Archive

  • Landlady's plea for missing pet

    A DISTRESSED landlady is offering a reward for the return of her treasured pet, which disappeared during renovation work at her pub. Elaine Urcelay, 43, licensee of the Gibraltar Rock, on Deane Road, Bolton, says she does not know whether her German Shepherd

  • Victorian Street Fair fun

    TORRENTIAL downpours threatened to wash out Bolton's annual Victorian Street Fair yesterday morning - but by the afternoon there was a sunnier outlook. As the heavens opened in the early morning, streets were awash with water, and stall holders and customers

  • Brother's appeal for hit and run witnesses

    THE brother of a Bolton man left critically injured by a hit and run driver today backed a renewed police appeal for witnesses. Kenneth Bell, 62, was knocked down at the junction of Belmont Road and Blackburn Road, just yards from his home at about 9.05pm

  • Council errors hit wrong note

    COUNCILLORS in Westhoughton are demanding an apology is sent to Standish Band following a string of mishaps they have blamed on Bolton's leisure services department. Disaster has struck on the last four occasions the band has been booked to appear at

  • Peace peer

    SIR: All interested in peace in Northern Ireland will be pleased with the Life Peerage given to Dr John Alderdice, leader of the non-sectarian Alliance Party. The nomination came from the Liberal Democrats and it means that, for the first time, the moderate

  • It's a mess

    SIR: May I take this opportunity to back up what Christine Adams said about Maxton House for the elderly in Bridgewater Street, Farnworth. After reading the letter I decided to look for myself at the exterior of the building. The windows look totally

  • A moral matter

    SIR: It was with horror I read in the BEN of the gay 'wedding' in our lovely Town Hall. (I am grateful it wasn't in a church). I hope at the next elections the people in Cllr Gerald Riley's area will remember what he stands for. It is nothing to do with

  • We'll bounce back says Wigan boss

    BRITISH rugby league has new champions for the first time in eight years. Super St Helens have replaced mighty Wigan as the game's top club - and the jubilant Knowsley Road outfit have done it in glorious style with their first double for 30 years. The

  • Intolerable losses

    SIR: So Victoria Square is costing £40,000 a year to repair and has led to the Council paying out a further £50,000 in compensation for injuries sustained by the public (BEN, August 19). Taken over the four year period the total cost reaches the staggering

  • Opera auditions

    OPERA 74 will presentZLa TraviataZfrom May 8 to 10 next year at the Albert Halls, Bolton. Auditions will be held from 8 pm on September 18 at Christ Church, Heaton. More details from Alan Roscoe 01204 61961. Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000

  • Classic drama

    TERENCE Rattigan's classic playZSeparate TablesZis being staged by St Helens Road Methodist Church Drama Group from September 25 to 27 at 7.15 pm. You can find out about the lives of the residents of the Hotel Beauregard, Bournemouth, by going along on

  • SOS for Ben Stone

    AN SOS from Walmsley Church AODS. The society has cast its next production,ZFollies, which runs from November 11 to 16, apart from the part of young Ben Stone. The character should be played by a man aged 16 to 20 with acting and stage movement abilities

  • Irene's Surprise rescue act

    IRENE Smith came to the rescue for Our Lady of Lourdes AODS when one of the cast of their playZSurprise PackageZdropped out. Kerry Gaskell who was to have played the part of Rosita learned she had been chosen as a Redcoat at the Butlin's Grand Hotel,

  • Meet our pint-sized TV stars

    TWO boys from a Bolton stage school have landed plum roles on television. Both attend Stagecoach, the performing arts school run by professional actress Denise Baglow. You may have seen Denise recently on Esther Rantzen'sZHearts of GoldZon BBC Television

  • Victoria Hall a top venue

    AS many musicians know the Victoria Hall, Knowsley Street, is a marvellous place to make music. Ian Mitson who is promoting his first concert at the Hall on Saturday, September 14, wants even more people to recognise that the magnificent hall, with its

  • Mona strikes gold with her Montana man!

    RELATIVES of exiled Boltonian, Mona Erickson, travelled thousands of miles to the USA to celebrate her golden wedding anniversary. Mona, who grew up in Bolton, married Len Erickson, an American Air Force officer in his home town of Butte, Montana in June

  • Facts, please!

    THE all-party Commons European legislation committee, known as the scrutiny committee, wants more information about proposed legislation from Brussels. Apparently, official English translations about EU legislation sometimes arrive months late, and written

  • Back to basics

    THINGS certainly are not what they used to be in primary schools. Gone are the days when children chanted their tables in unison and the only administrative work the majority of teachers had to do was marking their registers. Today's teachers complain

  • From the BEN files

    25 YEARS AGO From the Evening News, August 27, 1971 IT must be the most sought after telephone number in Bolton. Dial a certain 21-figure number from any call box in town, press your 2p piece into the slot, and you're through to Los Angeles. It is to

  • Help at hand at the library

    BUSINESSES in Bury can use the services of Alan Brown, the newly-appointed Business Information Librarian. Mr Brown is based at Reference and Information Services in Bury Central Library. A Council spokesman said that, in particular, local companies would

  • Fifty years of sweet success

    BOLTON'S only liquorice producer is 50 years old today. Maxilin Ltd, which was founded by the late Kenneth Gregory and associates in 1946, is now preparing for a booming, export-led future. The company is looking for new premises to replace its factory

  • We'll keep fighting on the home front!

    CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to carry on fighting to keep a council run OAP home open, even if it means taking the case to court. Stocks Park in Horwich is one of two local authority run residential homes recommended for closure by social services chiefs. But

  • Schools chief hits back at 'unfair' league tables

    A BOLTON education chief today hit back at claims that 11-year-olds are falling behind in English and maths. Labour Cllr Don Eastwood, education committee chairman, said: "I don't think that these tables are a fair assessment of schools." An in-depth

  • Homes plan stalled

    COUNCILLORS have delayed a decision on a controversial plan to build new houses on a playing field in Horwich. Members of the planning Committee decided to defer the decision on the scheme by Bolton Council after visiting the site near Singleton Avenue

  • Life-fight girl in beds anguish

    THE family of a girl fighting for her life after plunging from a wall have spoken of the frantic search for a hospital to treat her. As reported in last night's BEN Symone Longworth, aged 11, of View Street, Daubhill, fell more than six feet from the

  • Parents action call over joyriders' alley

    ANGRY residents are calling for an alleyway to be blocked off to traffic after joyriders twice drove down it at high speed. Emily McConnell of Spindle Croft, Farnworth says everyone is worried sick that a child will be killed unless urgent action is taken

  • We're friends again after all these years

    A FORMER Bolton woman is preparing for an emotional reunion with an old schoolfriend from 30 years ago thanks to an amazing coincidence involving the Bolton Evening News. Doreen Chambers, aged 49, visited an old friend in Bolton recently and bought a

  • No mention of Militia men

    SIR: I was pleased to read in the BEN that there may be a documentary on BBC about Militia men called up in 1939. They were to serve six months peace time training; without uniform, and only semi discipline. History was being made, as Britain had never

  • A tight rein

    SIR: In your edition of August 19, 1996, two correspondents interested me with their comments. They were: The Denhams of Blackrod who commented on the DSS snooper system. Without condoning or condemning this system I would like the Denhams to enlighten

  • Seeking legal advice...

    SIR: I am asking for any help from any of your readers in the legal profession, who can give us advice of the proposed closure of Stocks Park House in Horwich. We have no funding to pursue the closure through the courts, but we are aware of the recent

  • Flower power

    MEMBERS of local operatic societies will present a concertZSummer Serenade Zt St Paul's Church, Astley Bridge, on Saturday September 14, at 7.30 pm, as part of the Treasured Memories Flower Festival. The festival runs from September 13 to 15. Converted

  • Songs from the shows

    A GROUP of young pople from the Bolton Catholic Musical and Choral Society will present a concert of songs from the shows at SS Peter and Paul's Church, Bolton, at 7.30 pm on Saturday . Also performing will be a young flautist, James Berry. Proceeds from

  • Poet's Corner

    In the town where I grew up, Were factories large and small. Most had factory chimneys, Some had none at all. Cobbled streets and gas lamps, Horse and carts and clogs. Top and whip and hoop and stick, Heaps of thick, black fog. In the town where I grew

  • Slick RMI fire goal warning: Atherton LR 0, Leigh RMI 2

    ATHERTON LR Manager Dave Morris predicts local rivals Leigh RMI will be in the promotion frame at the end of the season. His comments came after LR had lost their second game in three days conceding six goals along the way and but for a brilliant goal

  • Showstoppers, Palace Theatre, Manchester. Runs until Saturday

    Wilmot is so charismatic THE 1996 concert tour of Showstoppers is even better than the popular television series that had the same title and the same leading man - Gary Wilmot. The numbers performed by Wilmot and his talented colleagues were after all

  • Car-charge youth claims: 'I was kidnapped'

    DETECTIVES are probing a teenager's claims that he was abducted by a man who accused him of stealing a car. The 17-year-old - who has since been charged with stealing the vehicle - claims he was kidnapped and driven away after being blindfolded and tied

  • Journalists killed in Barton plane crash

    THE two men killed when their light aircraft crashed near Barton Aerodrome yesterday were Turkish journalists based in London. The pilot and passenger died instantly after their plane suddenly fell from 50ft and crashed into a field near the aerodrome

  • GREEN INJURY WORRY

    SCOTT Green was today beginning his fitness race to make the starting line-up for Sunday's televised live Division One clash at Queens Park Rangers. Wanderers' reliable Mr Versatile limped off with a groin strain during Saturday's convincing 3-1 victory

  • Kelly quick to impress

    BURY goalkeeper Gary Kelly has made a flying start to a potential new career at Oldham Athletic. The Shakers' longest serving player began his bid to impress Boundary Park boss Graeme Sharpe with an impressive display in a 1-1 reserve draw at Liverpool