Features & interviews from the magazine

November 2024 A name on the Walditch war memorial is associated with the first Victoria Cross (VC) awarded in World War II – and what is more, this happened partly on the recommendation of the captain of a German warship. Robin Stapleton tells the story… William Fletcher was a petty officer stoker on the 1,340-ton…

October 2024 Andrew Ziminski is a stonemason and the author of two books about British buildings. He’ll be talking about the second of those, Church Going, at Bridport Arts Centre on Thursday 7 November at 10am (BridLit Event 23). We caught up with Andrew ahead of his illustrated talk to discover more about his fascinating…

October 2024 Autumn is coming, and Steve Meek is looking back on a successful year at Bridport Community Allotment. Despite some challenging weather conditions in the spring and summer, the enthusiastic team of gardeners there have harvested beans, salad leaves, beetroot, turnips, courgettes, cucumbers, potatoes, garlic, onions, sweetcorn, tomatoes, melons, blackcurrants and more. The list…

September 2024 Earlier this year Cllr Anne Rickard was elected mayor of Bridport for the second time, and confirmed at the ‘mayor making’ ceremony in June. Now she has settled into her role, we got together with Anne to hear about her interesting life and her hopes for the year ahead… The Bridge: Anne, you’ve…

September 2024 During September the Parish of Bridport is taking a look at its use of single-use plastic. Plastics have been around for only 60–70 years and have transformed our lives. Light, durable, versatile and cheap to produce, plastic is all around us. It’s in the products we use, the clothes we wear, wrapped around…

July/August 2024 This year’s Melplash Show President is Martin Cox, whose ‘day job’ is running West Dorset Leisure Holidays (WDLH) from its flagship holiday park, Highlands End. We caught up with Martin at the park on the cusp of the busy holiday season and with the area’s favourite agricultural show on the horizon… The Bridge:…

June 2024 Nick Goldsmith is the founder of The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares, the Bridport charity that encourages children to explore their creativity through writing. We met Nick at his office in the LSi to discover more about the exciting work of ‘The Bank’, and what led him to set it up in the…

June 2024 As we look forward to the Bridport Food Festival this month, we take a look at one of the organisations working to secure food security for the town now and for years to come… Bridport Food Matters (BFM) will have a yurt in the middle of this year’s Bridport Food Festival, creating a…

May 2024 Sometimes, building projects can have unexpected advantages. This was the case in 2000 when Churchill Retirement Living wanted to build retirement properties next to Mountfield. Our story begins in 1786, when William Downe purchased land on the southern slope of Coneygar Hill to the north of Bridport and built himself a fine house…

May 2024 Harmony has been a vital part of Bridport’s wellbeing support network for almost a decade, providing group sessions and individual care for anyone who needs help with their mental health. Harmony provides mental health support in two main ways. The daytime drop-in sessions offer a safe, social space for anyone who needs it,…