1. Covid: Case rates in Hampshire and Isle of Wightpublished at 14:29 British Summer Time 7 April 2022

    The latest number of cases of Covid-19 across the two counties.

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  2. Coronavirus: Case rates in Berkshirepublished at 14:11 British Summer Time 7 April 2022

    The latest number of cases of Covid-19 across the county.

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  3. Coronavirus: Case rates in Oxfordshirepublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 7 April 2022

    The latest number of cases of Covid-19 across the county.

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  4. Coronavirus: Case rates in Dorsetpublished at 14:05 British Summer Time 7 April 2022

    The latest number of cases of Covid-19 across the county.

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  5. Trial date set for millionaire-murder accusedpublished at 11:45 British Summer Time 26 July 2021

    Thomas Schreiber is charged with murdering one of UK's richest men, Sir Richard Sutton, in Dorset.

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  6. Woman starved millionaire to death for his fortunepublished at 13:14 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Anthony Sootheran lost a third of his body weight in his final months and was denied medical help.

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  7. Oxford to Abingdonpublished at 12:51 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Michael Portillo strikes out on another series of railway journeys, this time through Britain between the world wars, armed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide.

    He begins with a tour of the Home Counties and beyond, starting in the city of dreaming spires, Oxford, where in 1921 women were awarded degrees for the first time. At Somerville College, Michael finds out about a pioneering crystallographer, Dorothy Hodgkin, the only British woman to win a Nobel prize for chemistry.

    Soaking up the glorious sights of the city, Michael is tempted by a fashion trend that reached its height during the interwar period: Oxford bags. At Walters & Co, founded in 1925, he finds just the ticket.

    At Garsington Manor, on the outskirts of the city, Michael discovers the risqué activities of a social set centred on the house's owner, Lady Ottoline Morrell, and famous artists and writers of the Bloomsbury Group. Tales of bohemian behaviour, nude frolicking and revelry in the beautiful manorial gardens turned heads as Britain buckled down in the face of impending war with Germany.

    Next stop is Culham, en route for Abingdon, where from 1929 the iconic British sports car, the MG, was built. Michael hears about the origins of one of the nation’s best-loved marques and joins the proud owner of a 1938 MG VA for a spin.

  8. West Ruislip to Windsorpublished at 12:48 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Michael Portillo heads for leafy Hatch End, where he investigates an illustrator whose work was so popular in the 1920s and 30s that his name entered the English dictionary. William Heath Robinson’s great-nephew talks Michael through some of the mad contraptions the artist used to satirise technology.

    Michael’s next stop is Slough, where after World War I, three businessmen established a world first: an out-of-town trading estate with rail connections, power, water and premises. Today, 350 businesses operate from there, and its success has been replicated across the world. Michael meets one long-standing customer, Mars, who have been manufacturing their chocolate bars in Slough since 1932.

    Close by, in Stoke Poges, Michael visits a very different 1930s landmark, a unique and beautiful memorial garden comprising woodlands, rockeries and fountains. The Head Gardener enlists Michael’s help to plant a yew tree.

    From Slough, Michael makes tracks along the short branch line, which serves two towns, Windsor and Eton Central. At Windsor, Michael surveys the great walls of the castle, chief residence of the British monarch and the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. He looks back at the tumultuous events within those walls, when in 1936, King Edward VIII renounced the throne to marry an American divorcee.

  9. Guildford to Aldershotpublished at 12:44 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Michael Portillo resumes his tour of the Home Counties in the picturesque and historic county town of Guildford. His 1936 Bradshaw’s guide commends its 'fine old castle keep' and guildhall but makes no mention of its hilltop cathedral. Michael meets head guide Janet Matthews to discover the origins of the first Anglican cathedral to be built on a new site in the south of England since the Reformation – begun in 1936. He finds splendid architecture and modern materials have combined to produce a gloriously open building full of space and light. Michael climbs its 160 foot tower for a panoramic view of Surrey.

    Michael’s next stop is Chilworth, from which he follows his guide to Newlands Corner on the slopes of the North Downs. At this popular beauty spot, the famous crime writer Agatha Christie disappeared, sparking a massive search and a tabloid frenzy. A Christie biographer pieces the puzzle together for Michael.

    Heading west across the county, Michael reaches the Georgian market town of Farnham with its 12th-century castle, once home to the bishops of Winchester. Intrigued by his Bradshaw’s reference to a famous Farnham painter, WH Allen, Michael joins the artist’s great-great-niece in the castle’s splendid gardens to learn more about him. A kind Farnham artist encourages Michael to commit the castle to canvas in his own way.

    After a luxurious night at the castle, Michael crosses into Hampshire to reach Aldershot. At the home of the British Army, he hears how in the years leading up to the World War II, the town began to receive conscripts for military training.

  10. Farnborough to Winchesterpublished at 12:42 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Michael is heading for Farnborough, Hampshire, famous today for its airshow and home to what was then the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Richard Gardner of the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust tells Michael about the boffins who worked here and the inventions they came up with, such as retractable landing gear and flight-pressurised suits. Michael discovers that research here was so secret that the airfield was not marked on the map, let alone mentioned in his Bradshaw’s guide.

    Michael continues west across Hampshire to Basingstoke to visit a glorious neo-Gothic stately home set in the North Wessex Downs. The magnificent Highclere Castle, seat of the Earls of Caernarvon, is perhaps best-known today as Downton Abbey. Michael meets the present Lady Carnarvon, wife of the eighth Earl, to find out more about her husband’s ancestor, a passionate Egyptologist who made a discovery that stunned the world: the tomb of Tutankhamun.

    In the countryside around Highclere, Michael visits a chapel dedicated to the memory of Harry Willoughby Sandham, who died in 1919 as a result of his military service in Macedonia. 19 oil paintings by the artist Stanley Spencer fill this extraordinary and moving space. And in Ropley, there's a rendezvous with an old friend on the Mid Hants Railway, where Thomas the Tank engine is oozing steam on the Watercress Line.

  11. 'Brazen' plot to steal millionaire's fortunepublished at 12:25 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Lynda Rickard killed her wealthy landlord by neglecting him while posing as his friend and carer.

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  12. Bus lane installed last year to be removedpublished at 10:46 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Southampton City Council says the lane on Bitterne Road West increased journey times for cars.

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  13. Dorset Museum reopens after major revamppublished at 06:34 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    A new extension means more of the museum's artefacts can now be displayed.

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  14. Dorset Museum reopens after £16m transformationpublished at 06:31 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    A new wing and subterranean collection stores have been built alongside the Victorian museum.

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  15. Councillor scraps prayers before meetingspublished at 21:05 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    The new chairman of Isle of Wight council orders an end to prayers at the start of meetings.

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  16. Westpublished at 19:31 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Professor Alice Robert explores exciting archaeological finds from the west of Britain. Every new discovery was filmed by the archaeologists themselves, giving us an unprecedented view of each excavation as it happens.

    In this episode, we join a team as they undertake the largest maritime investigation since the Mary Rose and reveal the extraordinary story of HMS Invincible. At Silchester, archaeologists investigate a bath house that reveals how the Romans stamped their mark on Britain. A buried military camp in Hampshire shows why German soldiers were key to our security in the 18th century, and archaeologist Raksha Dave goes behind the scenes to tell the tragic tale of individuals from a 19th-century pauper’s graveyard.

  17. Man raped by stranger in city thicketpublished at 15:33 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    A man is approached by two men in Southampton before being raped by one of them.

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  18. Police issue e-scooter safety warningpublished at 12:53 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Dorset Police says use of the two-wheeled vehicles has "shot up" since a hire scheme started.

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