Dorchester is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the South Dorset Ridgeway that separates the area from Weymouth, 7 miles (11 km) to the south. The civil parish includes the small town of Poundbury and the suburb of Fordington.
Sturminster Newton is a town and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. It is situated on a low limestone ridge in a meander of the River Stour. The town is at the centre of a large dairy agriculture region, around which the town's economy is built. The larger part of the town (Sturminster) lies on the north side of the river, and includes most shops and services, whilst to the south is the smaller Newton. Between these two areas is a wide flood plain. The town was the home of poet and author William Barnes, and, for part of his life, Thomas Hardy. The town has 43 shops, a primary and secondary school, and a school and college catering for children with special educational needs. In the 2011 census the town's civil parish had a population of 4,945
The West Country is a loosely defined area of south-western England. The term usually encompasses the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset, and is often extended to include Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, in the South West region. Some definitions also include Herefordshire. The West Country is host to distinctive regional English dialects and accents as well as to the Cornish language.
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC Local Radio service for the Isle of Wight and the English counties of Hampshire and Dorset. Its studios are located in Southampton, in the same purpose-built office block in Havelock Road as the BBC South Today news studios, and there are district offices in Portsmouth, Newport, Bournemouth, Poole and Dorchester. It was based until 1991 in South Western House, the former railway hotel at the old Southampton Terminus station.
Upton is a town in south east Dorset, England. It is the second largest town in the district of Purbeck.
South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Drax, a Conservative. The constituency was created as a consequence of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, although the area covered has changed since then.
Wimborne Town Football Club is a football club based in Wimborne Minster in Dorset, England. They were established in 1878 and won the FA Vase in 1992. They reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in the 1982–83 season for the first time.
The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service (NHS) across South West England. On 1 March 2011, SWASFT was the first ambulance service in the country to become a Foundation Trust. The trust acquired neighbouring Great Western Ambulance Service on 1 February 2013.
The Dorset Horn is an endangered British breed of domestic sheep. It is documented from the seventeenth century, and is highly prolific, sometimes producing two lambing seasons per year. Among British sheep, it is the only breed capable of breeding throughout the winter.
Southern Counties South is a league in the Rugby Football Union South West Division, the rugby union governing body for South West England, part of the Rugby Football Union. The league sits at the seventh tier of club rugby union in England and primarily features teams based in Dorset and Wiltshire. The league champions at the end of the season are promoted to South West 1 East while the runners up face the runners up from Southern Counties North for their place. Relegated teams tend to drop to either Dorset & Wilts 1 North or Dorset & Wilts 1 South depending on geographic placement. Although 2nd XV rugby is part of the Dorset & Wilts regional leagues, only 1st XV teams can play in Southern Counties South.
Dorset & Wilts 3 North is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Wiltshire, sitting at tier 10 of the English rugby union system. Promoted teams tend to move up to Dorset & Wilts 2 North. Previously relegated teams dropped to Dorset & Wilts 4 but since the cancellation of this division at the end of the 2015-16 season there has been no relegation.
Dorset & Wilts 2 North is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs based primarily in Wiltshire, sitting at tier 9 of the English rugby union system. From this league teams can either be promoted to Dorset & Wilts 1 North or relegated to Dorset & Wilts 3 North. Each year 1st XV clubs in this division also take part in the RFU Junior Vase - a level 9-12 national competition.
Dorset & Wilts 1 North is an English rugby union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Wiltshire, sitting at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. Originally consisting of one league, Dorset & Wilts 1 split into north and south regional divisions in 2004. It had even had teams based in Berkshire participating until 2001, at which time they left to join the Buckinghamshire & Oxon leagues.
Dorset is a county located in the middle of the south coast of England. It lies between the latitudes 50.512°N and 51.081°N and the longitudes 1.682°W and 2.958°W, and occupies an area of 2,653 km². It spans 90 kilometres (56 mi) from east to west and 63 kilometres (39 mi) from north to south.
Dorset & Wilts 1 South is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Dorset, sitting at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. Originally consisting of one league, Dorset & Wilts 1 split into north and south regional divisions back in 2004 and had even had teams based in Berkshire participating until 2001 when they left to join the Buckinghamshire & Oxon leagues.
Dorset & Wilts 2 South is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Dorset, sitting at tier 9 of the English rugby union system. Promoted teams tend to move up to Dorset & Wilts 1 South while relegated teams tend to drop to Dorset & Wilts 3 South. Each year 1st XV clubs in this division also take part in the RFU Junior Vase - a level 9-12 national competition.
Dorset & Wilts 3 South is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Dorset, sitting at tier 10 of the English rugby union system. Promoted teams generally move up to Dorset & Wilts 2 South. Previously relegated teams dropped to Dorset & Wilts 4 but since the cancellation of this division at the end of the 2015-16 season there has been no relegation.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is a unitary local government district in England. It was created on 1 April 2019 from the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole, and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch.
The Rugby Football Union South West Division is a rugby union governing body for South West England and is part of the Rugby Football Union.
