Dorset · Local news you can trust
Leweston School near Sherborne has closed for good at half term. Every pupil has been offered a place at an Inspired Learning Group school from 2 November.
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Food & Drink
Afternoon Tea in Dorset: Where to Book
Afternoon tea in Dorset costs about £20 to £36 a head at the nine places here, from Sherborne Abbey to Lyme Regis, with notice and deposits, checked October 2026.
Days out
Days Out in Dorset With Children, Checked October 2026
Dorset days out with children that stay open this winter: Tank Museum, Monkey World, Corfe Castle and 10 more, with prices, under-5s rules and closed dates.
What's On
Kimmeridge Bay: £6 Toll, Snorkel Trail and Range Walk Dates
Kimmeridge Bay costs £6 a car on the private toll road, card only, 8am to dusk. The Wild Seas Centre shuts 2 Nov; the Etches museum stays open. Dogs welcome.
Sherborne
Sherborne Library Now Open 8am to 8pm, Six Days a Week
Sherborne Library members aged 16 and over can now let themselves in from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, against 30 staffed hours before. How to sign up.
Weymouth
Littlemoor and Broadwey £20m Plan: Draft Shown 29 October
The draft 10-year plan for up to £2m a year in Littlemoor and Broadwey goes to residents on 29 October. Safety, cleaner streets and youth activities top the list.
Jobs
Dorset Claimant Count 4,920: Over-50s Up 11.5% in a Year
4,920 people in the Dorset Council area claimed out-of-work benefits in September, 195 more than a year ago. Over-50s rose by 150, the biggest jump of any age group.
Tolpuddle
Tolpuddle Old Chapel: Free Brent Shore Talk, Wed 4 November
Tolpuddle novelist Brent Shore talks on his trilogy, from Peterloo to the Great War, at the Old Chapel at 7.30pm on 4 November. Entry free, donations shared.
Dorchester
Poundbury Mental Elf Fun Run: £12 Entry Until 13 November
Dorset Mind's first festive 5K is at The Great Field, Poundbury, at noon on Sunday 13 December. Walk, jog or run; Early Elf tickets £12 adults, £5 children.
Crime
Weymouth Vehicle Fire Appeal: Dorchester Road, 19 October
Police believe a vehicle fire in Dorchester Road, Redlands, at about 1.50am on 19 October was suspicious and want witnesses and dashcam footage. Quote 55260163602.
Crime
Dorset Crime Figures: Down 9.8%, Home Burglaries Edge Up
Recorded crime in the Dorset Council area fell 9.8% to 19,274 in the year to June. Home burglaries rose slightly, unlike the force-wide fall police reported.
Wildlife
SEA LIFE Weymouth Turtle Crush Tracked 890km Since Release
Crush, the loggerhead turtle cared for at SEA LIFE Weymouth, has swum more than 890km since her release off the Azores in September, her satellite tag shows.
Playgrounds
Dorset Playgrounds and Parks for Children
Dorset playgrounds from Moors Valley to Lyme Regis: ages, fencing, toilets, parking charges and dog rules for 14 play parks, checked 27 October 2026.
Dorset Council covers everything the Bournemouth conurbation does not, which is a very large and very rural authority with no single town at the middle of it. Dorchester is the county town and where the council is based. Weymouth is the largest place. Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Gillingham and Sturminster Newton are up in the north around the Blackmore Vale, Bridport and Lyme Regis are out west, Blandford Forum sits in the middle, and Wimborne, Ferndown, Verwood and Swanage are east and south.
The Dorset Post reports what the record shows across all of it. One council makes the decisions on planning, bins, parking and council tax for the lot, and publishes the evidence where hardly anybody reads it. We read it and write down what it says, with a link to the document on every fact.
Every fact is linked to the document it came from.