at Charter Fair

Society, Shiraz, and Rough Assembly, all performing in Bucky Doo Square.

At Mountfield there will be performances by Trumbonium, Local Vocal, Wyld Morris Dancers, Bridport Young Performers, Bridport Musical Theatre, Phoenix Youth Band and Bridport’s Ukrainian Choir. There will be more than 40 community stalls at Mountfield and a children’s play area, organised by the young performers and featuring artist Jo Burlington of OOPSWOW! fame plus Rex the friendly dinosaur. A bar will be provided by the Jurassic Fields Festival and refreshments by Brit Valley Rotary Club.

The Bridport Community n The Local Vocals buskers raised £344 for the Disasters Emergency Committee earthquake appeal for Turkey and Syria performing in Dorchester. To join the group email Lesley Whatley at lesley@whatfish.plus.com n Weymouth Town Council’s Finance and Governance Committee have approved three grants worth £5,700. God’s Green Fingers (GGF), at Tumbledown Farm, won £500 to create and develop more growing space to provide 50% more healthy, natural food and flowers to local food banks and distributors to vulnerable people, and to buy seating for their quiet space to enable people to sit and enjoy their surroundings. Weymouth Food Bank was awarded £2,700 to buy fresh fruit and vegetables for six months. Dentaid (The Dental Charity) won £2,500 towards providing oral healthcare and advice in Weymouth next year, with the mobile dental unit based at The Lantern Trust. To apply for grants, go to weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk

Charter Fair is now a partnership between The Charter Fair, Bridport Town Council, Bridport Community Fair, and the international Love Your Local Market group and ‘seeks to reflect the diverse creativity, passions and pastimes of the Bridport community, with all ages and interests welcomed and encouraged to take part’. A new monthly event, Bridport Colour Walk, will be launched on the same day as the fair – a gathering of creative people who love colour and dressing up. There are no rules – the more colours the better. This will be held on the third Saturday of every month from May to September.

Portland Port welcomed a record 5,000 passengers in the first cruise call at its newly developed deep-water berth. The MSC Virtuosa has brought the greatest number of guests of any single vessel visiting the port so far. She is the first cruise ship to use the port’s new berth, part of a £26m redevelopment project to boost capacity. Passengers took buses into Weymouth and the local area during the 12-hour stop over. The guests are among a record 130,000 visiting Portland on cruise ships this year.

Schools reunion for pupils from the 80s

A group of 50-year-olds who attended Castlefield and Thomas Hardye schools in Dorchester in the 80s marked their half centuries with a reunion. The group, some of whom travelled miles to attend, met up in the Junction before enjoying a 70s and 80s themed disco at the Colliton Club.

Among them were Leon Brown and Louise Greenwood (nee Hadfield), who were both born in the old maternity hospital in Dorchester, Somerleigh Court on May 5, 1973. Their mums met while on the ward and became best friends, and Leon and Louise have stayed firm friends ever since.

It’s a Giant step for the AA

The AA has named its top five walking routes across the country and west Dorset is on the list.

A 5.5-mile walk around the Cerne Valley, taking about two-and-a-half hours, was among the places listed. According to the AA’s 50 Walks in Dorset walking guide: “The chalk outline of the Cerne Abbas Giant is so familiar that the reality, seen from the hillside opposite rather than above from the air, is a surprise. His proportions change at this shallower angle, and this of course is how he was designed to be seen.”