Archive

I WISH to thank you for my recent win in the BEN of the Harrods Food Hamper. It was most enjoyable. Thanks again. Marjorie Wassall Crescent Road, Bolton

THANK you for publishing the first glimpse of Bolton's new multi-million pound police headquarters (Evening News, September 21). Forgive me for saying this, but I think Bolton people will be far more impressed when they get their first glimpse of uniformed

DUE to the state of the country with asylum seekers, and now terrorists, is it not time that everyone from 16 year sold should now have a photo identification book. Then it would be far easier to sort out the good, the bad and the ugly. Jack Crompton

PLEASE print this letter in the hope that the driver of the car who hit a boxer dog on Chorley Old Road on September 24, at 8.10am, and did not stop, reads it. Some schoolchildren saw what happened and came to my house. The dog, a boxer bitch, not very

HAVING read the letter from Grenville Moore, I am beginning to understand why the world is in such turmoil -- quoting the Bible every few sentences as though that is the truth, the only truth. What about the claims of other religions, all claiming the

REGARDING the recent USA tragedy, what really gets me mad is this. If the world's leaders can suddenly become so animated and unified in their resolve to rid the planet of terrorists, why on Earth could they not generate such feverish fervour months ago

SAM Allardyce was dismayed after being told Wanderers have no right of appeal over Ricardo Gardner's red card at Arsenal. The Reebok boss had hoped the FA's video appeal panel would review the incident which led to the Jamaican international being sent

THE Wanderers fan who saved the day when he handed over his shirt to a star player this afternoon met his hero. Loan Wanderer Lee Houghton finally got his shirt back after lending it to the club when they realised they were one short at Highbury. The

SAM Allardyce has flatly denied any interest in Inter Milan's unsettled Turkish international striker, Hakan Sukur, who has fallen out of favour at the San Siro and is being also linked with Fulham and West Ham and now Liverpool. Sukur's agent, who is

Words by Gordon Sharrock and Pictures by Julie Berry LAMB'S testicles, raw squid, and black pudding ice cream were on the menu when game for a laugh Bolton Wanderers' chairman Phil Gartside kept his side of a zany sporting bargain with his high-flying

AN 86-year-old woman was treated for the effects of breathing in smoke after her grill pan caught fire last night. The woman was making toast but forgot about it when she was visited by a neighbour at the Stevenson Court old people's home, Bent Street

A FRIENDLY netball match made the players all hot and bothered when they swapped their kit -- for wet-suits. Female divers and male staff and diving instructors from Bolton Area Divers Centre in Sharples Avenue, competed against one another at the fun

COLIN Hendry, who misses Saturday's Reebok showdown with Sunderland after his dismissal in the Worthington Cup tie against Walsall, was one of a number of Wanderers' first team squad that beat a Leeds Xl 1-0 at the Yorkshire club's training ground on

BOLTON firemen have raised £6,829 in a novel charity event to help the families of their American counterparts killed in the US terrorist attacks. As reported in the BEN, 10 Greenwatch firefighters from Bolton Central Fire Station raised £5,547 after

SAM Allardyce was dismayed after being told Wanderers have no right of appeal over Ricardo Gardner's red card at Arsenal. The Reebok boss had hoped the FA's video appeal panel would review the incident which led to the Jamaican international being sent

COLIN Hendry, who misses Saturday's Reebok showdown with Sunderland after his dismissal in the Worthington Cup tie against Walsall, was one of a number of Wanderers' first team squad that beat a Leeds Xl 1-0 at the Yorkshire club's training ground on

THE jury considering the case of a senior police officer accused of attempting to obtain property by deception has been discharged. Detective Chief Inspector John Ruddy was arrested after two cleaners said they saw him clutching a can of polish on the

JUSSI Jaaskelainen is the latest member of the Wanderers' squad to win acclaim as a result of the flying start to the season. The Finland international has been named as the goalkeeper of the month for August by Shoot magazine. Jaaskelainen has been in

AN inquest into the death of a Radcliffe barmaid has been put on hold while a coroner awaits the result of medical tests Bury District Coroner Barrie Williams, opening the hearing into the death of Susan Treloar, of Dumers Lane, Radcliffe, was also told

A LANDLADY who became worried after not seeing a tenant for days went to his bedsit and found him dead, an inquest was told Bury District Coroner Barrie Williams was opening the hearing into the death of Radcliffe-born Paul Thomas Burrows at the flat

WHAT was game for a laugh Bolton Wanderers' chairman Phil Gartside doing to keep his side of a zany sporting bargain with his high-flying Premiership stars. Click on our CELEBRATION FEAST file on the left link to see what happened

BOLTON South East MP Dr Brian Iddon is calling for an emergency package to bail out Bolton's cash-strapped hospital. The Labour MP is arranging urgent talks with board members from the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust to thrash out details of a rescue plan.

