HAVING no links with the place at all, I admit to rather reluctantly accompanying a friend to an evening of music held recently at Harper Green School in Farnworth. Listening to aspiring musicians is one thing when you're a proud parent, but as a mere
HOW sad that Stuart Chapman (March 18) subscribes to the common view that tax is unjust and unfair. The willingness of a society to pay tax is the sign of its civilisation and sense of solidarity. Taxation pays for all those common goods that make public
I LIVE in close to a school, and often see young mothers waiting to collect their children and it grieves me to observe that quite a number of them are smoking cigarettes. I believe it would be safe to assume that they, and most likely their partners,
A LOCAL cricketer has produced a blueprint for a two division set-up in a bid to make the game more competitive at second team level. Ian Senior plays for Greenmount seconds in the Bolton League but feels that for many teams in the 14-strong league, the
TOP darts players John Lowe, right, and Cliff Lazarenko were in local action when they played in the qualifying rounds of the Budweiser UK Open Darts Championship. The two were in action at the Bull's Head, Walkden, when they were among the main attractions
RAIL engineering works on the line between Horwich Parkway and Preston will affect supporters travelling to Wanderers' Premiership game against Newcastle at the Reebok on Sunday. All trains from Bolton are being diverted to Wigan and then on to Preston
GOLDEN employees have helped Bolton's Travel Counsellors company to buck the holiday industry trend. Agents for the Churchgate-based company who have earned a "Gold Award" for sales have helped Travel Counsellors' sales to rise by 57 per cent -- when
THE lives of children are being put at risk because parents on school runs do not make them wear seat belts. A survey of schools across Bolton revealed that seat belts or child restraints are worn in less than half of all cars on morning school runs.
BOLTON Victim and Witness Support Service will stage its annual charity dinner at the Last Drop Hotel, Hospital Road, Bromley Cross, on Saturday, May 1. Tickets cost £35 and all are welcome but places are limited. For details, or to donate raffle prizes
PREGNANT women are being recruited by Tesco to help sniff out the world's best new wines -- because they have better sense of taste and smell. Wine buyers at Tesco stumbled across the secret recently after four of the team became pregnant and found their
THREE men are being questioned after police pursued a suspected stolen car through Farnworth. Police say the red and silver coloured flat back van, stolen during a burglary at a house in Atherton, was located on Lucus Road, Farnworth at 1pm on Tuesday
HUNDREDS of music lovers enjoyed an evening of show stopping entertainment on Tuesday night when young musicians took to the stage in their droves. Bolton's Albert Halls was filled with the sound of music as groups such as the Bolton Urban Music Project
RAMSBOTTOM is set to play host to its first-ever blues festival. The 2004 Thwaites Beers Ramsbottom Rhythm and Blues Festival, the newest in the North-west, will bring a three-day feast of live musical talent and top-drawer acts to the town on the weekend
RESIDENTS have objected to proposals to build a detached house in a Horwich conservation area. A planning application to build a two storey house on Cooke Street, within the Wallsuches Conservation Area, has been submitted to Bolton Council for approval
THE world's first course looking at the impact of war on people and culture is being launched at Manchester University.
BOLTON is to hold a film premiere after young people throughout the borough made a movie. The Bolton Children's Fund worked with around 30 people, aged between six and 18, to produce a film about issues they feel strongly about. The three-month project
THE family of a building contractor beaten to death by a gang in an unprovoked attack today paid tribute to "the nicest man you could ever hope to meet." Frank Buckley, of Burnside Avenue, Irlam, Swinton, was attacked at bus stops in Chorley Road, near
READERS willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to help improve their environment could now receive a £50 grant. The Environment Agency's Action Earth 2004 campaign, run by Community Service Volunteers will give out the grants to people
BOLTON RUFC's leading players and officials have arrived in Spain on their annual tour. A party of 30 from Bolton have travelled to Valencia to play two matches against local teams. The tour will see Bolton come up against former player Santiago Castro
RAMSBOTTOM is set to play host to its first-ever blues festival. The 2004 Thwaites Beers Ramsbottom Rhythm and Blues Festival, the newest in the North-west, will bring a three-day feast of live musical talent and top-drawer acts to the town on the weekend
