JANUARY

  • A soldier crawled three-quarters of a mile along the coast with a broken leg. Tim Robinson, 54, told how he slipped on a rock on the beach under Golden Cap. He hauled himself along the beach and over mudslides by making walking sticks out of driftwood, eventually finding his wife Paula, the Lyme Regis RNLI crew and West Bay coastguard. Mr Robinson, a full-time member of the TA, was taken to Dorset County Hospital for treatment.
  • Volunteers stepped in to make Bridport Youth Centre become the ‘go-to place’ for young people in the town. A campaign, backed by the Bridport News, was launched to stop the centre from closing after Dorset County Council withdrew funding and a trust was formed to ensure it could stay open and be a success.
  • The brave men who died in a devastating attack in Lyme Bay were remembered more than 100 years on. Bob Hudson travelled from his home in Spain to lay a wreath over the site of the wreck to honour his uncle William Dingwall, one of the men killed when the Royal Navy battleship HMS Formidable was sunk after being torpedoed by a German U-Boat on New Year’s Day, 1915.
  • Crowds gathered in Bridport to call on Donald Trump to ‘build bridges, not walls’, as he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. More than 70 protestors congregated on East Street bridge to ‘show solidarity’ against the new president.

FEBRUARY

  • Dog owners were warned after a case of the deadly disease Alabama Rot was confirmed in West Dorset. A dog died after being walked in both West Chalborough and Ryme Intrinsica.
  • A meeting heard the future of Bridport Carnival was in jeopardy due to safety reasons. Dozens of people, including business owners and the town council, said not holding the event would be a ‘real loss’ to the town. It went ahead in the summer thanks to the hard work of the committee.
  • It was announced that work to improve a ‘dangerous’ junction on the A35 would go ahead. Ten weeks of improvements costing £560,000 at Hunters Lodge junction near Lyme Regis were given the go-ahead.
  • Friends of blind writer Trish Vickers made a plea for her book to be published. The story of her ‘disappearing novel’ went worldwide after appearing in the Bridport News in 2012. Police forensic experts helped retrieve the novel she had written without realising her pen had run out of ink. With her health failing, Trish’s friends made a plea to have it published as a last wish. Offers flooded in and the book was published but Trish sadly died as it was being delivered.

MARCH

  • Parents demanded action on road safety after a boy was hit by a car while walking to school. Dawn Hughes campaigned for a pedestrian crossing on Clay Lane in Beaminster. Her son was taken to hospital after the collision.
  • Headteacher of Mountjoy Jackie Shanks put her running shoes on to raise funds for her school and Cancer Research. She ran 100 half marathons and a full marathon in as many days – equivalent to 1,323.1 miles, or the distance from Dorset to Romania. She said the children at her school inspired her to complete the endurance challenge.
  • Youngsters got to try out equipment as part of plans to provide accessible facilities at a proposed skatepark redevelopment. Bridport Young Persons Action Trust teamed up with the town council to make recreational facilities in the town accessible to all.
  • It was announced that South Street in Bridport could be closed to traffic in a trial costing taxpayers up to £50,000. The idea was branded ‘ridiculous’ at a packed town hall meeting and a consultation was planned.

APRIL

  • A project that will ‘inspire people to explore West Bay’ received a share of £13m government funding to regenerate coastal areas. The former West Bay Methodist Church was set to be transformed into the West Bay Discovery Centre, and was handed a £240,000 grant from the government.
  • A family whose pet goats were stolen were safely returned to their family four months on. Shelley and Ben Lancaster got a ‘wonderful surprise’ when their three pet goats were found roaming in Tarrant Keyneston, 40 miles away from where they’d been stolen in Beaminster.
  • The world mourned the loss of the historic, Grade I listed Parnham House in Beaminster. Firefighters spent hours battling the blaze but sadly, not much survived. Former owner and furniture designer John Makepeace said he had been contacted from former students from all around the world who spoke of their shock and loss.
  • Developers submitted plans to build 760 homes, a care home, employment land and a new school at Vearse Farm in Symondsbury. Hallams Land Management moved to address concerns over flooding and A35 road safety.