Archive

  • Rise and shine - it's off to work we go!

    Many people wake up in the morning filled with dread at the prospect of going to work. The alarm clock goes off, the snooze button is pressed, the alarm goes off again and the procedure for hundreds of workers is repeated over and over. But at Horwich-based

  • Fears in the park

    THE plan to build a visitor centre in Little Lever sounds wonderful. But will we be too scared to use it when it's completed? Having lived in Little Lever for the past 40 years, I spent many happy hours walking along the canal with my son, and then with

  • Wrong to be abusive

    I READ with disappointment parts of your article "Portrait of an asylum seeker" in Monday, March 3, issue. It seems to me that, like any other issue, there will always be people who give genuine cases a bad image. I realise I can't change those people

  • Minibus ride risks

    AS the driver of St Luke's minibus for the Wednesday Club, I feel I should warn parents of a very dangerous practice that seems to be the "in thing to do" if you are a youngster these days. On three times in recent weeks, I have been the unwitting carrier

  • A Week in Westminster

    By Dr Brian Iddon, Member of Parliament for Bolton South East THE two busiest weeks I have had in Parliament started with a public meeting on Iraq on the evening of Sunday, February 23, followed by a car journey back to London. Monday gave me a chance

  • Alice, 100, looked after Mary Poppins

    ALICE Chadwick has just celebrated her 100th birthday in March, 2003 -- and her children thinks she's "supercalifrajalisticexpialidocious". As a young woman she brought up her three children while holding down two jobs. And she also played nanny to a

  • Lord Leverhulme kept zebras in his zoo

    EVERY year, the active Horwich Heritage society puts on an exhibition about the past of the town. This year, the aim is to celebrate leisure and past-times of all those organisations, clubs and societies who have contributed so much to the rich social

  • EXCLUSIVE: Son quizzed over OAP Ellen murder

    THE son of an elderly widow discovered stabbed to death at her home has been arrested on suspicion of murder writes Lucie McFall, Crime Reporter Stanley Crank and another man are being questioned by detectives in connection with the death of his 76-year-old

  • Top bookies pick the bottom three

    WANDERERS are 4-11 ON third favourites to be relegated from the Premiership. Leading bookmakers William Hill are laying odds on West Brom, Sunderland (despite new manager Mick McCarthy's appointment) and Big Sam's Wanderers, to be playing in the First

  • Millers thank Big Sam for Farrelly deal

    WANDERERS midfielder Gareth Farrelly has signed on loan for Rotherham after weeks of speculation. He will go straight into the Millers squad for the trip to Gillingham on Saturday. Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore said: "Gareth's not an aggressive player

  • Two wins will do - skipper

    BIRMINGHAM club captain Steve Vickers is convinced his side are just two wins away from securing Premiership safety. The Blues are now six points clear of Wanderers and West Ham, after back-to-back wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool, with just nine games

  • Wilko backs Black Cats against Wanderers

    SACKED Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson believes the Black Cats are beginning to get it right - and predicts they will get a result against Wanderers on Saturday. Reflecting on his departure said: "I am not surprised by anything that happens in football

  • Horror on stage at High School

    PUPILS at Walkden High School are to take the stage for their first musical for more than five years. Little Shop of Horrors will run at the school in Birch Road, Walkden on Tuesday, March 25 for three days. A team of more than 50 pupils have designed

  • Miss will be missed by everyone at school

    CHILDREN and staff at a Westhoughton school are saying a fond farewell to a popular nursery teacher who is retiring after 31 years of service. Dorothy Woods started her career as a nursery nurse at St John's Wingates working with the reception classes

  • Health plan bears fruit for pupils

    PUPILS at a Breightmet school are being encouraged to eat healthier food. Every Friday at Withins School has been designated a no chocolate and pop day to make way for a healthy selection of food and drink. A selection of fruit is being sold in the school

  • Children's clubs get £70,000 lift

    YOUNGSTERS in Bury will benefit from a £70,000 lottery grant to be used to expand out-of-hours clubs. The money from the New Opportunities Fund will establish more than 100 extra pre-school and after-school places for children aged between three and 11

