Archive

  • Return of the spaceman

    WITH the Christmas festivities well and truly over, and the penniless wasteland that is the month of January stretching for a seeming eternity before us, Babylon Zoo (remember them?) return with a stonker of song, All the Money's Gone. It's the band's

  • The rot in society

    MY 13-year-old son and his friend got on a 36 bus on Newport Street on Saturday afternoon (January 9), at 2.15pm, to come home to Great Lever after a look around the shops. They went to sit upstairs as the lower deck was full. A man in his 40s was already

  • Snooker fans remember Barry

    SNOOKER players are set to take their cue in a bid to win a memorial trophy in honour of a player who died last year. Scores of contestants are set to compete for the Barry Parkinson Memorial Trophy in the coming weeks. Barry, 47, died last July after

  • Grabbing a bite before the show!

    BY day he serves pizzas, but by night Adam Naisbitt is a composer of musicals. The 19-year-old from Willand Drive, Bolton, has spent the past three years working on Dead of Night, a musical about vampires, with a love story twist. And now, Adam, who works

  • Pupils have a ball

    FORMER Bolton boy Johnny Ball did a spot of reminiscing about his old days this week when his new stage show came to town. Johnny, who left Bolton when he was 18 but still has relatives in Westhoughton, couldn't make it to the Albert Halls in person,

  • Ban sparks dentists' shake-up

    DENTAL services in Bolton have undergone a major overhaul following a ruling banning dentists giving general anaesthetics. In November, dentists across the country were stopped from administering anaesthetics because of a number of highly-publicised deaths

  • Titanic rescue hero honoured

    THE heroic captain of the ship that rescued survivors from the Titanic disaster is to be honoured in his home town of Bolton. Bolton and District Civic Trust has commissioned a commemorative plaque to mark the childhood home of Sir Arthur Rostron, KBE

  • Church 'red tape' adds to widow's heartbreak

    STRICT church rules have prevented a heartbroken widow from creating the perfect memorial to her husband who died of CJD. Graham Wood lost a brave battle for survival last October after contracting the human form of mad cow disease. His wife Maria and

  • Food in the Dome

    McDONALD's is investing £12 million in the Millennium Dome and plans to build a giant diner there. Is this how we want to be represented come the millennium? The Millennium Dome is meant to be a showcase for British culture, not an advert for an American

  • Mother to sue drug firm over MMR jab

    A BOLTON mum is suing a drug company in a ground-breaking case, claiming her child's life was wrecked by a routine vaccination. Rachael Coote, now aged 11, has a mental age of six and has constant night-time fits after an injection for mumps, measles

  • RUGBY: Leigh aces playing for first team roles

    IAN Millward has raised the stakes again as Leigh Centurions wrap up their pre-season preparations with a final warm-up game against Oldham at Hilton Park on Sunday. Coach Millward has told his squad that they are playing for places in the line-up for

  • 1,000 jobs at ailrport

    Manchester Airport is holding a Jobsfair on Wednesday, January 27. There will be more than 1,000 jobs available ranging from aircraft despatchers to sewing machinists. At the moment the 250 companies on the airport site employ 16,000 people - a figure

  • Welcome back

    ANDY Todd is ready to put months of injury strife behind him and return to the business of helping Wanderers back into the Premiership. The 24-year-old defender has made excellent progress after surgery to clear a double hernia problem and is expected

  • CHEERS: Stone Age fun

    A LARGER than life bar owner is hoping everyone has a 'Yaba Daba Do' time before they head to Bolton's newest nightclub. Willy Richards who became a well known figure when he opened The Jungle in Bolton town centre, is now opening the Bedrock Club Cafe

  • Council legal eagles reach for the sky

    LEGAL eagles at Bolton Council have been shortlisted for a national local government award. The Legal Services Division of Bolton Council has worked hard at preparing for compulsory competitive tendering and improving its service. They recently obtained

  • School team top of class

    SCHOOL computer boffins can give the big boys some lessons in training after winning two national awards. The staff who help Bolton teachers use information technology in class beat off competition from large private sector companies to win the prestigious

  • Return to the old days

    By Irma Heger SIMON Bullen is the first farrier in Edgworth for 50 years And at 22 he is probably one of the youngest farriers in the country. He lives at an idyllic spot with his parents - in a converted barn overlooking the countryside - and has an

  • Gigs...Gigs...Gigs...

