JANUARY

Dorchester began the New Year by being placed on flood alert as rain swept across the county.

Many villages around the town were flooded, including Charminster, Maiden Newton and Bockhampton.

The Heritage Lottery Fund gave town councillors the go-ahead to put together a full bid to revamp the historic Borough Gardens and a grant of £52,300 to help them on their way.

Nora Allen, 80, vowed to fight for safer roads in Dorchester after her husband Robert was killed crossing High West Street in his wheelchair.

Workers at the Dorchester-based Dorset Self Advocacy Project celebrated after scooping nearly £100,000 in National Lottery cash to give people with learning disabilities a voice in the community.

Hunt supporters in the county town vowed to fight to save their sport after MPs voted by 387 to 174 in favour of an outright ban in England and Wales.

Eager theatregoers rushed to Dorchester Arts Centre to snap up tickets after it was announced that the RSC would be performing The Tempest in the town.

Headteacher Dr Iain Melvin stirred up controversy after writing to parents of pupils at Thomas Hardye School urging them to encourage their offspring to give up part-time jobs or risk poor exam results.

Meanwhile, 10 students from Thomas Hardye School popped open the champagne after gaining places at the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Britain's chief inspector of prisons Sir David Ramsbotham came under fire after claiming officers at Dorchester Prison refused to use empty cells to ease overcrowding because they were in dispute with the governor. A spokesman for officers at the prison described the claims as 'absolute hogwash'.

FEBRUARY

A PATIENT died after twice discharging himself from hospital and sparking two police searches within 24 hours.

John Rait, 41, was suffering from severe hypothermia when discovered by Dorchester policemen half-naked on a farm track near Cerne Abbas in the early hours of February 4. He later died in Dorset County Hospital.

A 'green' graveyard Prince Charles would be proud of was unveiled at Poundbury. A section of the five-acre cemetery under development on the outskirts of Dorchester was set aside to be used for environmentally-friendly burials.

Dramatic expansion plans were drawn up by Thomas Hardye School three months after the Queen's Avenue school admitted it was at bursting point after more and more children moved into its catchment area.

Proud mum Ruth Millner and husband Chris, of Monmouth Road, celebrated the birth of their baby son Callum - just four weeks after Ruth collapsed with bloodclots on her lungs and her life hung in the balance. Ruth, who made a good recovery, wrote an open letter via the Dorset Echo thanking the local community for its support.

Dorset scooped a £1.2 million Government hand-out to bolster bus services for people living in rural areas, particularly the elderly and disabled.

A Cerne Abbas grocer defied 'pointless' European regulations by continuing to use pounds and ounces.

Andrew Farrow, who runs the village stores, said he was prepared to make a stand to protect what he saw as an integral part of British life.

The career of disgraced Dorchester doctor Roland Hankin lay in tatters when he was jailed for stealing £676,000 from the NHS on February 27. The married father of four was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison after admitting 49 fraud charges.

MARCH

DELIGHTED staff swept up a top award after Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester was named the cleanest in the country. Bosses from the West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust collected the trophy at the NHS Building Better Healthcare Awards ceremony in London.

Plans to stage a raunchy Robbie Williams and Madonna tribute concert in Dorchester's historic Corn Exchange were met with disbelief. Critics of the scheme were not entertained by the idea, saying it was a waste of money and not suitable for the county town.

Former Thomas Hardye schoolboy Kiran Ridley, 22, was named as one of the top four young photographers in the world when he was picked as a finalist in the prestigious Ian Parry Awards run by the Sunday Times newspaper.

Dorchester firm Dorset Cereals clinched the biggest export deal in its history - supplying breakfast cereals to a major chain of American food shops.

Campaigners launched an ambitious £1.5 million plan to revive dreams of a new arts complex in Dorchester. The town's art centre bosses said they wanted to convert the Middle Farm building on Prince Charles's Poundbury development.

Organisers of the Dorchester Show vowed the 'show will go on' despite bookings plunging by a third amid the foot and mouth crisis.