  • Primary school merger is set to go ahead

    THE merger of two Catholic primary schools in Breightmet is set to press ahead after councillors approved the plans. Formal proceedings to discontinue St Andrew's RC Primary School and St Osmund's RC Primary School will now swing into action. Bolton Council's

  • A flying start in quest for work

    VOCATIONAL courses at school. Until recent years they had been sneered at in many quarters, regarded as an option only for the less academically inclined. But a pioneering scheme at Westhoughton High School, which education chiefs hope will be available

  • Teen's bike taken at knifepoint

    A 17-YEAR-OLD was forced to hand over his motorbike after being threatened by a man armed with a knife. The teenager was travelling along Clifton Road, Prestwich, around 7pm on Monday, when he was approached by the thief. He made verbal threats and pointed

  • Civic medal nominations

    THERE is still time to nominate someone for the Horwich Civic Medal awarded by Horwich Town Council for more than 20 years' outstanding service to the community of Horwich. The service can be in any field including sport, voluntary work, youth work, or

  • Chorley boss delighted with performance

    CHORLEY kept their play-offs hopes very much alive with a convincing display against a shot-shy Leek side. The Victory Park pitch stood up well to the persistent heavy rain and, in an absorbing match, the Magpies' free-flowing approach play caused the

  • Stars sign on toilet seat!

    A PLASTIC toilet seat signed by chart stars including Bolton's Badly Drawn Boy has been sold for £1,000 at a charity auction. The seat was signed by acts appearing at the Glastonbury Festival last summer. Other chart stars lending their signatures were

  • Libraries' sale

    BURY Libraries will stage the latest of their withdrawn stock sales on Saturday in Bury Art Gallery, Moss Street, from 10am to 3pm. As well as thousands of books for sale, with prices beginning at 30p, there will be videos, CDs and some antiquarian items

  • Woman shopper robbed

    A 59-YEAR-OLD woman was robbed as she paid her bill at a newsagents in Radcliffe. As the victim handed over a £20 note to the shopkeeper in J and M Weir in Bolton Road, a man standing behind her grabbed the cash and her purse. He fled in a stolen Peugeot

  • Do your have treasures in your attic?

    TV Producers are looking for people to take part in a second series of the BBC 1 show Cash in the Attic -- which turns your stash into cash. The show will help a family -- whose home is full of stuff they want to get rid of -- raise enough cash to pay

  • Cookie staff take biscuit for charity cash

    A BISCUIT boss has heaped praise on his hard-working staff for helping to raise more than £250,000 for charity which helps children. Richard O'Sullivan, the Bolton managing director of confectioners Millies Cookies, paid tribute to his "young team" and

  • Albert and Betty are great neighbours

    AT a time when most people would be taking life easy, Bolton pensioners Betty and Albert Aldred fill their days helping others. And today they get an official "thank you" for being such good neighbours -- courtesy of the Bolton Evening News' Bouquet of

  • Flat landlord wins fire safety appeal

    A LANDLORD has won an appeal against his conviction for failing to provide essential fire safety equipment in one of his flats. Zahid Razzaq was prosecuted by Bolton Council following a blaze at one of his properties in the Haulgh. Mr Razzaq, aged 44,

  • Sam 'The Gaffer' aims for new target

    SAM Allardyce is to swap the dugout for the oche after accepting an invitation to compete against some of the best darters in the world. The Wanderers' boss has been handed a 'wild card' entry for the Laurel UK Open North West Regional Final in Manchester

  • What the papers are saying

    THE SUN: Arsenal's Champions League dream is hanging by a thread after they failed to kill off 10-man Roma. DAILY MIRROR: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's Champions League hopes were left on a knife edge as Martin Keown was caught in a cheat storm at Highbury

  • Mudbaths bring mixed success

    BOLTON RUFC were left frustrated as their first team's clash with Ashton was postponed. Despite the heavy downpours overnight, the club's groundstaff appeared to have made the pitch playable only for the visitors to use their right to call the game off

  • Umpires wanted

    BOLTON Metropolitan Cricket League have a shortage of qualified cricket umpires. Anyone interested e-mail: michael.mitchell@gmpte. gov.uk or ring 07719650356.

