Dorchester a prosperous town

New businesses opening in the town is an indication of prosperity in the town of Dorchester.

I was representing the Dorchester BID on Wednesday as an ambassador and spent some time meeting the visitors arriving by coach outside the very popular market. The coaches arrive in the morning and drop off their passengers as part of a  day excursion during their holiday.

 Most of the visitors this week were from Cardiff and were staying in Bournemouth. The coaches make their way to the Top of Town car park near The Keep Military Museum where there is suitable parking for them and a cafe. The coaches return to collect their passengers later in the afternoon, many of them having bought rather more than perhaps they intended to!

This is all to the advantage of small businesses who are marked on the Dorchester BID map which the ambassadors hand out to visitors. Presenting the town in this way is in my opinion, encouraging new business to open in the town.

Finca is a new cafe that has opened in Great Western Road, offering freshly roasted coffee, sandwiches and cakes in a rustic cosy environment. Gluten free options are included on their menu and the cafe may be open earlier than some.

I can remember taking my eldest daughter in to these premises some years ago when it was formerly a shoe shop. It is lovely to see regeneration in this road as it supports the important existing businesses that are located nearby. 

At the end of South Street in Cornhill Seasalt has opened. 

This is a Cornish business which obviously is taking advantage of the opportunity to trade in the town. It looked like it was flourishing yesterday when I passed by, a new shop does attract attention, but the outside decoration is very enticing.

 I did notice quite a few Seasalt bags in customer's hands when I walked along South Street today! There was not one in mine but I may be tempted soon!  

Finca Cafe  link on Twitter

A sleepless night

Opposite Brewery Square in Dorchester is the market car park, and on a Wednesday the very popular market is held there.  On a Sunday morning there is a regular car boot sale which is also extremely popular. There is a covered area which I remember when I worked in the town in my twenties was a busy livestock market. There is also Dukes Fine Arts auctioneers, they are going to be moving into the former Pullman court in the road opposite the Station pub, see the link below.
Recently a group of car enthusiasts have been meeting in this covered market area, on a Friday or Saturday evening! When I say 'enthusiast' this particular group seem keen on cars with very large exhaust pipes, blacked out windows and have a particularly sinister look about them.
The photo above was taken one Saturday evening when I was returning home after supper out. The drivers mostly were young men and all seemed to have a female passenger. The drivers all parked, some got out and some just 'revved' their engines. On this occasion there was a police man talking to one of the drivers and I imagined he was asking them to move on. I did feel the situation was quite intimidating for the single police car.
Last night at about 2.30am I was woken by the sound of loud car noises nearby, as I often am at the weekends. It seems the car club often congregate in this car park and then take pleasure in using the quiet Dorchester roads to drive their noisy cars around at speed. The outside car park whilst very busy during the day is often empty at this time and provides a playground for them.
As the police station is opposite this car park, this always surprises me as, but I think their antagonistic, antisocial behaviour is all part of the the clubs rituals!
I do hope that the police are able to keep this sort of thing from escalating as apart from waking me up, I have learnt this morning there was a lot of vandalism in the town last night. These incidents may be completely unrelated but a call for more CCTV coverage in the town on Twitter this morning I fully support, and cuts to policing in the town is of some concern.

Link to Echo report about Dukes relocation