BOSSES from the Wigan and Bolton Health Authority have given assurances that Bolton's cash-hit hospital will continue "to remain in operation". The authority, which holds the purse-strings for the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust, admitted that until reading

THE Royal Bolton Hospital is in severe financial crisis facing debts of up to £3 million. And the hospital's Director of Finance, Beverly Peacock, fears the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust could be declared financially insolvent if current spending levels

THE flags were out at Moss Bank Park when Bolton-born minature train enthusiast Albert Stones took a group of VIPs on a journey on Bolton's newly refurbished Commonwealth Games train. Cllr John Byrne, Bolton Council's executive member for culture; education

Words by Gordon Sharrock and Pictures by Julie Berry LAMB'S testicles, raw squid, and black pudding ice cream were on the menu when game for a laugh Bolton Wanderers' chairman Phil Gartside kept his side of a zany sporting bargain with his high-flying

AS I am sure you know, this column gets sent all over the world, and I often get messages from readers in many countries saying how much they enjoy it, and how it brings back memories of Bolton to them. Sometimes it takes a month or so from the article

THE Bolton Evening News has given its backing to the town's ambitious bid to become a city. Council leaders are putting the finishing touches to the bid to rise in status from one of the country's biggest and best towns to a city. It could be a case of

MANAGERS at the Royal Bolton Hospital have admitted they have reached crisis point -- as 24 patients lay on trolleys in the accident and emergency department waiting for beds. John Brunt, the chief executive of the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust, is calling

BOLTON people rushing to buy gas masks after the terrorist attacks on America have been warned they will not protect them from all forms of chemical warfare. Government health officials warn the masks are ineffective against deadly nerve agents which

FIREFIGHTERS and police officers were honoured for their bravery and hard work at a glittering ceremony. Paul Metcalf, who died trying to rescue a teenager from a Bury lodge, was decorated with the Chief Constable's Commendation and the Royal Humane Society

BOLTON'S hospitals have been given the worst performance rating in the North-west. In a new government all-star system, the Bolton NHS Hospitals Trust has received one "star" out of three. It was penalised for having long outpatient waiting lists for

IT'S pretty much as you were after a week of little activity in the BEN Naps competition. With none of the top 20 tipping a winner it gave a chance for those further down the table to make up ground. Ultimate Finishers had a good day with their 8-1 win

THE Government is considering compulsory ID cards, but the security argument is a flimsy excuse. ID cards would not have stopped the New York suicide bombers and will not deter criminals who can easily steal or forge them. Instead they will inconvenience

By Gary Titley, Labour MEP for the North-west THE WORLD changed on September 11. Before the horrific attack on America, we thought we were safe behind modern high-tech defences. But a small group of fanatics armed with box cutters ended all that. News

THE policy of appeasement does not work with terrorists, never has, never will. Remember Chamberlain, 1939: "I have here in my hand a piece of paper from Herr Hitler." Nevertheless, the Church and the liberal intelligentsia will be falling over themselves

BOLTON Council's Welfare Rights Service helped people in Bolton to claim just over £1 million in benefits last year. Their expertise came to the rescue in dozens of cases of people needing guidance through the welfare rights system. And one person managed

MEMBERS of a church council are supporting a family in the battle to keep their daughter's headstone. Marilyn and Tony Cheetham from Brook Bank, Harwood, are battling to overturn an order from the Diocese of Manchester to remove their daughter Hayley's

JUSSI Jaaskelainen is the latest member of the Wanderers' squad to win acclaim as a result of the flying start to the season. The Finland international has been named as the goalkeeper of the month for August by Shoot magazine. Jaaskelainen has been in

SAM Allardyce has flatly denied any interest in Inter Milan's unsettled Turkish international striker, Hakan Sukur, who has fallen out of favour at the San Siro and is being also linked with Fulham and West Ham and now Liverpool. Sukur's agent, who is

A BOLTON Wanderers fan who saved the day when he handed over his shirt to a star player was this afternoon looking forward to meeting his heroes. Postman Lee Houghton, aged 34, loaned the blue Bolton away shirt he was wearing to Djibril Diawara, after

A BOLTON Wanderers fan who saved the day when he handed over his shirt to a star player was this afternoon looking forward to meeting his heroes. Postman Lee Houghton, aged 34, loaned the blue Bolton away shirt he was wearing to Djibril Diawara, after

The BEN continues its occasional series on SPORTING CHARACTERS OF BOLTON by Dougie Tobutt who talks to Wanderers' fanatic Florence Brandwood IN 1938, 14-year-old Florence Brandwood was taken to Burnden Park by her brother, Jim. Since then, only the war

POLICE are investigating after a suspected arson attack destroyed a wooden shed containing tools in the garden of a house in Sale Lane, Tyldesley, last night.