  • Hospital Cup ready for lift-off

    THE draw for the first round of the Hospital Cup has brought up some interesting clashes. The draw is: Atherton LR v Radcliffe Amateurs, Ramsbottom United vTempest United, Daisy Hill v Atherton Town, Elton Vale v Stoneclough, Bolton County v Atherton

  • Stars of future to thrill Reebok

    THE REEBOK is set to be entertained by the country's most promising young players according to acting FA technical director Les Reed. The coaching guru has identified John Peacock's England under-17 side as the age group with the most outstanding ability

  • Health plan bears fruit for pupils

    PUPILS at a Breightmet school are being encouraged to eat healthier food. Every Friday at Withins School has been designated a no chocolate and pop day to make way for a healthy selection of food and drink. A selection of fruit is being sold in the school

  • £100m for health care

    AN investment programme which could draw in more than £100 million to boost community-based health care in Oldham has been announced. Oldham 2020 is an NHS-backed private and public sector partnership aimed at creating state-of-the-art health centres

  • World class plans for Blackpool

    BLACKPOOL council is to air plans to turn its town into a world class seaside resort. Two firms of international consultants will be explaining their plans to a full meeting of the council. Their brief was to devise attractions that are unique, do not

  • Cheers to £20,000 for charity

    BEER drinkers have raised a record amount for charity. Atherton and Tyldesley Round Table have announced that, for the first time, they have made more than £20,000 at the annual Bent & Bongs Beer Bash. This means they will be able to help a number

  • Four face court over murder

    A MAN from Eccles has been charged with the murder of a 24-year-old man in Salford last year. Anthony Martin Parker, aged 24, of Whitehead Road, is accused of stabbing Simon Dawson to death. He was killed in an alleyway off Ridgeway in Salford on June

  • DJ Sara rode burns horse Gus

    THE father of Radio 1 star Sara Cox is desperately trying to contact his daughter to break the news that her favourite childhood horse is fighting for its life after an attack by a sadistic arsonist. Sara Cox used to ride Gus, the horse set alight and

  • Primary school merger is set to go ahead

    THE merger of two Catholic primary schools in Breightmet is set to press ahead after councillors approved the plans. Formal proceedings to discontinue St Andrew's RC Primary School and St Osmund's RC Primary School will now swing into action. Bolton Council's

  • Rise and shine - it's off to work we go!

    Many people wake up in the morning filled with dread at the prospect of going to work. The alarm clock goes off, the snooze button is pressed, the alarm goes off again and the procedure for hundreds of workers is repeated over and over. But at Horwich-based

  • Stars sign on toilet seat!

    A PLASTIC toilet seat signed by chart stars including Bolton's Badly Drawn Boy has been sold for £1,000 at a charity auction. The seat was signed by acts appearing at the Glastonbury Festival last summer. Other chart stars lending their signatures were

  • Still red hot after 20 years

    Red Hot Chili Peppers, MEN Arena WHO can believe that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will soon be celebrating their 20th anniversary? As the charts have recently proved, their following, if anything, has grown stronger and larger over the years and judging

  • Talent on show in extravaganza

    BOLTON audiences have the chance to enjoy the wealth of young talent in the town with a five day musical extravaganza. The annual Bolton Music Centre Presents runs at the Albert Halls from March 16 to 20 featuring hundreds of talented young musicians.

  • Darcy seal title triumph on last day

    THE JOHN Smith's Farnworth Winter Rounders league completed its programme on Sunday with Darcy confirming their status as champions with a fine 169-98 win over runners-up Siddons. Tonge Fold XI drafted in players for their match against Adlington and

  • Millers thank Big Sam for Farrelly deal

    WANDERERS midfielder Gareth Farrelly has signed on loan for Rotherham after weeks of speculation. He will go straight into the Millers squad for the trip to Gillingham on Saturday. Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore said: "Gareth's not an aggressive player

  • Jussi eyes Reebok home help

    JUSSI Jaaskelainen is confident Wanderers can home in on Premiership survival. Saturday's trip to Sunderland could be a landmark game in the relegation battle but the mighty Finn believes the Reebok could be their salvation. Five of Wanderers' nine remaining