Radcliffe Boro 0 Lancaster 2: PETER Thomson scored a goal and created another for Lancaster City to consign Radcliffe Borough to Unibond Premier Division defeat at Stainton Park on Tuesday night. The match was evenly balanced until the 52nd minute, when
PHIL Starbuck faces a hectic time trying to bring in more new faces before Thursday's transfer deadline. His Leigh RMI side are next to bottom of the Nationwide Conference and staring relegation in the face, but with seven games remaining have a chance
WHAT a difference one person can make. Specialist nurse Cath Pearson, who works at the Royal Bolton Hospital, has made the life of many of her patients a lot easier thanks to one simple idea -- a helpline. Patients who suffer from inflammatory bowel conditions
PEAK District farmers and landowners, ramblers and conservationists are working closely together to help prepare the way for greater public access to open countryside. The Peak District Local Access Forum - set up by the National Park Authority in 2000
SHOPKEEPERS are being asked to help get Bolton healthier by promoting fruit in their shops. Bolton Primary Care Trust's 5-a-day scheme encourages people to eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day to stave off heart disease, strokes and various
A CRUMBLING eyesore on the outskirts of Bolton town centre is set to be demolished next month. Bulldozers are poised to tear down the Skagen Court block of flats, but fears are growing that hundreds of tenants who used to live in the flats will not be
A LITTER-busting campaign by Bolton Council is gathering momentum -- with support from the police. The council's commercial services department is about to launch a "Don't Waste Your Money -- Bin it for Bolton" campaign. Under the scheme, people seen
A BURY teenager was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday on drug trafficking charges in Thailand. Michael Alan Connell, aged 19, was sentenced to death at Bangkok Criminal Court but it was then reduced to life imprisonment because of his confession
SERVICE levels at four hospitals in Greater Manchester - including Fairfield Hospital, Bury - are no longer viable, according to a report on Wednesday. The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust says which runs the hospitals says resources at the sites - in
HUNDREDS of music lovers enjoyed an evening of show stopping entertainment on Tuesday night when young musicians took to the stage in their droves. Bolton's Albert Halls was filled with the sound of music as groups such as the Bolton Urban Music Project
A CAMPAIGN led by shop-workers union USDAW to secure a national minimum wage for 16 and 17 year-olds has ended in victory. Patricia Hewitt, Trade and Industry Secretary has announced that 16 and 17 year-olds will, for the first time, be brought under
"ISN'T it time they had a female Doctor Who?" a colleague remarked on the news that the excellent Little Hulton actor Christopher Eccleston is to be the next reincarnation of the famous Time Lord. "I don't know about that -- whoever plays the good Doctor
IN another piece of asinine Political Correctness prison warders may be forced to address some of the country's most dangerous inmates as "Mr." The board of visitors at Category A Wakefield Prison appear to have acted after complaints that some prisoners
FERN Britton has become the hightest paid woman on TV with a £500,000 salary for a three-day week. If you feel the sums don't add up, think again. Apart from being deceptively professional on ITV's This Morning, she has proved that you don't have to be
LULU was at the Trafford Centre this week and, yes, she is just as gorgeous as most of us middle-aged women feared. The skin is flawless, the make-up restrained and she was dressed casually, rock chick style, in jeans and a jacket with her hair in an
LOSING local pubs is like losing a bit of history. They are places that have often been there for decades, not just as landmarks, but as the focal point for many local communities. Pubs are places -- as the soaps have so cannily recognised -- where local
I AM writing to ask if anyone can settle a long running argument, which is about to kick off again with me and my family with summer time approaching, and the clocks being altered one hour. I say that no one actually gets one hour longer or one hour less
THIS year my water bill has been increased by £45 -- an increase way over the rate of inflation. It would seem to me that the rain in the clouds is okay, but when it reaches earth we are charged the earth for it. United Utilities made over £300m profit
IN 1993 I had the pleasure of watching a well-known steam train painted in the distinctive apple-green livery of LNER, slowly but surely pull away from the platform at Ramsbottom railway station. It was leaving to go to Bolton Street station in Bury.
