Oliver Letwin MP

I notice that a new Waitrose has opened at Poundbury, bringing some much needed additional employment. 

This is of course only a small part of the enterprises that have been attracted to West Dorset by the development at Poundbury.

I know that people have differing views about the architecture of the new Poundbury development – though I [...]

Tomorrow is, of course, Remembrance Sunday.

Each of us will have our own thoughts and memories – for some, intensely direct and poignant; for others, more general and less poignant.

As I sit in my car at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, listening to the striking of Big Ben on Radio [...]

Where on dry land does one find boats?

At least one of the answers to this question is that boats are found on dry land when they are BOATs – otherwise known as byways open to all traffic.

In ordinary English, a BOAT is a green lane or drove or bridleway in the countryside that is discovered [...]

Have you ever thought of sharing your home?

This question came up at a meeting I attended in Dorchester recently.

The idea sounds odd at first – but it’s actually very interesting. The suggestion is that there may well be people who, for one reason or another, are alone in their homes, have some spare room, and [...]

What is the single most pressing issue for the inhabitants of West Dorset at the moment?

Finding or keeping a job? Making ends meet in the household budget? Finding a suitable path into adult life for the children? Dealing with ill health and old age?

To judge by what people put my way, each of these has [...]

I remember being told, as a child, that people who reached the age of 100 were sent a telegram by the Queen. At the time, this seemed perfectly natural to me. Viewed from the perspective of a seven or eight year old, a century was an unimaginably long period – and the very idea that [...]

The Dorford Centre at Top o’ Town in Dorchester provides an admirable home for many worthy meetings. I have lost count of the number of times I have found myself there over the years discussing a wide range of topics of local concern.

The size of the gathering varies considerably, depending on the topic under consideration [...]

Dorchester is, of course, a treasure-store of many kinds.  I never fail to be amazed by what one can find as one goes around this remarkable county town.

Much of the treasure to be found is entrepreneurial in character.  We are blessed with an extraordinary range of little shops, businesses and voluntary groups, each with a [...]

I remember some years ago a rather hilarious correspondence with a government agency on behalf of constituents who were being asked to tag a bison at birth – on the grounds that bison are bovine and the rules require bovine animals (whether cows or bison or otherwise) to be tagged at birth.

In that particular case, [...]

It is amazing what you find in Dorchester.

This week, I went to visit a charming couple who told me about both their business and their contribution to the Big Society.  Each was as interesting as the other.

Their business delivers hot meals on wheels to a large number of elderly people in the Bournemouth area.

Listening to [...]