RIVINGTON Music Society's Spring Festival, 2001, takes place on the weekend of May 11 to13. It starts on the Friday, 7.30pm, at Rivington Parish Church with Dragonsfire, featuring musicians in costume playing music from the Middle Ages through to present
CLOSE down Atherton Swimming Baths, where thousands learned to swim before Wigan's international pool was thought of? Atherton needs its splendid baths! The Atherton baths may not be international competition size, but it should stay open for ever. Small
WITH regard to the A5225 saga, it stands to reason that it would mainly benefit Wigan. In view of this, should this road have to be built, surely it would only be fair to have it built mainly in the Wigan Borough. Bolton never wanted the blue route, and
FOLLOWING on readers' views for, but mainly against, our town of Bolton, I still believe we have a great town and a heritage which is worth striving for. Countless citizens of the borough are dependent and reliant on Bolton for shopping and other activities
By Dr Brian Iddon MP Bolton South East IT has been a privilege to serve the people of the Bolton South East Constituency for the last four years. Although I have been involved in politics for most of my life, I did not accurately anticipate the complexity
THE BEN investigation into the nightclub fire 40 years ago which killed 19 people reveals the amazing story of the man who jumped 80 foot - and lived! All the reports and pictures are on our special CLUB TRAGEDY file on the local news left link
FABULOUS Joanne Walker is this year's Bolton Evening News' Girl of the Year. Blonde Jo scored almost 1,000 reader votes, pipping second favourite Lynsey Hayes to the crown. Jo, a former fitness instructor who switched to teaching earlier this year was
WOLVES 0, WANDERERS 2 WANDERERS 4-4-2 MATT CLARKE 8 Two outstanding first half saves from Proudlock at crucial points in the game. ANTHONY BARNESS 8 Snuffed out any hint of a threat from former England international Sinton. GUDNI BERGSSON 9 Absolutely
GARETH Hastie won his first Mitsushiba northern merit tournament -- at a course where he hit his lowest point in his Lancashire career less than a year before. Then the Bolton youngster walked off Southport and Ainsdale after losing his singles match
A NIGHT at the opera should feature some of the most promising up-and-coming talent in the area. Opera '74 presents Tchaikovsky's most popular opera, Eugene Onegin, from May 9 to 12 at the Albert Halls, Bolton. And within the cast is an impressive line-up
FIREFIGHTERS were called to a car blaze in Deane this morning. The Vauxhall Astra, believed to have been stolen, was set alight in Ramwell Gardens at 3am.
TAXI drivers will get a sneak preview today of a CCTV system aimed at protecting them from violent passengers. The BEN revealed last August the town was to become one of the first in the country to have cameras in cabs following a spate of attacks. Cabbies
TRADITIONAL May Day activities take place at Hall i' th' Wood on Bank Holiday Monday. Among them will be willow weaving and the chance to join in the ancient May ritual of creating a Green Man, a living sculpture which will later be planted in the grounds
TELEVISION viewers in Bolton are set to experience temporary loss of picture over the next few weeks as work continues on the Winter Hill transmitter. A number of complaints have reached the BEN of shutdowns of up to 20 minutes during the day. It has
A DOCTOR who was awarded the MBE for his services to medicine has died at the age of 80. Dr John Wilkinson Ferguson, of Dentdale Road, Lostock, died on April 22 after a long illness. The father of seven practised all his life at surgeries in Salford.
WANDERERS' U-17s take on Derby County at the Reebok tonight (ko 7pm) for a place in the end of season play-offs. They beat Leeds 2-1 on Sunday with Michael Eckersley and Shaun Dootson on target.
THE £1 million eye unit at the Royal Bolton Hospital finally opened to a backlog of cataract patients this week. Staff are hoping to double the number of treatments for cataract patients with the second theatre and are hoping to slash the waiting time
POLICE are appealing for witnesses to an explosion at a house in Oxford Grove, Bolton, at 11.45am on Monday. A butane gas canister was found at the premsies in Oxford Grove after the explosion at 11.45am. Two homecarers who were walking past the house
A PROFESSIONAL 'fence' who handled stolen goods has been jailed for two years. A car worth £4,000, phones, CDs, a cigarette case, a passport and electrical goods were some of the property handled by Lee Watts. He made visits to a pawnbroker to sell property
TRAIN buffs didn't see a steam engine pull into Bolton yesterday -- because the station was deemed to be too busy. Steam fans were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Glasgow Highlander, due to stop at Bolton to pick up travellers en route to Carlisle. But
The Stoneclough-based Bethell Group has appointed Mike Lane as divisional managing director of its newly-formed Utility Services Division. He is to oversee the integration of Bethell EDS and Bethell Utilities into a new divisional structure.
