Eggs, Anger and Artisan Chocolate

Shrinking Easter eggs, three buses and a chocolate artist in Wimborne
It’s April, the Easter chocolate’s out (if you can still afford it), and Dorset Council has launched a ‘visionary’ transport plan that gives North Dorset… three Saturday buses. Hurrah?

From grumbles and glorious letters to chocolate-making wizardry, this first episode of the month is warm, witty and quietly furious in all the right places.

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Editor’s Letter 

Editor Laura Hitchcock reflects on The BV’s national award shortlist nod, the return of the Glanville foals, and a must-read piece by George Hosford on the collapse of the SFI scheme.
“George writes with a barely contained fury that’s impossible to ignore – and entirely justified.”

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Letters to the Editor: From Walkers to Farmers

This month’s postbag takes in the White Hart Link, elderly drivers, and the ever-divisive meat tax debate.
✅ Readers heap praise on the Dorset Insider
✅ Farmers ask not to be demonised for raising livestock
✅ Environmentalists say it's time to face the facts
✅ A walker wonders why Blandford and Sturminster are skipped by a local trail
✅ Margaret F from Milborne Port concurs with last month's letter writer on the risk of elderly relatives driving longer than they should – but fears there's no easy solution: “Until we fix rural transport, we’ll keep having quiet crises on country roads.”

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The Grumbler: Three Buses and a Vague Promise

This month's writer of our anonymous column isn’t buying the glossy headlines around Dorset Council’s new transport plan.
“North Dorset gets the long-awaited return of three Saturday services. No weekday buses. No evening buses. No progress. Urban voters see improvements. Rural ones see spin.”
This is rural Dorset's reality – a county divided by postcode and prioritisation.

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Chocolate from Dorset

Dan Crossman and Anna Rakasa of The Little House artisan chocolatiers in Wimborne share the realities of running a luxury business in a time of cocoa chaos.
“Three years ago, we paid £70 for 10kg of chocolate. Now it’s £170.” – Dan
“We matched flavours and colours to women in history – a chocolate homage.” – Anna

From flavour alchemy to corporate commissions in bespoke colours, this duo are flying the flag for creative, sustainable Dorset chocolate – one beautiful Bon Bon at a time.
“We pause production in summer – our workshop isn’t air conditioned, and chocolate is fussy.”

thelittlehousedorset.com

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These stories are all based on pieces from April’s BV, available to read online here. News, farming, art, food, politics, wildlife, letters, horses – and photography that’ll make you pause.

The BV: Best Regional Publication in the UK (ACE Awards) and Regional News Site of the Year (Press Gazette) 2024. Free to read, packed with Dorset, and impossible to put down.