BBC Dorset

Work has begun to rewet areas of peat habitat on a nature reserve to improve water quality and support a wider diversity of wildlife.Dorset Wildlife Trust is carrying out the work at Tadnoll and Winfrith Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which had historically been drained for agriculture.The project builds on work at Wild Woodbury in Bere Regis and the restoration of the River Sherford headwaters.The Wild Woodbury project has already helped support populations of lapwings, snipe, frogs,…

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A Dorset based firm has said it has been "really fun" to be a part of a project which sees it transform waste plastic from the Wembley Stadium pitch and turn it into benches for grassroots football clubs.Ben Gibbons, is co-founder of Circular 11, based in Christchurch, which has been running its recycling business for four years.He said it takes hard to recycle mixed plastics, like those found under the pitch at Wembley, and use it to make…

Ros TappendenSouth of EnglandBBCThe Stewart family has been in the nursery business for nearly three centuriesIt has been 70 years since Edward Stewart, founder of Stewarts Garden Centres, opened a shed at his nursery, selling potted plants and garden supplies.The site in Ferndown, Dorset, is believed to be the UK's first garden centre, revolutionising horticulture and making gardening accessible to the masses.He had the idea while in the USA - as well as being a plantsman, he was…

Ros TappendenSouth of EnglandCouncillor Craig MonksThe burnt-out car was removed by Dorset Council contractors on TuesdayBroadband has been restored to a town more than four days after a car crash knocked out services to about 1,000 customers.Homes and businesses in Beaminster, Dorset, lost their internet service on Sunday when a car crashed into a telegraph pole and burst into flames.Openreach said engineers worked through the night to restore services, describing the repairs as "complex".The company said they would…

A council has rejected a revised plan for a solar farm despite changes to the design and local support.The application for the 43-acre (17.6 hectares) site at Cruxton, south of Maiden Newton, followed a previous appeal dismissed by the Secretary of State in 2022.Developers Enviromena had reduced the scheme's capacity from 11.8 megawatts to 10 megawatts - still enough to power more than 5,000 homes - the equivalent to 3% of Dorset's households or a town the size…

Jack EmeryThe cows have been eating winter silage instead of grazing because of the dry summerA young dairy farmer says his industry is facing a double hit after a sudden drop in milk prices, on the back of an exceptionally dry summer.Jack Emery, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, said the cut of 6p a litre to farmers is equivalent to £9,000 a month for his family's business.He said the farm had been using winter silage to feed cows in the…