State education is 150 years old but it was not universally welcome • Dorchester’s old schools remembered • Christopher Robin at 100 – the sad boy whose famous father didn’t like children • Tomatoes, birds and wasps: How to turn your tomatoes from green to red; Where have all the garden birds gone? Bee nice to wasps, the gardeners’ friend.

We take a hard look at vehicle insurance; too complicated…is that why most people don’t read the small print? • Scams revealed: rip off premiums, fake policy documents and “ghost insurance brokers” take motorists for a ride. • Are you insured for that drive to work and car business use? • Two readings – from vet Malcolm Welshman’s new book and the first chapter from a thriller by a Weymouth author. • Radio Postcard from Croatia – a visit remembered…

With the brake on overseas travel, we have “radio postcards” with past reports from Venice, Sicily and Gibraltar…happy memories • What links an outbreak of bubonic plague in Mongolia, the Black Death’s arrival in Wyke Regis and the Weymouth creator of nasty smells? • Also hints on summer bloomers from our gardening expert. Presented by John Shepherd and Andy Venton

Best-selling author Minette Walters sets the scene for a children’s writing comp to aid Julia’s House. • The story of the last woman to be hanged at Dorchester prison. • The Dam busters – two family connections and Chesil’s part in the historic raid on Nazi Germany • Weymouth’s business community is doing well despite… •
Gardening expert Ruth Hayes gives advice on clematis. • Facts and figures about Dorchester’s employed denied Government financial aid • The story about carrots helping you see in the dark…

Eleven hundred people in work in Weymouth and Portland are not receiving full Government assistance – worse nearly 800 may be receiving nothing. We talk to Excluded UK which is lobbying for action • One size does not fit all. Bespoke facemasks made to order by an enterprising lady in Broadwey • From washer-up to running one of the world’s finest hotels – the boy that became boss of the Grosvenor House hotel who once had to serve the Duke of Edinburgh seconds from the food waste bin! • Weymouth Harbourside pedestrianisation is not welcome by many. And in this connection, …

A hint that Weymouth may get a new ferry service to the Channel Islands. We talk to a Weymouth councillor who is leading initial investigations • When a dog is lost, is there an organisation which the owner can turn to for help. The answer is Yes! • Ruth Hayes brings us more gardening tips and retired vet Malcolm Welshman reads an extract from his new book • We wander down Memory Lane with Red Star Parcels…

The horrors behind dognapping and links to organised crime • All change at the dentist’s and a gruesome history of dentistry • Weeding your garden – we have tips • Weymouth lockdown charity wins nearly £10,000 funding • History of musical instruments continues with the organ • Comment: whatever happened to commonsense? • Down memory lane reprises the 50’s…

The Weymouth Military Weekend has been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, along with most of the usual annual D-Day commemoration ceremonies across the UK and a much reduced attendance at the Normandy beaches. To keep the memory alive we broadcast again an edition of Ridgeway Magazine from 2019 which commemorated the 75th annisversay of D-Day when John Shepherd visited the Normandy landings grounds in the company of historian Andrew Roberts and Lord Dannat, former chief of the Army General Staff. We also heard about the heroic role of the Dorset Regiment and an example of a piece …

Weymouth fishing fleet are doing better than a recent report suggests – we tell more • Stressed out by lockdown? A psychotherapist suggests thinking “inside the box” to achieve peace of mind • Who “laughed all the way to the bank?” And what does it have to do with our history of the piano? • TV antiques expert Paul Atterbury talks about his hopes for the autumn Dorchester Literary Festival • Plus Pet Patter with Malcolm and gardening tips with Ruth. Presented by John Shepherd and Andy Venton

This edition was broadcast near the 75th anniversary of VE Day on 8th May 2020. Whilst Europe celebrated victory the Channel Islands had to wait two more days. We explain why • Lassie the Wonder Dog and film star is 80 years old. There was another famous Lassie closer to home – in Lyme Regis – and David Tucker tells the story • Our gardening expert Ruth Hayes talks at length about lawns and their care • Historian Jane Tapley tells us about the history of knives, forks and spoons • We begin a new series about the origin of …

Today: Advice from the RAC when your car is laid up for a long time • Growing from seed with Ruth Hayes our gardening expert • Weymouth Town Clerk tells us how the one year old council is doing • Poems and memories from three famous voices. Presented by John Shepherd and Andy Venton…

In this edition: Gardening tips from our gardening expert Ruth Hayes • Jane Biscombe, Weymouth Town Clerk, tells us about a scheme in association with Weymouth Churches Together to help those in need receive necessities during the lockdown • What has happened to typewriters? They may have disappeared but you can still buy ribbons for them • Rather indelicately we talk about toilet paper, its history and the 3 P principal • From the archives we hear from Judy Murray, mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie • Do you talk to your pets? You should says our tame vet …

In this edition: A warning about coronavirus-related scams • a chat with Lord Julian Fellowes • and an extended interview with Martyn Underhill, outgoing (in 2021) Police & Crime Commissioner for Dorset. Presented by John Shepherd and Andy Venton

Weymouth is looking to appoint a town crier and Alistair Chisholm provides some tips and the history of town crying • Our gardening expert Ruth Hayes gives more gardening advice • In Pet Patter our tame vet Malcolm Welshman’s subject is…rats! • There can be danger in your gaming console causing misery as hackers steal your personal information. A cyber security expert tells more • According to Which? magazine two thirds of products bought on some online shopping site are unsafe, unreliable or plain illegal. Dorset Trading Standards explain and advise…

One in five people going abroad do not take out travel insurance. We talk to the researcher and give some prices for treatment – could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds! • The Campervan was introduced 70 years ago and five million were built. We look back and talk to a Campervan fan • With 80,000 visitors steaming into Portland port this year, the Weymouth Ambassadors are ready for them • A visit to the RSPB nature reserve in Weymouth indicates climate change is a reality for bird life • A trip down memory lane takes a fond look at …