Dorset weekly round-up: 20 April - 26 April 2024

A black steam locomotive travelling past the ruins of Corfe Castle

A story about volunteers at a heritage railway restoring a 125-year-old steam locomotive was among our most read stories this week in Dorset.

A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Solent and South Today.

We have picked five stories to keep you up to date.

Historical coins found under floor sell for £60,000

Auctioneers had expected to sell the collection for between £15,000 and £30,000

A hoard of historical coins that was unearthed during renovation work on a cottage has sold at auction for double the top estimated value.

The cache of more than 1,000 gold and silver coins, dating back to the 16th and 17th Centuries, was found buried under a floor at South Poorton, Dorset.

The collection fetched £60,000 at Duke's Auctions in Dorchester.

Cottage owners Robert and Becky Fooks, who found the trove, said the money would help to pay off their mortgage.

'Another mum's breast milk was given to my baby'

Isabella Gamble wants other parents to learn from her experience and not be afraid to ask questions

A mother whose baby was given breast milk from another patient is calling for a hospital to "do better".

Records, seen by the BBC, show Poole Hospital staff at St Mary's Maternity Hospital gave Isabella Gamble's newborn son expressed breast milk "from another donor in error" in 2019.

It comes after Poole Hospital admitted it was investigating after a baby was handed to the wrong mother at the same maternity unit in September last year.

Bibby Stockholm staff 'laughed and joked' over asylum seeker death

Asylum seeker Leonard Farruku died on board the Bibby Stockholm in December

Staff on the government's migrant barge "laughed and joked" over the death of an asylum seeker on board, a former cleaner on the vessel has claimed.

Albanian migrant Leonard Farruku, 27, is thought to have taken his own life on the Bibby Stockholm in December.

Alongside the allegation, former residents told an inquiry conditions on the barge were like being "in prison".

The Home Office has said it does not "recognise the claims" made in the inquiry's report.

Shoe shop worker does last shift of 70 year career

Jill Cornick has worked at the same shoe shop in Blandford Forum for 68 years

"I dedicated my whole life to Clarks" says a shoe shop worker who has spent nearly 70 years at the same store.

Jill Cornick, 82, worked at the Blandford Forum Clarks for 68 years.

The store in the Dorset town closed on Monday, which brought Mrs Cornick's near seven decades of service to an end.

She said she has many "good memories" and added "I think I might retire now."

Railway volunteers to restore second locomotive

The black T9 steam locomotive at Corfe Castle station

Volunteers at a heritage railway are to restore a 125-year-old steam locomotive that has not been able to run for four years.

The T9 class engine was loaned to Swanage Railway in 2017 by the National Railway Museum but in 2020 failed its boiler examination.

The group conducting the overhaul has already restored an 1893 T3 locomotive in a a six-year project costing £650,000.

The T9 works will be split between engineering teams in Gloucestershire and Dorset.

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