We were delighted to welcome the 1st Infantry Division Living History Group and dignitaries including a representative of the US Embassy, Dorset’s High Sheriff, Lord Lieutenant and Town Mayor to the West Bay Discovery Centre on Saturday 18th May. They came to visit our exhibition “Warm Beer and Cabbages” as Read more…
It is hard to imagine the impact that 200 plus fit young men with their strange accents had on the close-knit, war-weary folk of Bridport Harbour, but there are still a number of people, children during the Second World War, who remember the time the GIs were billeted in West Read more…
Sandy Hashimi our West Bay Discovery Centre Manager has been invited to produce some guest blog posts for Bridport Cottages . Some of which we have reproduced below. Photographic Memories One of the great things about working at the West Bay Discovery Centre, is the number of photographs that folk Read more…
Captain John G. W. Finke was the Commander of F Company, who were based in West Bay from November 1943 to June 1944, when they left Castletown, Portland for Omaha beach on the Normandy coast. We were sent this picture of Captain Finke by the 16th Infantry Regiment Association in Read more…
80,000 US troops stayed in Dorset, training for the D-Day landings. 75 years on, our exhibition will remember the time when American soldiers lived among us in West Bay and the day they disappeared. (Friday 19th April to Sunday 23rd June, 2019). Sergeant Phil Streczyk was billeted nearby in Read more…
As we reach almost twelve months since work started on the Chapel its a good time to look back and see what has been achieved. It’s difficult to remember that the Methodist Chapel looked like this time last year – abandoned and in need of a restoration. The builders started Read more…
What an amazing month we have had since we opened! We welcomed 3,880 visitors through the doors which exceeded our expectations. We have also received some very positive feedback verbally and in our visitors book! We thought we would share some of these comments with you. “Fabulous exhibition , fun, informative. Read more…
West Bay Discovery Centre was opened by the Deputy Mayor Martin Ray accompanied by Bridport Town Crier on Wednesday 1st August 2018. We look foward to your visit and hope we can inspire you to look at West Bay in new ways!
One of the challenges in the Discovery Centre will be the limited information we can share in a small space. We are hoping that we will give visitors hints and advice to look at West Bay in a different way and make their own discoveries….. Wildlife is one area we will Read more…