Melanie Cangardel was cleared of trying to murder her husband at Cheselbourne Manor after an eight-day trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Mrs Cangardel, 41, the second wife of millionaire Jean Cangardel, had always denied the charge of attempting to murder him at their home near Dorchester. Novelist Joanna Trollope appeared as a defence witness in the case.

Police said they feared Dorchester would become a magnet for criminals following an announcement on March 26 that the town had failed in its bid for CCTV funding.

Doug Read, president of Dorchester Cricket Club, boycotted the grand opening of its new £279,000 pavilion, claiming it cost taxpayers too much money.

APRIL

RUNNERS packed the streets of the county town and raised thousands of pounds for charity in the 19th Lions Club fun run.

Dorchester schools were hit by two tragedies in two days when young teacher Teresa Hobbs, 29, died suddenly at Thomas Hardye School and then seven-year-old Naomi Northcott-Slade died after collapsing at Manor Park First School.

Hit film Billy Elliot inspired the first ever all-boys' ballet class in the Dorchester Ballet and Dance Club's 40-year history.

Dorchester's cash-strapped volunteer bureau celebrated a £74,000 windfall from the National Lottery's charities board.

Army bosses banned young soldiers from going out in Dorchester following a series of fights in the town. Around 250 teenage trainees from the Royal Army Corps at Bovington were ordered to stay away while police made their investigations.

Farmers were on alert after foot and mouth disease was confirmed at a farm just six miles across the county border in Devon.

Dorchester suffered its wettest April day for 40 years with 14 hours of continuous rain on Sunday, April 23, drenching those taking part in the annual St George's Day Parade.

A packed house greeted the first production by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Dorchester, with over 450 fans flocking to the Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre to watch The Tempest.

Plans for a pub in Poundbury had to be dramatically scaled down due to a lack of interest from potential tenants. The building in Pummery Square had proved difficult to market because of the high costs of fitting it out.

MAY

THE second phase of Prince Charles' Poundbury village, with more than 100 new homes, plus garages and access roads, was given the go-ahead by West Dorset district councillors.

Councillors backed new moves to tackle the problem of abandoned cars in West Dorset. Almost 200 cars are dumped in the area each year.

Hero wildlife ranger Henry Oram, who has family in Crossways, was shot dead in South Africa as he investigated a major prawn fishing racket.

Thomas Hardye schoolboy Martyn Whelan, 14, appealed for help to get a new school uniform after outgrowing his old one. Martyn, who was six feet five inches tall and weighed 20 stone, got his new uniform after Echo readers poured in more than £250 and headteacher Dr Iain Melvin pledged to help pay for the uniform from a school fund.

Yobs tore up tributes left at a war memorial in South Walks just weeks after they had been laid. The poppy wreaths, which were laid to honour Doug Smith, whose name was missed off the memorial because he had not died in action, were discovered in pieces by taxi driver Sam Atwood.

Michelle Mentern, 37, from Winterborne Abbas, beat dyslexia, illness and disability to scoop a top award in Adult Learners' Week. Michelle, who left school with no qualifications, was studying with the open distance learning unit at Weymouth College and had gained four GCSEs.

Divorcee Diane Bond was picked from more than 1,500 applicants to accompany a lonely dad on an all-expenses-paid Mediterranean holiday with his three children. The romance did not work out, however Diane is now happy with a new love.

West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin was faced with a barrage of questions after letting slip Tory plans for £20 billion-worth of tax cuts if they were restored to power. Treasury chief Andrew Smith challenged Mr Letwin to meet him in Dorchester to discuss the cuts, but the MP had other commitments.

An eight-year campaign to raise the cash for a breast cancer research laboratory in tribute to Frampton mum Lesley Elliott was hailed a triumph on May 23, as Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the lab in London. The Breakthrough fundraising team in Dorset are the most successful in the country - nearly £1 million has now been raised.