ARMCHAIR Wanderers fans can go through every emotional possible when Preston face second placed Blackburn Rovers in the Division One automatic promotion crunch at Deepdale tonight. For it's on Sky Sports 2, starting at 7.30pm. There will also be a website
AFTER a series of rounders matches played in the rain, the sun actually shone on last Wednesday's Section 'C' match between Highfield XI and Hatfield 'A', but some people are never happy. With the sun shining from behind the batter, fielders frequently
Section A -- Valley Scooters XI 102 Little Lever XI 109; Rupert Ladies 66(I) Bolton & District Ladies 39; Darcy Lever C&SC A 102 J P Ladies 94. Section B -- Westside XI 99 Prices A 92; North West Energy 141 Vause XI 133; Prices A 175 Nationwide
LANCASHIRE were battling to stay in the Benson and Hedges Cup in Leicester today after making the worst possible start in the first of their five group games against Durham in Liverpool. "We did pretty well everything wrong," admitted captain John Crawley
BOLTON Ladies Hockey Team can look back on a very successful season in the Manchester Womens' League. The Ladies embarked on an unbeaten run in November last year, which was to last for the rest of the season, and which propelled them into top spot. Along
PATRICIA Moran may only have been a girl of eight at the time but she has special cause to remember the fire. Her dad, the late John Heuze, ran Express Taxis on Manor Street parallel to Crown Street, and the family lived on the premises. On the Christmas
JACKIE Webb believes in miracles. She knows they exist because she should have been in the Top Storey Club on that May night. She had been going there as an impressionable 18-year-old with a few girlfriends each Monday evening since it had opened a few
TWO men who dodged paying a £5.70 taxi fare were given conditional discharges for 12 months yesterday. David Shuttleworth, aged 23, of Hillside Avenue, Atherton and Tony Gingell, aged 20, of Warren Close, Atherton, appeared at Bolton Crown Court. Before
ONE of Bolton's most famous family-owned stores opened up to serve refreshments to police and firemen at the Club fire. Mrs Ida Whitehead, whose son Gordon was managing director of the well-known Whitehead's store which closed only recently, remembers
A WOMAN suffering from depression and ME was found dead in bed by her husband. An inquest was told Patricia Devlin, aged 39, of Glynne Street, Farnworth, had been admitted to hospital a month before her death after taking an overdose of tablets, but had
FIREMEN who arrived at the Top Storey Club were faced with a terrible dilemma. They couldn't reach the people trapped on the upper floor of the building because the fire had roared up the wooden stairs destroying this exit. And, as they used the turntable
PARAMEDICS have donned wigs, stilettos and glitter for a star-studded night of entertainment. Salford was awash with celebrities, including Madonna, Shania Twain, Ronan Keating and Robbie Williams, thanks to the skilful transformation of flamboyant paramedics
DAISY Hill are to celebrate the 50th anniversary since the soccer club was reformed with a celebration lunch. It takes place on Sunday September 9 when the club hopes to reunite former players and officials at Brookfield, Church Street, Westhoughton.
THE Duchess of York is to visit Bolton next week for a whirlwind tour of the town's premature baby unit, the BEN can reveal exclusively today. Sarah Ferguson will visit the Royal Bolton Hospital -- the site of a new £155,000 neo-natal support unit --
BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness has been named the Nationwide manager of the month after steering Rovers to within one win of a return to the Premiership by Andy Neild Rovers won five and drew three of their nine First Division matches in April to put themselves
Wolves 0 Wanderers 2 SURPRISE guy Mike Whitlow sported a beaming smile after a triumphant return at Molineux and admitted: "I might not play on Sunday but at the moment I feel like a kid in a sweetie shop! "All I want now is for Preston to do us a favour
MICHAEL HOPE, a former Deputy Editor of the Evening News, who now lives in Surrey (he later joined the Civil Service and had a number of imporant posts) returned to Bolton recently to give a talk to the Bolton Historical Society. His subject was the six-year
AUDITIONS to take part in a new play which turns the spotlight on 100 Years in Worktown take place on May 8. The work is part of a project developed by a team of local writers led by Bolton Institute's Year of the Artist writer-in-residence, Bolton's
YOUTHS are believed to have started a fire in a garden in Farnworth at 8.30pm yesterday. Firefighters were called after the fire spread from rubbish in Clifton Street to the fence of a neighbouring house.
VOLUNTARY and community organisations in Horwich can apply for a town council grant. Application forms are available from Horwich Town Council, Public Hall, Lee Lane, Horwich, Bolton, BL6 7AQ. Closing date is May 31.