  • New boss to face Wanderers

    SUNDERLAND boss Howard Wilkinson has been sacked within days of the visit of fellow strugglers Wanderers on Saturday - and Black Cats chairman Bob Murray insists a new boss has already been lined up!writes Chris Sudlow Wilkinson and his assistant Steve

  • Mac takes on Black Cats job

    MICK McCarthy has been handed the task of saving Sunderland's Premiership skin, starting with Saturday's high-pressure relegation battle with Wanderers at the Stadium of Light writes Gordon Sharrock The appointment of the former Republic of Ireland manager

  • Dr Williams' pink pills save boxer Edward

    From the Evening News, March 11, 1903: BOXING has become so common a practice in this country that it is regarded abroad as one of England's national pastimes. In Bolton lives one of the best-known professional pugilists, Mr Edward Burke. He both boxes

  • Free feast offer

    MANCHESTER'S newest Thai restaurant, behind Kendals, is called Jim Thompson's and to celebrate its opening it is offering a free meal for two to anyone with the same name. Proof of identity is required.

  • Get into groove for talent prize

    SILVER Stars, a national talent contest for the over 60s is looking for someone to win their £1,000 top prize. The Bolton area final is being held on May 15. For more details contact Phil Smith on 01204 334306.

  • Hospice lunch

    BOLTON Hospice will benefit from a Ladies Lunch at the Marriott Hotel, Worsley, on March 20. Bromley Cross fashion shop Essence will be putting on a fashion show and soloist Cole Page will entertain. Tickets are £32.50 each from the hospice campaign office

  • Circle art sale

    BOLTON Art Circle is holding an exhibition and sale of members' work at the Last Drop Village on Sunday. There will be more than 400 paintings and prints by local artists, with a percentage of sales going to Bolton Hospice. The event runs from 11am to

  • Horror on stage at High School

    PUPILS at Walkden High School are to take the stage for their first musical for more than five years. Little Shop of Horrors will run at the school in Birch Road, Walkden on Tuesday, March 25 for three days. A team of more than 50 pupils have designed

  • Lynx put on a late show

    CHORLEY Lynx enhanced their prospects of reaching the knockout stages of the Arriva Trains Cup with a 22-16 win over Workington Town at Victory Park. Workington struck first in the eighth minute with a try from Brett Smith and he added the extras. It

  • Blue Cross days to help charity

    TWO days of fun and games will be held at a Bolton veterinary surgery this weekend to raise funds for a leading animal charity. Tombolas, face painting, lucky dips and refreshments will be on offer at Companion Care, based at the Middlebrook Retail Park

  • Miss will be missed by everyone at school

    CHILDREN and staff at a Westhoughton school are saying a fond farewell to a popular nursery teacher who is retiring after 31 years of service. Dorothy Woods started her career as a nursery nurse at St John's Wingates working with the reception classes

  • Child seat laws backed

    NORTH West Euro MP Gary Titley will be voting in favour of new EU laws this week to make car travel safer for children. Under the new measures, children under three will be banned from travelling in cars without a baby or child seat, and older children

  • Book in to help out youth club

    BOLTON Lads' and Girls' club is appealing for help from the public to stock their new library with books. Officials have now completed work on the club's revamped "brain gym" -- a place where members can finish their homework -- but need literature of

  • Pupils are winners at dinners

    BUDDING Jamie Olivers and Delia Smiths from Bolton showed off their culinary skills in a cooking competition. The Bolton Master Chef competition, held at Bolton College's Grosvenor Restaurant, boasted the area's finest cooking talent. Canon Slade pupils

  • Blue Cross days to help charity

    TWO days of fun and games will be held at a Bolton veterinary surgery this weekend to raise funds for a leading animal charity. Tombolas, face painting, lucky dips and refreshments will be on offer at Companion Care, based at the Middlebrook Retail Park

  • Alice, 100, looked after Mary Poppins

    ALICE Chadwick has just celebrated her 100th birthday -- and her children thinks she's "supercalifrajalisticexpialidocious". As a young woman she brought up her three children while holding down two jobs. And she also played nanny to a little Mary Poppins