JUNE

THE Country Club at Wardon Hill won a controversial licence to open for 37 hours over the weekend, despite protests from the nearby shooting club and caravan site. The club, near Evershot, now opens from 11am on Saturdays until midnight on Sundays.

A dream £2 million sports and community centre became set for reality after St Osmund's school won Lottery cash, thanks to a five-year campaign.

Have-a-go hero Lee Moorey held down a knife-wielding thief while dialling 999 on his mobile phone after chasing him through the streets of Maiden Newton. Lee, 28, was woken at just after 4.30am and saw the thief pedalling away on a stolen bicycle.

A beaming Oliver Letwin held on to his West Dorset seat in the House of Commons, pipping the Liberal Democrats' Simon Green to the post by under 2,000 votes.

Taxi firm Bob's Cars in Trinity Street was broken into when raiders broke through two walls to empty fruit and cigarette machines on June 15.

Families in Charminster protested after county council officers measured a shortcut to school and pronounced it less than the three miles necessary for free school transport. Parents, whose children were previously offered free transport when the council measured the route by road, said the shortcut to Thomas Hardye School from the village was prone to flooding and too dangerous to use.

Families demanded action to rid them of a plague of dangerous cars, drug users and piles of rubbish on a Dorchester estate. People in Durnover Court, Mill Street and Hardy Avenue said they were sick of anti-social behaviour and asked the police to step in.

Disgraced Dorchester doctor Rolan Hankin was ordered to pay £87,142 in compensation after admitting swindling the NHS of at least £626,256. Hankin, from Cheselbourne, must pay the amount within three years of the order.

Dorchester Show organisers revealed they could lose up to £50,000 after cancelling this year's event over foot and mouth fears.

Farmer John Best tried to beat the foot and mouth crisis by selling his herd of 140 dairy cows in a video auction. Mr Best, of Manor Farm, near Maiden Newton, was forced into the move after the Government banned live auctions.

The Echo revealed plans to convert a former mortuary at the old county hospital site in Prince's Street, Dorchester, into a home. The bungalow, which will be converted from the 160-year-old morgue plus an extension, was expected to go on sale at around £150,000.

Inspector Andy Mason told of his ordeal when an armed man attempted to hijack the plane he and his family were travelling on. Insp Mason was on an internal flight in America between New Orleans and Cincinnati. The captain managed to bring the plane down safely in Memphis.

A former Tolpuddle Martyrs Inn landlord was warned he could face jail over a string of hygiene offences at the village pub. The pub is now under new management.

JULY

ROGER and Gill Slade from Stratton had an agonising 26-hour wait with no air conditioning, food or water at an airport in Menorca after their holiday was thrown into chaos by a coach drivers' strike. They have vowed never to go to Spain again.

Manor Park First School pupils issued an appeal to dog walkers to keep their pets away from the school grounds in Mellstock Avenue, over fears that dog mess could pose a danger to their health.

Broadmayne's Sandra Lister walked Weymouth seafront to raise cash for the British Lung Foundation just months after receiving a double lung transplant.

French-Canadian Jean Cangardel, the millionaire at the centre of the Cheselbourne Manor murder attempt trial, revealed plans to sell up and make a fresh start in London with his three daughters. His estranged wife Melanie was cleared of attempting to murder him.

Caroline Northcott from Holbaek Close urged people to back the Wessex Heartbeat in memory of her seven-year-old daughter Naomi, who died after collapsing at Manor Park First School after her pacemaker failed.

Hero bobby Gareth Hughes received a commendation from Dorset's chief constable and high sheriff after helping to save a boy's life over the telephone. PC Hughes, from Castle Park in Dorchester, came to the rescue after three-year-old Zak Quartermaine from Martinstown stopped breathing, giving his terrified mum Tina advice.

Former Thomas Hardye schoolboy Jon House starred in the biggest ever budget Bollywood film Lagaan. Jon, 34, who studied drama at Weymouth College, starred as a Victorian gentleman in the film, which critics say could bring the Indian film industry into the mainstream.