BEST-selling Lancashire author Billy Hopkins will be a guest at Sweetens bookshop in Deansgate, Bolton tomorrow. The writer of "Our Kid" about Northern life will be signing copies of the new paperback version of his follow-up High Hopes, from noon to
FIREFIGHTERS spent more than three hours clearing-up after a flood at a Breightmet supermarket yesterday. Safeways in Bury Road had to close at 6pm after an industrial plant room flooded when a seal burst on a heat exchanger. Water seeped through the
CHESHAM Woods and Gypsy Brook in Bury will be officially launched as a Local Nature Reserve on Sunday. And to mark the occasion The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, together with the Friends of Chesham Nature Reserve and
VERTEX, which employs more than 1,000 people in Manchester Road, Bolton, has been presented with the Positive about Disabled People Symbol. The Manchester-based company was established in 1996 by parent company United Utilities. It signed-up to five commitments
FANS of Old Time, Latin American, and Ballroom dancing are invited to join in the fun with fellow groovers at Horwich Leisure Centre. Professional dance teachers take combination classes on Wednesday afternoons from 1pm-4pm so people can try each different
TWO teenagers have been detained in hospital after an accident in Hindley last night. The 16-year-old boy and girl were riding a Honda 125cc motorbike along Danes Avenue when they were involved in a collision with a parked Vauxhall Vectra near to the
BOLTON and Bury Chamber is celebrating its role in a national campaign to persuade the Government to drop its proposals for a local supplementary business rate in favour of 'US style' Business Improvement Districts. The government U-turn follows months
DOGS and their owners enrolled with the North-west Labrador Retriever Club will be pleased to know that the classes are starting up again soon. Restrictions due to the foot and mouth outbreak, meant that the basic obedience training had to be put on hold
STAFF at the Wanderers' superstore are expecting a rush at the tills tomorrow when the latest new strip strip goes on sale. The new kit can be bought on mail order and on the internet but the majority of business is still conducted over the counter.
DEAF people in Bury and those hard of hearing, should now find it easier than ever to communicate with the council. A number of Minicom systems have been installed at key locations around the area. Minicoms are a text type telephone which are designed
AN organisation set up to beat bullying in Bolton is now showing its sporting skills. The Bully Free Zone has entered a team to play football in the 11-a-side Sunday Pioneer League. The team has attracted sponsorship through bedbookers.com for kits and
A PENSIONER who tripped over a footstool while closing her curtains and broke both her arms died in hospital, an inquest was told. Elsie May Greenhalgh, aged 82, died in Fairfield General Hospital from pneumonia due to immobility. Her son, Keith Greenhalgh
WESTSIDE XI have recorded maximum points from three games played. They dismissed Daisy Hill CC A for 53 in the first innings. Westside batted and scored 103 runs, Daisy Hill batted a second time, but were soon dismissed for 27 runs. Heaton XI have suffered
Section A -- Today: Bolton & District Ladies v Darcy Lever C&SC A (K Coward), Heaton CC A v Darcy Lever C&SC A (D Foulkes), Little Lever XI v Rupert Ladies (G Palmer); Wed: Bolton District Ladies v Bradshaw (R Moffat). Section B -- Today:
HEATON boxer Amir Khan realised his dream at the second attempt when he became England National Schoolboys' U14s 49 kilo champion with a stylish win in the final at Barnsley Metrodome. The 14 year-old lost in the final last year at a lighter weight, but
A FACTORY boss is considering moving his premises after a blaze ripped through it. Gary Dalton, director of G Dalton Engineering, on Gooch Street, Horwich, vowed to get his company up and running as soon as possible. But with water-logging and no roof
JACKIE Webb believes in miracles. She knows they exist because she should have been in the Top Storey Club on that May night. She had been going there as an impressionable 18-year-old with a few girlfriends each Monday evening since it had opened a few
JACK Breen knows he's a lucky man today. He fell 80 feet from a window of the Top Storey Club -- and lived. Now aged 68 and managing director of estate agency Gran Sol Properties Europe Ltd, Jack spoke to the BEN from Calpe on Spain's Costa Blanca where
HOMELESS people in Bolton will be given year round support after volunteers gave the thumbs up to keep the town's shelter open. The homeless shelter was originally set up to offer winter warmth to rough sleepers and prostitutes. But now the exciting project
ORGANISERS of an annual talent contest have been so overwhelmed by pensioner power they have had to organise extra heats for the tournament. Interest in Bolton's traditional over-60s talent contest has exploded this year, leaving the town's entertainment
THE jobs market in Farnworth will soon look brighter after a major lighting firm announced a £750,000 relocation to the town. Village Lighting Ltd plans to create 60 assembly and warehouse jobs after buying Cobden Mill in Gower Street. It is closing its
A BOY who fell 12 ft through a skylight after climbing onto a school roof to retrieve a football was told by doctors: "You're lucky to be alive!" Thomas Knowles, aged 12, landed on his back inside St James' Primary School, Hillside Avenue, Farnworth,