  • Carnival queens start big build-up

    CARNIVAL queens in Horwich have been handing out cash raised from last year's festivities. They presented cheques worth £100 to the town's Sue Ryder shop, which raises funds for Leonard Cheshire homes, and to the Horwich Resource Centre play scheme. The

  • Hats off to Gold Cup

    IT may be 140 miles from Cheltenham Racecourse and the going will be decidedly mild -- but the famous Gold Cup Day is all set to be a racing certainty at Bolton's Bob's Smithy pub. The historic hostelry in Chorley Old Road is getting geared up for its

  • Double stabbing: Man is arrested

    A 45-YEAR-OLD man from Wigan has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder two people in Atherton. He is accused of stabbing an 18-year-old man and 41-year-old woman on Tuesday. Police were called to an address in Black Smith Fold at about 6am

  • Hepatitis cases worry health chiefs

    HEALTH chiefs in Greater Manchester have seen a worrying 50pc rise in the number of Hepatitis A cases in the first two months of the year. The infection has sprung up in small pockets across Greater Manchester and around 20 cases have been confirmed so

  • TV to screen quarter-finals

    TWO of the Powergen Challenge Cup quarter-finals are to be shown live on Grandstand. Widnes Vikings take on Super League runners-up Bradford Bulls on the BBC at 2.45pm on Saturday. Leeds Rhinos' home tie against Hull will be televised the following day

  • Libraries' sale

    BURY Libraries will stage the latest of their withdrawn stock sales on Saturday in Bury Art Gallery, Moss Street, from 10am to 3pm. As well as thousands of books for sale, with prices beginning at 30p, there will be videos, CDs and some antiquarian items

  • Lions maul Wigan in early blitz

    Westhoughton Lions U8s...36 Wigan St Patrick's U8s...20 LIONS never looked like losing after they ran in four tries to Wigan's two in a strong first half. Man of the match Steven Haydock went on to notch five tries, with Jamie Cloran, two, Jacob Hartwell

  • Pack ace Johnson bidding to dent Lions' pride

    WARRIORS centre Paul Johnson looks set for a more demanding role against Challenge Cup minnows Swinton Lions on Sunday as coach Stuart Raper looks to fill the holes left by his injured pack stars writes Chris Hall Johnson was ruled out of Wigan's first

  • Bad night for Shakers

    SHAKERS dropped out of the play-off zone after vital results went against them on Tuesday night. Bury are now seventh with a chasing pack of four hot on their heels. Scunthorpe made the long trip to Carlisle United worthwhile with a 2-1 victory to leapfrog

  • More Yeovil misery for RMI

    Yeovil Town 3 Leigh RMI 1 by Martyn Hindley: LEIGH RMI will be glad to see the back of Yeovil Town should they avoid a sensational collapse and lift the Conference title in six weeks time. The Railwaymen have lost all six meetings with the Somerset side

  • Smokers with a mind to quit the habit

    A HYPNOTIST will be using mind games to help smokers quit the habit. Peter Powers will be holding a free seminar in the Excel centre on Wednesday, National No Smoking Day, and is inviting all smokers to come along. He said he will demonstrate how he has

  • Why smoker Mandy's in the money

    GIVING up cigarettes is one of the hardest things to do, but a Bolton woman managed to quit a 60 a day habit in just five days. After smoking for more than 25 years Mandy Wilson, aged 40, of Darley Street, Horwich, never believed she would succeed in

  • Cancer hope

    NEW equipment to help treat lung cancer patients is being tested at Manchester's Christie Hospital. The device helps patients breathe in time with doses of high-energy radiation beams, which preserve healthy tissue surrounding the cancer.

