ONE morning teenager Craig Williams woke up wondering why his room had changed. Slowly the realisation dawned on him. This wasn't his bedroom at the family's Hulton Lane home. He could not move his arms or legs, he was in excruciating pain, and had lost
IF the worst comes to the worst and Wanderers do go down, it won't be for the want of team spirit! Take it from one who knows. A year ago, Neil Cox stuck his neck out and criticised the commitment of the high-priced foreign stars who failed to save Middlesbrough
A MAN tried to turn himself into a human fireball in front of horrified nursing staff in the casualty department of the Royal Bolton Hospital early today. The 37-year-old was overpowered by a police officer and hospital staff after he poured three litres
FORMER Bury favourite David Johnson was today playing mind games ahead of his return to Gigg Lane tomorrow. Quicksilver striker Johnson goes into a game vital to both Ipswich and Bury's futures as the season's top scorer for both clubs. Victory for Ipswich
A BUILDING company has included a time capsule in one of its latest projects. Allenbuild Ltd, part of the Blackrod-based Allen group, is building a new Hair and Beauty facility at Wigan and Leigh College. Managing Director Stewart Bonnette helped college
SIR: May I express my, and my family's gratitude, to the couple who helped me when my father collapsed at the Bolton v Blackburn match on April 11. My father had had a heart attack, and the gentleman rang for an ambulance while his wife stayed with me
SIR: How nice that the total cast of Farnworth AODS received such a grand review in Tuesday's Bolton Evening News for their current production of the sparkling Noel Coward's delightful musical Bitter Sweet. There's still plenty of room for nostalgia around
SIR: I am writing to ask your readers to join me in supporting Red Cross Week this year (May 3-9). Every year, hundreds of people give up either a few hours, or a few days of their week, to collect for vulnerable people throughout the world. But the British
SIR: I believe that electronic devices such as smart cards and biometrics will fail to combat fraud because these devices will protect only selected transactions and hence would only divert fraud to other sectors. How are we going to protect other transactions
THEY came with tears in their eyes to say goodbye to the lad who loved life. Mourners converged on St Paul's Church, Astley Bridge, for the funeral of Mark Ashworth, 21, who died after an incident in Bolton town centre in the early hours of Good Friday
They stand, their faint yellow buds Enclosed within beige, rustling hoods Atop a slender, frail, green stem, The ever-changing elements bewildering them. The beckoning sun, fierce winds that blow, Sleeting rain, frost, and hail, turning to snow, No human
FLAGS will fly at half mast on council buildings throughout Bury on Tuesday, in memory of people who have lost their lives at work. Bury's UNISON branch and the District Trades Union Council will join trade unions around the world to mark Workers Memorial
CAMPAIGNERS staged a protest at Bolton Job Centre today against the Job Seekers' Allowance. Activists from Bolton's Centre for the Unemployed were joined by campaigners from other areas who all claim the allowance is penalising single parents and the
EDUCATION chiefs are looking for local companies to dig deep into their profits and help schools in a deprived area of Bolton. Sponsors are needed to support a bid by 15 Bolton schools to set up an Education Action Zone in Breightmet and Tonge. The schools
FOUR charity champion walkers from Bolton have reached their monetary milestone. For couples Sue and Bill Shephard and Howard and Jane Knowles have raised £14,400 in sponsorship as they prepare to take on the rigours of the Great Wall of China. The group
GETTING disabled people off benefits and back to work sounds like a sound piece of Government thinking. But the key to success here is for a realistic appraisal of individual disabilities, and an assurance that no one will lose out financially. Certainly
COLIN Todd has dismissed speculation that Chelsea striker Mark Hughes will be a Bolton target this summer. The Wanderers boss, who has twice tried to sign the 34-year-old former Manchester United star, said: "I was interested two years ago but that seems
WESTHOUGHTON Liberal Democrat councillor David Wilkinson has hit back after he and other Lib Dems were accused of snubbing the mayor's annual charity dinner dance. Cllr Wilkinson said Labour town councillor David Chadwick was a hypocrite for bringing
BOLTON has been targeted in an ambitious government scheme to find jobs for the disabled. The town is one of 12 areas throughout Britain chosen to pilot an initiative which will see personal advisers aiming to get the disabled off benefits and back to
