Archive

  • Rise in the price of a semi

    THE price of an average Bolton semi is on the up. According to figures released by the Halifax Building Society, a house which cost £51,950 in the first quarter of 1995 was up to £52,900 12 months later. Elsewhere similar properties were up from £46,100

  • Ramsdale on the mark

    MARK Ramsdale confirmed himself as the batsman on form in the Bolton Association as he rapped out another half century. His 54 against Darcy Lever was his third in successive innings and followed up his century against Adlington last week. With 58 from

  • League give Estwick time

    WESTHOUGHTON have been given until the end of June to sort out the wrangle over professional Rod Estwick. The West Indian was banned from playing after the Department of Employment pointed out that his work permit only allowed him into this country as

  • Government axes 10,000 jobs

    A DRIVE to save £40 million and hundreds of hours of doctors' and nurses' time by cutting NHS paperwork was announced today by Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell. More than 10,000 adminstrators' jobs will be axed over two years as cash is redirected to

  • Bridge tough Hamer test

    ASTLEY Bridge have gained a dubious reward after picking up their first cricket win of the season on Sunday, The Fort Sterling Bolton League Under-18's side has been chosen for the clash with the Bolton Association for the Brian Hallows Memorial Trophy

  • Camelot told to give more to charity

    NATIONAL Lottery operator Camelot should hand over a bigger slice of its profits to charity, MPs demanded today. They also urged the end of the ban on the advertising of betting shops and bingo halls so they can recover some of the trade lost to the lottery

  • Cinemas sign up for rival sites

    BOLTON is to have TWO huge multi-screen cinema complexes. The race to provide multi-million pound entertainment complexes took a dramatic turn today. First leisure firm THI announced that it had signed up an operator for a cinema at the Watersmeeting

  • Jobless used to swell police ranks

    BOLTON police are being given the money to recruit special constables from the ranks of the unemployed. Home Office funding for the project has now been secured and the scheme is supported by Bolton and Bury Training and Enterprise Council as part of

  • Leigh denied by last stand

    LEIGH continued their unbeaten league record in the Liverpool Competition with a thrilling match at Huyton whose last pair denied the local lads maximum points. Batting first, Leigh were given a flying start as Greg Dimery made 78 and David Dove added

  • Where's my daughter?

    SIR: I am writing in hope that your readers may be able to help me trace my daughter with whom I lost contact with some years ago now. My daughter may have tried to contact me in the past but, due to changes in name and address, may have found it impossible

  • MP slams store's battered women stance

    BOLTON West MP Tom Sackville has hit out at a campaign by the green cosmetics chain, Body Shop which aims to change government proposals for tackling violence in the home. Body Shop has joined forces with a number of organisations including, the Women's

  • Surgery shock

    SIR:I refer to the story and caption showing Dr Dave's Surgery which firebugs attacked I was shocked to see the plight of our surgeries when arsonists attack. I am a regular patient who visits the surgery all the time. When the surgery started from 32

  • Aerospace hitmen blast Standish

    JOHN Nuttall and Ian Wainman, the British Aero double act that bowled out Clifton for 35 last week, produced more magic yesterday. The pair dismissed Standish for a mere 57, pro Nuttall taking seven wickets for 26 runs and Wainman claiming three for 16

  • Getting nowhere

    SIR: Bolton FOE decided to leave the Environment Forum because, after years of trying to communicate with Bolton Council on waste management issues, we were getting nowhere. Our reasons for leaving were clearly set out in a letter to Mr Ray Jefferson,

  • We had no telephone for nine days...