  • Royal visit

    THE Earl and Countess of Wessex were due to visit to a secure psychiatric unit in Merseyside today. Prince Edward and Sophie were officially opening a new ward at the Scott Clinic, Rainhill. The royal couple were due to tour the medium-secure unit and

  • Las Vegas reward

    A COUPLE have booked a holiday to Las Vegas to mark National No Smoking Day, after they kicked the habit over two months ago. Anne-Marie and Peter Gibbons, from Macclesfield, gave up smoking as a New Year's resolution and have saved almost £1,000 as a

  • Repair work spells delays for motorists

    A SIX month scheme to repair and strengthen a wall alongside a busy road is likely to cause long delays for motorists. Bolton Council engineers will make emergency repairs to a stretch of the wall, running along Barrow Bridge Road, Barrow Bridge from

  • Humour therapy is stress reliever

    CHEERY ladies from Bolton were tickled pink when they learned that laughing can make people slim. They were treated to a spot of laughter therapy, also known as humourobics, during a fun-packed session organised by Bolton's Catalyst community development

  • Woman injured as car leaves crash scene

    A WOMAN was hurt after she tried to stop a car leaving the scene of an accident in Bolton. Jeanette Harrison, from Little Lever, suffered a sprained ankle and a minor head injury when she was hit by a blue Ford Mondeo. Mrs Harrison, aged 55, was travelling

  • Retired Bobby's mountainous adventure

    FOR the past 30 years Bolton policeman, Dave Newton has had two "beats". For, in addition to the streets of Bolton, whenever he had any spare time Dave would be walking the high fells of the Lake District. There are 214 Lakeland mountains according to

  • A flying start in quest for work

    VOCATIONAL courses at school. Until recent years they had been sneered at in many quarters, regarded as an option only for the less academically inclined. But a pioneering scheme at Westhoughton High School, which education chiefs hope will be available

  • Stay out call to cleric

    ASIAN leaders have condemned a secret visit to a Blackburn community centre by Britain's most controversial Muslim cleric. They feared Sheikh Abu Hamza's trip to East Lancashire could destroy race relations in the town and urged him not to come back.

  • Youngsters to audition for Oliver

    MEMBERS of Bolton Premier Productions are inviting talented youngsters to "consider yourself one of us" when they hold auditions for Oliver on March 23, 2pm. The group, which won last year's Bolton Evening News' award for best musical will perform Oliver

  • Why it's only fair to put a levy on school parking

    MAY I pen my response to the reply to my letter submitted by Simon Nightingale (February 27) regarding school ground car parking. My observation related to a present-day situation, whereas Simon chose to counter on a theme of looking back, ie some 20

  • Short memory

    REFERENCE David Wilkinson's letter of March 6 published in the Bolton Evening News. What a very short and inaccurate memory, or should I say selective memory, he seems to have. At the Council budget meeting of February 26 it was him and his party that

  • Our route to prosperity is through cars

    LET's get one thing clear, the problem of traffic on our roads today is for HM Government to solve. They should do this in partnership, and with common agreement, of other countries, then act in concert, instead of the go-it-alone Britain. Until this

  • Get into groove for talent prize

    SILVER Stars, a national talent contest for the over 60s is looking for someone to win their £1,000 top prize. The Bolton area final is being held on May 15. For more details contact Phil Smith on 01204 334306.

  • Hospice lunch

    BOLTON Hospice will benefit from a Ladies Lunch at the Marriott Hotel, Worsley, on March 20. Bromley Cross fashion shop Essence will be putting on a fashion show and soloist Cole Page will entertain. Tickets are £32.50 each from the hospice campaign office

  • Civic medal nominations

    THERE is still time to nominate someone for the Horwich Civic Medal awarded by Horwich Town Council for more than 20 years' outstanding service to the community of Horwich. The service can be in any field including sport, voluntary work, youth work, or

  • Carnival queens start big build-up

    CARNIVAL queens in Horwich have been handing out cash raised from last year's festivities. They presented cheques worth £100 to the town's Sue Ryder shop, which raises funds for Leonard Cheshire homes, and to the Horwich Resource Centre play scheme. The

  • On this day - MARCH 12

    1710 Thomas Augustine Arne, composer who wrote the masque Alfred, which included the song Rule Britannia, was born in London. 1832 Capt Charles Boycott, despised English estate manager in Ireland, from whose name the word 'boycott' is taken, was born.

  • What's showing on the box

    SOCCER: UEFA Champions League, Manchester United v FC Basle - ITV2 7pm; Nationwide League Division One, Portsmouth v Norwich - Sky Sports 1 7pm RACING: Day two of the Cheltenham Festival, including the Queen Mother Champion Chase - Channel 4 12.55pm TENNIS