Archaeologists uncovered one of the most stunning finds of the century in Dorchester while working on the former hospital site in Princes Street. More than 6,000 people queued round the block to see the treasures after the Echo ran the story of the finds. Treasured Roman mosaics dating from the mid-fourth century AD have now been excavated and will go on show to the public.

Breast cancer survivor Belle Belding from Manor Road in Dorchester, was selected to be a supermodel at a special event at London's Dorchester Hotel after taking part in an audition.

Eight-year-old Sophie Coward from Dorchester helped save her stepmum Chloe's life after she suffered a severe asthma attack. Pal Leah Trente, 10, kept watch over Chloe's baby Abigail while Sophie rang for an ambulance after they found Chloe, 23, struggling to breathe.

Mark and Jacqui Warder starred in the DIY SOS TV show after their ceiling collapsed at their Puddletown home. The couple battled it out with two other families to get it fixed, but were not successful.

AUGUST

YOUNG skaters who appealed for their skate ramp at Maiden Castle to be repaired were delighted when Dorchester Town Council approved thousands of pounds-worth of renovation work.

Nine-year-old Everton fan Joseph McHale had his dreams come true when he led his team out onto the pitch for a clash with Spurs at Goodison Park.

Joseph, from St George's Road, who goes to St Osmund's Middle School in Dorchester, was seen by millions of people around the world on Sky TV when he led out the Merseyside team.

Rumours were rife that pop superstar Madonna was hoping to move into the £9 million Ashcombe estate, on the Dorset/Wiltshire border. She has since confirmed the purchase, and villagers hope that she and film director hubby Guy Ritchie will continue the thriving hunt in the village.

Electric buggy-user Carol Bancroft started a campaign for safe routes around Dorchester after warning that more people could die or be seriously injured because of the lack of dropped kerbs. The town council is backing her to get funding for the work.

Prison officers hit back at a report slamming Dorchester as one of the most overcrowded jails in the country. The Prisons Reform Trust claimed the town's prison was 34 per cent overcrowded.

Bisexual priest Carl Hossack became the first West Dorset reverend to offer marriage ceremonies for lesbian and gay couples.

Pupils at Thomas Hardye School were celebrating on August 16 after scooping the best A-level results in the school's history.

Jehovah's Witnesses had their prayers answered when councillors backed their plans for a new place of worship opposite Dorchester's Avenue Stadium. The new church will be built in a week, using voluntary labour, and will have a special loft for owls.

Dorchester Bingo Club was forced to close after thieves made off with £4,000 of their desperately needed cash.

Exotic animal breeder Jerry Cole vowed to fight a campaign by animal activists to wreck a fair he was holding at his farm off Bridport Road. The show went ahead, but West Dorset District Council later said it would try to stop such events in the future.

West Dorset District Council approved plans for Dorchester United FC and many other senior and youth teams to have their own home ground at Kings Road playing fields, including an all-weather pitch and a pavilion.

Thomas Hardye School pupils were celebrating again on August 23 after notching up an amazing string of record grades in this year's GCSEs.

Alexandra Joy and Hugh Warrington scooped 11 A* grades apiece.

SEPTEMBER

AT the start of the month, staff were left counting the cost of a ram raid in Dorchester when thieves used a stolen jeep to smash their way through the front doors of Marks & Spencer on September 4.

They fled with a cash machine in the early hours raid, but it was later found by police in an abandoned car.

Later in the month, former cinema manager Les Edlin sold his house for a lifesaving heart operation in South Africa after losing faith in the NHS.

He said he feared he would die on the waiting list, but his lifesaving flight on September 8 paid off when the operation proved a success.

Lovestruck Diane Bond, 48, from Poundbury, also had a lifechanging exerience abroad - she fell for a Turkish waiter while on holiday as a companion to a businessman.

The Dorchester public was left in shock by the September 11 atrocity in New York, but former Hardye schoolboy Phil Penman had a close escape.

The 24-year-old photographer was covering the attack for a US agency when the building began to collapse above him.

