A new project aimed at protecting Dorset’s historic hillforts has been unveiled by The National Trust. Margery Hookings finds out more. I’m lucky enough to live not far from the lower slopes of Lewesdon Hill in the west of Dorset. Read more »
West Bay has undergone massive changes in recent years, as Margery Hookings discovers. Almost eight years ago, I was asked to be a part of the Windrose Media Trust’s Forever Archive, a series of films capturing life in West Read more »
Delving into family history has proved a rich seam for Margery Hookings. Her DNA experience confirmed what she already thought, but it was a message out of the blue which proved the most exciting. I’ve been indulging myself while Read more »
This year, Bridport Folk Dance Club celebrated its one-hundredth birthday. Monty Crook and Gwenda Selley take Margery Hookings through the minute books from the club’s formation to the thriving group it is today. It was Sir Thomas Beecham who Read more »
Anna Golding went from being a landscape architect to a community dance teacher. Margery Hookings meets her to find out more. Photographs by Pete Millson The joy of dance is everywhere.Whether you’re glued to Strictly, learning to tango at Read more »
Why is that some locations have a special place in our hearts? Is it the landscape, the people, the personal connection or the way some places can literally ground you to the here and now and also to the past Read more »
In 1882, legislation was started to enable Somerset County Council to acquire land for smallholdings. But it was not until the passing of the Smallholdings and Allotments Act of 1908 that Somerset began to create a smallholdings estate. Margery Hookings’ Read more »
Margery Hookings is intrigued after receiving a phone call about an innovative project aimed at combating loneliness. She goes to East Devon to find out more. The wonderful sweet smell of waffles is the first thing your senses pick up Read more »
A large group of us is sitting around a big table at Marsh Barn, on the outskirts of West Bay towards Burton Bradstock. I’ve been here before, to learn about family history with local expert Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard. I’ve done a Read more »
Margery Hookings makes some musical connections when she discovers the raucous singing past of her local pub, The White Lion at Broadwindsor. When folksinger and folklorist Nick Dow visited West Dorset with his wife in the late 1980s, it Read more »