HAT-TRICK hero Rhys Honeybun led Canford Heathlands under-9s to a 6-3 win over Dorset Mini rivals Parkstone Heights at Baden Powell School. It was the hosts, however, who took the lead on six minutes when Max Churchill latched on to a Kieran Evans pass

BOURNEMOUTH-based Miles Lee-Hargreaves has secured his place in the British team for a third successive year. The 16-year-old has been selected for the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in Panama next month. Miles puts his success down to a rigorous