A CORONER has warned of the danger of inhaling lighter fuel after the death of a Horwich schoolboy who collapsed while playing football. Karl Robert Grundy, aged 14, of Robinson Street, Horwich, died after inhaling butane lighter fuel refills last October
BOLTON town centre on Friday and Saturday nights is no civilised place for anyone over 40 to be. It's the time when the young take over -- short sleeved lads keeping the hair gel industry buoyant and girls wearing in total no more than a yard of material
ARTWORK produced by local schoolchildren as part of the 2003 Food Hygiene Campaign is currently on display at Bolton Museum. The Food Hygiene Campaign was a joint initiative between Bolton Council's Food Control Unit and Bolton Primary Care Trust. The
BOLTON is to hold a film premiere after young people throughout the borough made a movie. The Bolton Children's Fund worked with around 30 people, aged between six and 18, to produce a film about issues they feel strongly about. The three-month project
ARTWORK produced by local schoolchildren as part of the 2003 Food Hygiene Campaign is currently on display at Bolton Museum. The Food Hygiene Campaign was a joint initiative between Bolton Council's Food Control Unit and Bolton Primary Care Trust. The
A GIRL aged 10 suffered burns to her face and ears when the engine in her father's van burst into flames. The girl was using an engine spray to help start the van, which was parked at the corner of Sapling Road and Chilham Street, Bolton. She was treated
THE lives of children are being put at risk because parents on school runs do not make them wear seat belts. A survey of schools across Bolton revealed that seat belts or child restraints are worn in less than half of all cars on morning school runs.
GREATER Manchester Ambulance Service has taken delivery of the last of its new fleet of ambulances. The new Patient Transport Service vehicles have been gradually introduced at almost every station in Greater Manchester over the last few months. The 63
JAY-JAY Okocha has revealed how his decision to put football before contract talks has given him a new lease of Premiership life. "It's a weight off my shoulders," the Wanderers skipper said, explaining why he had postponed negotiations on a new Reebok
Eccles 7 Tyldesley 18: AN early second-half surge saw Tyldesley come back from behind to win their friendly match at Eccles. The home side decided to play with the wind in the first half, but after taking a early lead with a converted try they could not
BOLTON Mets ARLFC were unlucky to lose their last game of the season 12-4 to North West Counties League Division Five champions Wigan Keepers. The home side, with the gale force wind at their backs, could only manage a one-try lead at the break. However
LOOK after yourself and look after your drinks. That is the message from Bolton police chiefs as they prepare to launch a new scheme to raise awareness of drink spiking in bars, clubs and pubs in the town centre. Bright yellow labels will be placed on
WHEN Andy Lythgoe proposed to his girlfriend Lindsey Goodman, he wanted her, and the whole of Bolton, to know exactly how serious he was. The 34-year-old declared his love for her in spectacular fashion and popped the question to Lindsey on a 12ft high
A TRAFFIC warden who handed a ticket to a man parked on the pavement, and on double yellow lines, was threatened and then chased, a court was told. It is alleged Tahir Afsar, aged 19, of Rawson Street, Farnworth, shouted racial abuse at warden David Whittle
A YOUNG Bolton leukaemia sufferer was allowed out of the cancer ward where he has lived for the last six months to present a cheque to the nurses caring for him. Andrew Toner, aged 19, left Manchester Royal Infimary to join friends and family at Bradford
FEW films have had as much advance publicity as The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's controversial portrayal of the last hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The Reverend Debby Plummer, from Bolton Parish Church, has already seen the film, due for
Sunday Premier Division P W D L F A GD Pt Inter Ya... 3 3 0 0 9 2 7 9 Alliance... 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6 Brazil... 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 Church Hotel... 3 0 2 1 1 2 -1 2 Blackburn Rd... 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1 Freemasons... 3 0 1 2 2 8 -6 1 Willows... 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 0 Sunday
P W D L F A GD Disc Pt Players... 14 11 1 2 148 71 77 1 34 Howfen/Beens... 14 9 1 4 137 93 44 1 28 Commic... 14 9 1 4 125 92 33 2 28 Wingates... 14 7 1 6 115 96 19 1 22 RLFC... 14 5 2 7 98 77 21 1 17 Donkey Magic... 14 5 0 9 106 152 -46 2 15 W Horse Tav
Eagley 0 Charnock Richard 1: EAGLEY failed in their attempt to reach their second consecutive Richardson Cup Final. Both sides struggled to play fluent football in a match spoiled by a strong wind. With the wind at their backs, the Villagers had the best
BANKS should fund lost pensions, according to the T&G union. General secretary, Tony Woodley, says that the banks should pay a one-off windfall tax to fund restitution for workers who have lost their pensions because of company closures. Speaking
IF they ever bring back that celebrity boxing programme, Coronation Street's Karen McDonald (alias actress Suranne Jones) is a natural. When she clocked slimy temptress Tracy Barlow, played by Kate Ford ,during the church christening, the nation cheered
BOLTON has some lovely old buildings and a renovation programme that appears to have kept most of them in that condition. But, I cannot understand why handsome Little Bolton Town Hall on the corner of All Saints Street and St Georges Street in the town