    SIR: We had NYNEX to install Cable Television about two years ago. After being given what we thought was a very good offer, I thought we could not refuse. Soon after we also had them install a telephone line. All went well, although their charges soon

  • Rollin' back to the 50s

    ST Bede's ADS, Morris Green, are staging two nights of fifties rock and roll extravaganza on May 31 and June 1. This is a follow-up to their successful VJ Review last August. InZRock Around The FiftiesZthere will be songs from famous musicals and singers

  • Boy, 13, shot in head

    A TEENAGER was being treated for head injuries today after he was shot. Police were called to George Tomlinson School, Kearsley, after reports that a boy, aged 13, was hit by an air gun. Two people were being interviewed by police. A police spokesman

  • Street stars go for cricket glory

    JIM McDonald, the wife beater ofZCoronation StreetZis now threatening to hit Lancashire cricket captain Mike Watkinson for six! But at least it's all in the name of sport as Jim, alias actor Charles Lawson, leads the Street stars in a fun cricket match

  • Company up to the job

    Opera North:The Marriage of Figaro, Palace Theatre, Manchester. THE greatest comic opera demands a performance of the highest standards and Opera North left themselves no easy task by performing Mozart's masterpiece in English. Every artistic crack can

  • Fire school 'back to normal' soon

    THE school devastated by a £500,000 blaze at the weekend could be back to full working order in less than a fortnight. Staff, governors and council officers are working round the clock to meet a tight June 3 deadline to have Withins School, Breightmet

  • John's window is a winner

    BOLTON art shop owner John Hayes opened a window of opportunity for himself. John, whose shop Art Incorporated is in the Market Place, won a national window-dressing competition organised by Washington Green, a publishing firm which specialises in fine

  • Apology due

    NO wonder soccer legend Sir Alf Ramsey has flown out of Britain in high dudgeon after being snubbed by Euro '96 chiefs. Sir Alf, 76, who led England to World Cup triumph in 1966, is bitterly upset that he has not been invited to the Euro '96 opening ceremony

  • Training for roofers

    THE North-west Roofing Training Group has developed four short courses for experienced roof sheeting and cladding operatives. The one-day courses, which are backed by the Construction Industry Training Board, are run during an afternoon or on Saturdays

  • Pennine celebrate 20 years in style

    A SUCCESSFUL Bury company celebrated its 20th birthday in style. Pennine Telecom, which is now one of the UK's leading independent radio and telecommunications companies, staged a series of luncheons at its Salford Street headquarters. It played host

  • Golborne off mark

    GOLBORNE finally emerged from one of their worst starts in years with their first victory of the season yesterday. They beat Edgworth by seven wickets with a workmanlike performance that saw Ewan McCray collect six wickets for 50. That helped dismiss

  • Youngsters on trophy trail

    BOLTON Schools Under-15s won through to the second round of the Ainsworth Trophy with a 22-run victory over West Lancs at Ormskirk Cricket Club. Batting first of a poor wicket, Bolton were struggling on just three runs for the loss of two wickets. John

  • Runaway bull shot after school scare

    ARMED police had to kill a runaway bull after it bolted into the grounds of a Bolton primary school. The bull broke free from Atkinson's butchers, Longsight, Harwood, yesterday afternoon and headed to nearby Longsight CP School. Worried head teacher Cyril

  • Bolton blitz

    BOLTON returned to winning ways in the Manchester Association Premier Division with a comfortable win over Earlestown. Batting first, the visitors never mastered the Bolton attack and only a late flourish by P. Houghton 32 enabled them to reach treble

  • Horror fall girl is smiles better!

    WONDERGIRL Stacey Wiggans has a smile on her face again and is well on the mend after receiving horrendous injuries in a fall from a tree. As reported in the BEN, 12-year-old Stacey had been playing near Eagley Brook when a branch broke, sending her crashing

  • Pro is banned in permit row

    BOLTON Cricket League side Westhoughton have been rocked by the news that they have been playing professional Rod Estwick illegally. The West Indian was issued with a work permit three weeks ago but Westhoughton and the League have been told that this

  • England call-up thrills Bolton star's parents

    RONNIE Irani finally made the step that has taken him from Bolton League cricket to an England place. The former Eagley and Heaton player has been called up for Thursday's first limited overs Texaco Trophy game against India at The Oval. And no-one is

  • Nick's digging deep for charity

    SCHOOLBOY Nicholas Hurst is digging deep to raise cash for Horwich Carnival's charity, Shopmobility. Nicholas, aged 10, who dances with Horwich Morris Men, is planning to spend his school half term holiday doing gardening for neighbours to boost the charity's