WHETHER Colin Todd opts for the exciting Gaetano Giallanza or the experienced Bob Taylor, Wanderers will be looking to Nathan Blake to spearhead their last ditch survival bid at Aston Villa tomorrow. Twelve-goal top scorer Blake is the man Villa fear
NORTH-west bosses are to quiz regional MPs at a Bolton meeting. Representatives from the Confederation of British Industry have the chance to discuss important issues at the Reebok Stadium on Friday, May 15. The event has added significance because all
SIR: I have to write in answer to P G Evans, RSPCA. The way he writes that I naturally believe all I hear smacks to me as if he is saying I am ignorant of all facts and what he really means is I only believe what I want to. I can assure you this is not
HUNDREDS of gipsies from all over Lancashire and Cheshire were joining Bolton-based gipsies for the funeral today of one of their best-loved characters, Dorothy Shaw, 81. Ten limousines and dozens of vans and lorries were joining the huge funeral procession
SHOPPERS are turning away from Bradshawgate for other parts of Bolton town centre. And the result for the Oxfam shop, there for the past 15 years, is closure. As town centre manager Maria Appleton explains, Bradshawgate has changed into an area of nightlife
SIR: Following the thank-you letter from Pat Graham, greyhound rescuer recently in the BEN, I hope we can now have a good, long rest from sad, sickening, but sometimes deliberately sentimentalised stories about dogs. Like the dogs they rescue, Pat, her
EXPERTS in domestic violence were today hosting an open day as concern grows about Bolton becoming the wife beating capital of Greater Manchester. Specialists were on hand at the Waggon Road Community Centre to give advice to anyone who may come into
A MAJOR probe into allegations of fraud is underway at the Royal Bolton Hospital. The investigation centres on wages paid to stand-in nurses who cover for absent staff for Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust. The estimated 400 members of staff have been told their
JASON Donohue is expected to give Leigh Centurions an injury boost tonight. The on-loan scrum half will declare himself recovered from a damaged shoulder, and ready to take his place in Leigh's starting line-up for the tough home game against third in
PASSERS-BY were amazed by the life-like "dummies" in Waterstones bookshop window yesterday. At first glance, the display looked fairly ordinary - until on closer inspection shoppers discovered that the dummies were actually breathing! It was all part
FURIOUS council chiefs have attacked claims in an election leaflet that they were spending £100,000 employing two sculptors. They were angry that the claims were made in a Conservative Party pamphlet from candidate Ivan Cooper which has been circulating
KEVIN Hulme has played everywhere for Halifax this season. But it's where the former Bury striker will be playing next season that excites him - back in the Football League. At 30 years old, Hulme, who learned his trade with non-league Horwich RMI and
A LOCAL bus company has postponed a fares rise until June. First Manchester - the new name for Greater Manchester Buses North - was due to put fares up by about five per cent in March in line with similar increases over the past three years. But concessions
SIR: I write further to my letter of April 2 about parking at the Royal Bolton Hospital and the subsequent replies of April 14 and 16. My classification of staff not only includes doctors and nurses, but also midwives, physiotherapists, radiographers,
A FOOTBALLING mystery spanning 27 years has finally been solved. The missing football used in the 1903 FA Cup Final when Bury beat Derby County 6-0 has finally turned up - in a Match of the Day soccer exhibition in Birmingham. A massive search was launched
By Julie Freer ARCHIE is just 18 months old, but is less than half the weight of a healthy dog. He was taken to the Bolton Destitute Animal Shelter after being found wandering the streets of Deane. Shelter staff are now trying to trace his owners and
25 YEARS AGO From the Evening News, April 24, 1973 WHOLESALE resignations and sackings from the White House are being predicted as the Watergate bugging inquiry begins to involve the most senior of President Nixon's aides. The total White House operations
SIR: In his bizarre tirade against the recent attempt to outlaw the hunting of wild mammals with packs of dogs, 'Colin' was economical with the facts (BEN, April 14). Colin (no surname) believes that the legislation put forward by Labour MP Mike Foster
A CHARITY announced today that it was quitting Bolton's Bradshawgate because shoppers were shunning the street. Oxfam, which closes its shop next Thursday after 15 years, told the BEN it had to shut because too few customers were coming through its doors
