The world from my window

There were gasps as the verdict was announced. Surely not? And then the programme went on, with twists and turns, including the unexpected and the entirely predictable. Anyone would think the popular television drama, Broadchurch , was for real. Well, for those of us who live here, where the show was made, it does feel a part of everyday life. The writer lives in Bridport and the actors are now frequent visitors to the town and its harbour, West Bay. The series' backdrop is as familiar to us as the backs of our hands, although the magic of television splices the geographical areas of North Somerset and West Dorset with surgical precision, so that the dramatic East Cliff of West Bay on the south coast suddenly looms on the distant skyline beyond Clevedon and the Bristol Channel. In Bridport last night, the charming Electric Palace Theatre  played host to the haunting, atmospheric music of Ólafur Arnalds, the composer for the series. He and his band filled the q...

We've just had a photo session, Mr Grigg and me, here in the kitchen. It's usually me behind the camera - I've never been much of a one for inflicting my fisog on the world. Invariably, pictures of me on the web are of tea cups, tiki masks and Fra Newbery's painting The Spirit of Bridport . I also use this one a lot.  I like it. I took it. But I'm not in it.  'Smile girls,' I yelled from afar. 'Jump up and down a bit.' So they did.  It's one of my favourite pictures. But, over the last few months, it's me who's had to be the subject of the photographs.  'Can you send me a nice photo of you by the sea?' the feature writer at Good Housekeeping said to me last summer. 'Do you really need it?' I said. 'Can't you use a picture of the Greek village we lived in, or a back view of me?' 'Well, not really,' she said. 'It's a two page feature and it's all about y...

It's Broadchurch tonight. It's funny to see our Dorset coastline in all its glory. Week after week after week. Those cliffs at West Bay are a towering presence in this popular television series, which is gripping the nation with all its twists and turns. Through the magic of television, we even saw East Cliff looming up on the skyline in a shot filmed at Clevedon, on the other side of the south west peninsula. The whole series, whether you like it or not, is a great advert for this part of the world. In real life, though, you have to keep away from the foot of the cliffs. They're unstable and pieces could - and do - fall at any time. So we kept to the shore when we introduced Artemis, a ten-month-old Korthals Griffon , to the ocean for the very first time yesterday.       The verdict? She says she likes it. She'll be back. That's about it. Love Maddie x