Oliver Letwin MP

It is often said that rural communities are “isolated”.  I would be very glad to have a pound for every time I have read some official publication or some worthy report from a think tank or academic institution that refers to “isolated rural communities”.

Of course, anyone can see why this cliché has arisen.

If you start [...]

The wonders of modern technology will never cease.

I know this for a fact – but, like many other people, I still experience shocks from time to time, when I discover anew just how viral the properties of the internet can be.

Last week, I met somebody in London who told me that they had seen a [...]

At the risk of appearing to have a fixation about one particular spot in the town of Beaminster, I want – for the third week in a row – to draw attention to something that is happening at Yarn Barton.

This week, in contrast to the previous two, the item I have in mind is not [...]

I was absolutely delighted to hear last week that that Yarnbarton Centre in Beaminster is now back in use. 

This initiative on the part of the Town Council and a large number of volunteers is a splendid example of a community getting together to improve its quality of life through collaborative effort.

I gather that the Centre [...]

I don’t know how many readers of this column are old enough to recall the programme Twenty Questions.

Those who, like me, are sufficiently long in the tooth will recall that the contestants were required to identify an item about which they could ask twenty questions. Most famously, the contestants were permitted to enquire whether the [...]

There is a rather wonderful short story by H H Munro (otherwise known as Saki) in which the narrator observes that the island of Crete has had more history than it can consume locally.

I have to admit that I felt rather the same way about the UK in the last 10 days.

It all began with [...]

With so much discussion about the parlous state of the public finances and the need for reductions to get the Exchequer’s books back into good order, it is easy to imagine that there is no money left for any good cause.

But the truth is, of course, that – notwithstanding the austerity programme – the Government [...]

I have written before in this column about the First Dorset Credit Union coming to Bridport – but, on the grounds that you can’t have too much of a good thing, I hope that readers will forgive me if I raise this subject again.

I understand the Credit Union will be launching its new branch in [...]

There is nobody in England more in need or more deserving of support than those who suffer from learning disabilities.

There is, of course, considerable acknowledgement of this fact both in our benefits system and in our social services. 

I was very glad to see the decision by Dorset County Council to give priority to institutions like [...]

Reading last week’s Bridport News, I was struck by one theme that runs through the whole paper.

Page 3 contained a report about a local lunch for charity volunteers.

Page 5 had one article on fund raisers for Comic Relief – and another on Master Chef, Mat Follas’s admirable endeavours to raise £75,000 for earthquake victims in [...]