  • School for sick children praised

    A SCHOOL which educates some of the region's most poorly children has been given a clean bill of health. The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital School which educates children at the bedside, in the classroom, in children's own homes or a specialist

  • Pope confirms Kelly new archbishop

    BOLTON'S Roman Catholic spiritual leader, the Rt Rev Patrick Kelly, is to be the new Archbishop of Liverpool. The Pope to-day confirmed that the Bishop of Salford will succeed Derek Worlock, who died of cancer earlier this year. Church leaders expect

  • Hughes ready to get tough

    ERIC Hughes believes he's going to have to be cruel to be kind if he's to turn Leigh round. Three weeks into his new job and the ex-St Helens coach now knows the full extent of the task he's taken on. "If we are going to get the club back on its feet

  • We didn't apply for contract

    We have read your report of the result of the Judicial Review in The High Court (May 5). You have stated in your report that "Century Motors found themselves in the cold when not sub-contracted themselves by the AA" and stated that we were ordered to

  • Two sent off as Leigh crash to bottom club

    CHORLEY 15 LEIGH 14 NEW skipper Tim Street and substitute forward Mark McGughan were sent off AFTER the final whistle as Leigh's shock defeat by bottom club Chorley ended in pandemonium. The Leigh pair allowed their anger to boil over at the full time

  • How will they cope?

    SIR: Every winter there is an unfortunate increase in the number of patients with respiratory problems and at this time it is essential that there is an efficient supply of hospital beds to cope with this increase. Bolton's elderly people need the reassurance

  • One for the road

    THE Tyldesley-based Impact Theatre Company are taking their successful production of Willy Russell'sZBlood BrothersZon the road for the last time this week. They are playing several venues culminating in a final performance at their base, the Fred Longworth

  • Stage-craft workshop

    PEOPLE from Deane, Derby and Daubhill can sign up tomorrow for workshops in drama, music, costume, shadow puppets and dance. Sessions will be held from 7 to 9 pm, starting on June 3 for six weeks. The workshops are part of the On the Park project which

  • Club couple's raid ordeal

    DETECTIVES are still hunting two men who raided the Hawker Siddeley Sports Club at Gladstone Road, Farnworth, and escaped with more than £2,000. As reported in later editions of the BEN last night, steward Frank Peake and his wife Joan, were locked in

  • Arson family taken to hospital

    A FAMILY was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after a suspected arson attack at their home early today. The fire, which is thought to have been started deliberately in an outhouse adjacent to the family's semi-detached home, left the

  • Alan's a born showman

    JOSEPH Alan Burton of Farnworth was only 16 when he first became involved with amateur theatre. A year later he was playing Jack Point in Gilbert and Sullivan'sZYeoman of the Guard. On Wednesday, July 24, four days after his 66th birday, he wants to celebrate

  • Two suspended in car parks inquiry

    TWO senior officials involved in the running of Bolton Council's public car parks have been suspended from duty following the launch of a town hall probe into alleged irregularities. Car park manager Danny Fletcher and administration assistant Bill Pithers

  • Boots boost for Shipgates centre?

    HOPES that high street giant Boots is to take over a large chunk of Shipgates Shopping Centre have been raised following the submission of plans to Bolton Council. The major chemist chain has applied for the installation of a new shop front at Unit 1

  • Arson attacks

    VANDALISM against both public and private property has become a feature of the British scene in the 1990s. But now it seems that this blight is taking on frighteningly new proportions, with arson becoming a major weapon in the attacks on buildings. A

  • More for charity

    CAMELOT enjoys a very nice little earner indeed with the National Lottery. Some MPs believe that Camelot's profits are such that they ought to hand over more cash to charity. So far charities have received £150 million - 5.6 per cent of Camelot's total

  • Races to the top of Rivington Pike

    AT the beginning of this century, car and motorcycle races were held up Rivington Pike. Today, and next week, Mr Denis O'Connor of Bolton History Society, tells the story of these surprising events. MOTOR racing up Rivington Pike? No way, you might think