A BANNED driver who showed a "flagrant disregard for court orders" when he got behind the wheel of a car again twice has been jailed for three months. Stephen Kent, aged 26, of Roche Crescent, Whitefield, Bury, was found guilty in his absence after failing

THE man who stepped into Eric Clapton's shoes in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and started Fleetwood Mac, appears at Bolton's Albert Halls on October 4, 8pm. English blues guitar legend Peter Green masterminded a string of hit records for Fleetwood Mac

RED tape is threatening to scupper Sam Allardyce's attempt to sign Macedonian international Artim Sakiri. The Home Office have rejected the 28-year-old midfield player's application for a work permit because his country is too low in the international

MANCHESTER'S Contact theatre has been chosen by the BBC to receive £60,000 over the next two years to develop new writing. The BBC Northern Exposure programme will invest in the discovery of new writers and encourage diverse writing for stage, screen

ARMED robbers raided a Prestwich bank after ramraiding a side wall. They drove a stolen flat-back Ford Transit van into the side of the Royal Bank of Scotland building in Bury Old Road, Heaton Park, at 2.35pm yesterday. As three of the gang entered through

A 74-YEAR-OLD pensioner was kept waiting more than 13 hours on a trolley after collapsing with an irregular heartbeat and taken into the Royal Bolton Hospital. The pensioner, who stresses that she has nothing but praise for the nurses and doctors in the

The Royal Bolton Hospital overspent on nurses in June by £356,000, compared to a May overspend of £56,000; The overall budget for the Royal Bolton Hospital this year is £110 million, mainly given by the Wigan and Bolton Health Authority who are allocated

A WHISTLE-BLOWING nurse on the front line at the Royal Bolton Hospital's accident and emergency department claims staff are reduced to tears as they struggle to find beds for sick patients. The nurse, who refuses to be named for fear of losing her job

The BEN has been flooded by callers ringing in to reveal their own hospital horror stories. Many simply wanted to let off steam after having operations cancelled. One man was waiting for his FOURTH operation date. He admitted that the operation, to remove

UNRELENTING pressures on "exhausted and frustrated" nurses are forcing the closure of beds at the Royal Bolton Hospital. The strain of Bolton's bed shortage is taking its toll on the town's accident and emergency unit -- with an 84 per cent rise in the

Manager Sam Allardyce cools down after sampling the red hot phail curry

The BEN's chief soccer writer Gordon Sharrock reluctantly joins in

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside tucks into a sheep's testicle, with a helping hand from joker Dean Holdsworth

"For a week now," read the story in May, 1952, "men of the Bolton Lighting Department have been hard at work on a stone which was at one time a stand for a gas lamp in the centre of Bridgeman Park. "Instead of merely removing the lamp, it was decided

From the Evening News, September 26, 1976 25 YEARS AGO: A GROUP of angry residents are claiming that "unbearable" noise is coming from a garage which has a round-the-clock breakdown service. Among 16 people living in Chorley Old Road, Bolton, also say

Bolton was the only NHS Trust in the north west to get a one star rating with most hospitals gaining a two star, with Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley Trust getting three stars. It is the first year that the government have assessed hospitals

HEALTH chiefs in Bolton have admitted the town's hospital has reached crisis point, after being placed at the bottom of the league in the North West by the Government's new star rating system. On the same day that the hospital's poor one-star rating was

MEMORIES of 1930s Farnworth have been given a "contemporary reality" by artist Lubaina Himid in a new exhibition to be shown later this year at Bolton Art Gallery. The artist, currently Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Lancaster, explained

YOUNG Bolton dancers were on their toes for invitations to appear on stage alongside some of Europe's foremost ballet stars. And tonight, the youngsters from the Frances Bleasdale School of Dancing, off St George's Road, Bolton, will find themselves in

A FAMILY doctor and a Bolton MP are still unhappy with safety plans on a footbridge which crosses a busy railway line, despite a meeting with Railtrack officials. Dr Ian James and Bolton North East MP David Crausby have campaigned for the bridge in Bromley

Oldham 4, Shakers 0 IT'S still early days but Bury's hopes of avoiding the drop look doomed to failure if this wretched performance is anything to go by writes Phil Thorp Andy Preece's men may have racked up their ninth consecutive defeat but it was the

UNDERFIRE boss Andy Preece isn't about to throw the towel in at Gigg Lane despite the club's ninth consecutive defeat at Oldham. Shakers fans were calling for the manager's head after last night's game when the Gigg Lane men lost 4-0. The backlash arose

Radcliffe Boro 1 Marine 1 Radcliffe's highly rated keeper Danny Hurst was sent off on 70 minutes in a highly entertaining Unibond League Cup group stage clash at Stainton Park. The referee adjudged a challenge on an advancing forward was unfair, the red