Ridgeway Magazine’s August content started with a scoop, well, a radio scoop. Mark was hot off the mark (sorry about that!) to break the story and invited into the studio Dorchester councillor David Taylor to explain how developers in the town had paid £1.6 million to the council as a “tax” on their building activities. Most of the cash bonanza came through the Poundbury construction programme. The money is to be used for the benefit of the community. However, it’s not all for Dorchester – the money goes into a pot and is shared throughout the county. John visited the Portland Prison Museum for a feature on the lives and times of convicts on the island and also went to Bridport to learn about old fashioned fairground attractions from a lady who has a small warehouse full of fun fair memorabilia for hire or for sale.
The presentation of two new computers was featured in interviews with the manager at Poundbury Gardens and the promotions manager at SeaLife. The Magazine will feature manager Lucy Simpson’s gardening tips from Poundbury throughout the year. And if you know of any budding magicians, put them in touch. John talked to one of our regular contributors who found a magic trick involving a hare, a hat box and a top hat which belonged to her late father who was a member of the Magic Circle. It is quite a complex illusion and we were asked to find a good home for it. Finally, we paid tribute to the “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie born 125 years ago mentioning the annual festival celebrating her writing to be held in Torquay in October.