    TONIGHT (22.1.99):ZAtlantis nightclub, Watersmeeting Road, Bolton (Rough Drivers, Blockster). Bottom Bull, Bury Road, Bolton (Saving Grace). Oscars, Victoria Square, Bolton (Roadrunner). The Gypsy's Tent, Spa Road, Bolton (Small World). Witchwood, Ashton-u-Lyne

  • Still missing the Cannon

    TODAY marks the first anniversary of the closure of The Bolton Cannon Cinema (ex Lido). While The Warner Bros and Virgin Multiplexes have their charms, surely I'm not alone in missing the Cannon's intimacy and accessibility? Regrettably, a year on in

  • Listen to the people

    FIRST and foremost will Mr Jefferson, Environment Director, please, please listen to the people that matter in the "Super estate saga", and they are the PEOPLE of Westhoughton. Westhoughton people are sick to the back teeth of seeing more and more lush

  • Big opening brings acts to Atlantis

    BOLTON'S latest nightclub, Atlantis, off Watersmeeting Road, opens its doors to the public for the first time tonight. And they've got a terrific line-up of live acts to ensure an evening of non-stop boogy. First off the starting blocks is Blockster,

  • CHEERS: It's a tonic!

    A FORMER magnet for drug pushers and criminals has been turned into a popular meeting place ... for the legal profession. Gallagher's Oyster Bar is celebrating two years in business. And pub boss Pat Gallagher is delighted with the successful transformation

  • £500,000 to beat truancy

    BOLTON is to get more than £500,000 to deal with truancy and difficult youngsters in its schools. Bury will get more than £180,000. The extra cash was announced today by School Standards Minister Estelle Morris as part of a drive to improve classroom

  • Life story honours massacre war hero

    A BOLTON war hero who witnessed a terrible massacre is set to be honoured from the grave. Edward Lunt, who lived in Moorfield Grove, Tonge Moor, is to have his life story told in an article by World War II expert John Munday. Warrant Officer Lunt was

  • Welcome back

    ANDY Todd is ready to put months of injury strife behind him and return to the business of helping Wanderers back into the Premiership. The 24-year-old defender has made excellent progress after surgery to clear a double hernia problem and is expected

  • DSS reform call for claimants in crisis

    BOLTON volunteers who work with unemployed people have called for a complete overhaul of a benefits system they claim leaves many of society's most vulnerable on the breadline. Their call comes after two single mothers, both with three young children,

  • Halbro land Orrell rugby kit contract

    HORWICH rugby specialists Halbro have entered into a kit deal with Orrell. They are to supply full kit together with training tops and track suits for the whole of the lst team squad at the Premiership Two rugby union club. Halbro, which is based in Chorley

  • They're due holidays too

    I AM writing in reply to Mr Brian Entwistle's letter that was in the BEN on January 18, concerning the emptying of wheelie bins. As Mr Entwistle stated, wheelie bins were not emptied when there was a heavy fall of snow. Although the main roads might have

  • OPINION: Boost for Bolton

    WHAT a coup for the town. We welcome the news that Bolton has been chosen, beating off competition from London and Norwich, to host the Lions Club International Convention. It is predicted that the convention at the Reebok Stadium will bring in more than

  • Daily poem

    No icicles, No pavement slides, No winter warmers, No toboggan rides, No scarf and gloves, No frozen breath, No hot Vimto to prevent a freezing death. Mr Germ is alive and well, We need Mr Frost to sound his knell. Mr Doctor can't find time for lunch,

  • OPINION : Getting people off the dole

    THE BEN is proud to be a partner in the Millennium Challenge to beat the dole. As we reported yesterday, this newspaper has joined forces with four other agencies to offer the unique Job A Day initiative to find at least 365 jobs until the year 2000.

  • CHEERS: Pounds for pounds

    DETERMINED regulars at a town centre pub have pledged to shed pounds AND raise pounds in a healthy campaign. Four customers, led by example by the landlord and landlady, have pledged to fight the fat. And to give them the incentive they need, other regulars

  • MPs praise mountain rescuers

    LOCAL MPs have congratulated Bolton Mountain Rescue Team on "30 years of selfless humanitarian service to the community". They have put down a Commons motion which "recognises with gratitude the valuable work that this body of volunteers routinely undertakes

  • Charity coffee

    IN response to the many reports of cases of meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia over the Christmas and New Year period, I am writing to highlight one way in which your readers can raise awareness of meningitis, and raise funds for important vaccine

  • Firms axe nearly 90 jobs

    TWO leading local companies have announced 87 redundancies between them. Bolton firm Hick Hargreaves is axing 27 jobs at its Crook Street headquarters in Bolton, while BIC Cables Ltd of Leigh is looking for 60 voluntary redundancies across the workforce

  • Parents can key in for child advice

    BOLTON parents are to get their own children's information service where they can get specialist advice on local services. The council are to set up the information shop in the Central Library where parents can find out what is available in the borough

  • From the BEN files

    From the Evening News, January 22, 1974 TRADERS in Bolton's Ashburner Street market have called for a public inquiry to be held into the Council's plan to move it. Traders have also put forward their case for retaining the present retail marker and predicted

  • Rainforest Cafe, 1 The Orient, Trafford Centre, Manchester.

    "COOL mists rising slowly from cascading waterfalls. Trumpeting elephants, lifelike gorillas... an entire jungle of animated wildlife, along with live tropical parrots and aquariums showcasing saltwater fish and aquatic life forms." Well, that's how the