Dorchester people paid their tributes at services and Lindsay Cook, from Charminster, held a peace vigil at the town pump just over a week later, on September 19, as calls grew for retaliation.

A serious road accident close to home hit hard at the end of September when Thomas Hardye School sixth formers Tom Grindle and Sam Herbert were badly injured in a car crash.

The pair were hurt when their Mini was in collision with a lorry in Martinstown - but both were out of hospital by the end of the year.

OCTOBER

CAMPAIGNERS began the month in positive mood with an appeal to raise

£1 million to buy the finest private collection of Thomas Hardy works at auction.

They managed to raise £500,000 and purchased some important items but were outgunned when prized pieces went for record prices.

Dorchester schoolgirl Leanne Symes, 16, also suffered disappointment after being forced to cancel a dream trip to the Middle East because of the Afghanistan crisis on October 17.

Carer Matthew Cook walked free from Winchester Crown Court after a judge ordered a jury to find him not guilty of the manslaughter of Terry Benham.

In the middle of the month, Dorset Echo readers were asked to have their say on CCTV for Dorchester in a poll after a series of raids and attacks in the town centre.

They voted overwhelmingly in favour of the security cameras, and councillors have pledged to lodge another bid when the time is right.

The poll came as Dorchester police chief Andy Mason revealed in quarterly crime figures that violent crime had soared by 40 per cent in Dorchester.

Shop bosses David and Sally Sands went potty on October 26 when they put their collection of Clarice Cliff crockery up for auction.

The collection later fetched £38,516 when it went under the hammer on November 9.

NOVEMBER

MORE Roman ruins were dug up at the former hospital site in Princes Street, Dorchester, on November 1.

Archaeologists found pots, ovens and coins from an ancient warehouse or industrial site with part of a well preserved wall.

The debate over Dorchester's future was re-ignited just a week later on November 7 with calls for the town's Roman baths to be re-opened as a major tourist attraction.

The town was rocked by a £20,000 raid on a county council works depot and an £8,000 clothing raid from an industrial estate unit on November 9.

Disabled Alison Davis, from Milborne St Andrew, travelled to London on November 15 to protest against a campaign by Diane Pretty for the right to die.

On November 17, Royal British Legion chairman Ray Voss appealed for help in a bid to return long lost letters from a soldier to their rightful home.

The letters, left in a rucksack at a Nottingham car boot sale, were returned to the Trump family after the Echo was flooded with calls.

The village of Frampton was left in shock when popular pensioners Peggy and Eric Lofthouse died when a blaze broke out at their home just after 9am on November 23.

More than 50 firefighters battled the flames, but the couple were dead inside.

On November 26, campaigners called for a new warship to be named after Dorset.

Members of the Dorchester Royal Naval Association urged the government to name a new ship HMS Dorsetshire after wellwishers raised £3 million in a campaign nearly 60 years ago.

DECEMBER

THE festive season exploded into life when Dorchester staged its Casterbridge Christmas Cracker on December 6.

Crowds packed the town centre for the late night shopping extravaganza and bonanza of fun and entertainment.

Coroner Michael Johnston recorded a verdict of accidental death on tragic Naomi Northcott-Slade, who collapsed in the playground at Manor Park First School in Dorchester.

The inquest heard how the seven-year-old girl died after her heart pacemaker battery ran out.

Festive shoppers complained about the state of the town's new Christmas lights on December 11, but organisers claimed they could do little because of the high costs involved in maintaining the old lights.

Parents of Dorchester school pupils were furious after their children were abandoned by a bus driver at Dewlish after a 'misunderstanding' in mid December.

On Thursday, December 13, the county got the news it was waiting for - it had won World Heritage status for its treasured coastline.

And there was more joy the next day when Prince Charles visited Dorchester to attend the consecration of the town's new cemetery.

But he also found time to urge young farmers to stay in agriculture when he attended a farmers' market at Poundbury.

The prince capped his day in the town by attending a Breakthrough charity concert dedicated to former poet laureate Sir John Betjeman at St Mary's Church.