From Thatcher’s press pack to Strictly’s dance floor – ahead of his visit to Sturminster Newton, John Sergeant shares shocking biscuit news
John Sergeant
Few
Among the worst-served areas for rural transport, a House of Commons inquiry hears that failing bus networks are widening social inequality.
Rural Bus stop
For
BT’s switch from analogue to digital has left one elderly Wincanton couple without a landline during medical emergency
In January, 77-year-old Kate Nutbeam received
From farm accidents to heart attacks … here are the stories of some of the many people who owe everything to the ‘hospital
Newly opened at Sturminster Newton, the Vale Family Hub offers vital community support for North Dorset residents
The new Vale Family Hub for North
While delivering humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Eddy Scott from Shaftesbury suffered major injuries during a drone attack
Image © Fermín Torrano
‘It’s the people that
New issue of The BV
March issue is HERE!
In a remarkable interview, Rachael Rowe spoke to Eddy Scott in Kyiv about his...
Your Community, Your Stories
The BV magazine – our home is in the Blackmore Vale, our heart is rural Dorset
A binding narrative
Peter Wiltshire learned the art of hand bookbinding from his father. Now, he’s restoring literary treasures in his own Dorset workshopPeter Wiltshire gently lifts...
The Donald in Wonderland
Gary Jackson
North Dorset Liberal DemocratsEvents were moving very fast the first weekend of March as the diplomatic bromance between PM Starmer and President Trump...
Wessex Group raises £5,000 for Marie Curie
Wessex Group has donated £5,000 to Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end-of-life charity, following a year of dedicated fundraising efforts. Each year, employees of...
Why is Dorset’s culture a competition?
The Grumbler – the open opinion column in The BV. It’s a space for anyone to share their thoughts freely. While the editor will...
The woman who built a museum
In recognition of International Women’s Day, it feels fitting to look back this month at MED’s founder – Hilda Coles was a woman ahead...
Spetisbury | Then & Now
Step back in time with our ‘Then and Now’ feature, where vintage postcards from the Barry Cuff Collection meet modern-day reality. Explore the past...
Fontmell Magna | POSTCARDS FROM A DORSET COLLECTION
This month Barry Cuff has chosen two postcards sent from Fontmell Magna, by the same person and to the same person, sent just a...
Weddings: then, now and back again
From parish churches to country barns – have modern weddings come full circle to their historic roots?Today, we think of a ‘traditional’ wedding as...
Out of the Archive – the Blackmore Vale Motorcycle Club
Following the profile of Blackmore Vale Motorcycle Club last month (Revving through history, The BV Jan 25), Francis Custard has kindly given The BV...
Love in triangles – the Bloomsbury set in Dorset
Dorothy Parker famously said of the Bloomsbury Group that “they painted in circles, lived in squares, and loved in triangles.” While this group of...
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HR Officer | Milton Abbey School
Start: April 2025We are seeking to appoint an HR Officer who has the...
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Museum Collections and Experience Manager | Museum of East Dorset
Wimborne£28,000 - £30,000 a year - Full-timeMonday to FridayWeekend...
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Learning Mentor required by Future Roots
Based in rural West Dorset, Future Roots is a...
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Head Housekeeper required | PLUMBER MANOR Hotel at Sturminster Newton
PLUMBER MANOR hotel at Sturminster Newton requires a Head...
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FULL TIME BAR PERSON | Plumber Manor Hotel Sturminster Newton
Plumber Manor (hotel and restaurant) at Sturminster Newton is...
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Various roles at Milton Abbey School Dorset
Milton Abbey School offers a unique educational environment set...
Death Announcements
Blackmore Vale magazine death notices
Norman Holt
13.07.31 - 31.12.24Peacefully at his home on 31st December...
Blackmore Vale magazine death notices
PETER BRADLEY
Passed away peacefully at home after a short illness...
Blackmore Vale magazine death notices
MARIANNE JANE PARNIER
Aged 86 years, sadly passed away peacefully on the...
Blackmore Vale magazine death notices
Michael Paul Turmris
23rd April 1947 - 12th November 2024Much loved husband,...
The Random 19 Questions
Author Minette Walters takes on the Random 19 questions
Minette Walters’ first full-length crime novel, The Ice House, was published in 1992. It took two and a half years to write and was...
The Random 19 with writer Louisa Adjoa Parker
Louisa Adjoa Parker is a writer and poet of English - Ghanaian heritage who lives in Dorset. Louisa hasbeen highly commended by the Forward...
The Random 19 with world-famous novelist Tracy Chevalier.
Tracy Chevalier FRSL is an author of 10 novels, perhaps best known for the international bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring, a timeless modern...
The BV magazine is a monthly digital publication which launched in August 2020, and it is in no way connected with the original, much-loved Blackmore Vale Magazine (owned by Reach PLC, and which ceased publication early the same year), nor with any other, more recently launched printed publication with a similar name. Never the free paper you pick up from the floor of the petrol station, The BV is the half hour read you spend a weekend coffee with.
Dorset Island Discs
When every day is a fantastic day
Nick Heyward looks back on rough school days, dreaming of stardom, David Bowie, naming Haircut 100 … and the joy of reading in the...
Dorset Food & Drink
Dorset Farming
Dorset Cultivation Event Returns in 2025 – The Ultimate Live Action Machinery Show
The Dorset Cultivation Event is set to be the...
Farming’s future needs more than a freebie
Andrew Livingston says LAMMA revealed more than just the...
Frustrations grow with flawed flood plans
George Hosford on beavers, bureaucracy … and Ronnie, the...
Dorset Farming
Beef is beef. Except when it neighs.
A decade after the horsemeat scandal, how have we ended up in a place with more risks than ever to our food, asks Andrew...
Dorset Wildlife
Is it wildlife vs. development?
Imogen Davenport, Dorset Wildlife Trust’s director of nature-based solutions,...
Troglodytes troglodyte – the king of the birds
Wildlife writer Jane Adams greets one of the UK’s...
Graveyards: an excuse for weeds or a space that nature needs?
Rachael Rowe investigates how Dorset’s living legacy of churchyards...
Troglodytes troglodyte – the king of the birds
Wildlife writer Jane Adams greets one of the UK’s feistiest, loudest and most industrious birds as he survives winter before building a haremI’m filling...
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Recent stories
Don't miss the Dorset walks...
Dorset Walks
Hardy Monument walk with big views | 10.5 miles
This day's walk (we took more than four hours,...
Dorset Walks
Win Green to Tollard Royal Circular – 8.5 miles. | Dorset Walks
Win Green Down, the highest point of the Cranborne...
Dorset Walks
Cow Down Hill to the Salisbury Spire Spot
Gorgeous, simple route, with a perfect lunch spot half...
Dorset Walks
Easy Witchampton Circular | 10.3 miles
Easy walking on wide tracks through open farmland between...