SWISS steam fan Alexander Choremi is so loco about locomotives he paid £1,500 to have the entire East Lancs Railway to himself for the day! It's the fourth time this year the 37-year-old rail enthusiast has flown in from Zurich to spend the day chugging
A WORRIED shopkeeper claims road safety work along a busy highway could slash his trade. Bill Dunn fears his greengrocery store on Halliwell Road will lose business because parking space outside his shop was reduced as part of the scheme. And Mr Dunn
SIR: I refer to your story about secondary school allocations. The scale of the problem is much bigger than your article indicated. You quoted two rather unhappy parents. There are many, many more parents who feel the same. My daughter also attends Lostock
BOLTON MP David Crausby left is stepping up his fight to win concessionary television licences for all pensioners. He says he is appalled by the fact that some old people in sheltered schemes get their viewing for just £5 a year while others have to pay
SIR: I am writing to you in connection with the article in the BEN about Mrs Rattigan and her views about Tonge Fold Post Office, the staff and postmaster. After reading this, I would just like to say that I use the Post Office every week, and I always
SIR: I have read your article in the BEN about Tonge Fold Post Office, and I feel I must set the record straight. The two gentlemen who run the Post Office, in my experience, have always been pleasant, good mannered and helpful, even suggesting cheaper
SIR: Marie Curie Cancer Care do not employ people to sell roses in exchange for a donation. Daffodils, the charity's emblem are given out each March as part of their annual daffodil campaign. Lesley Jackson Area Fundraiser Greater Manchester North? Previous
SIR: So John Prescott has decided to walk to work followed by his Ministerial car carrying his work documents. He has had his photo shown in the national press (but with no explanation about him walking with a slowly-moving car alongside). Is this getting
SIR: As a regular reader of BEN, I feel disgusted to think you could print such an article in your paper, concerning Mr John Patel of Tonge Fold Post Office. He is very helpful and well mannered. For you to take a statement from one pensionerwho was out
Gainsborough Trinity 2 Chorley 1 A GOAL four minutes from time denied Chorley a point from a scrappy ill-tempered game in Lincolnshire. This was a strange match with a completely uneventful and low-key first half followed by a niggly second period. In
MUM-of-three Karen Mawer was left trembling on the toilet when she glanced in front of her - and saw a snake in the bath! Karen's Monday morning blues suddenly turned into a red alert as, flushed with fright, she screamed for help. The terrified 29-year-old
BOLTON shopworkers are facing a rising tide of violence as they go about their work. Shock figures, just released, revealed a huge leap in the number of attacks on vulnerable shop assistants. One woman, who works as a shop security guard at a Bolton superstore
IT'S good to be alive and kicking. Ivan Rubery is celebrating the sixth anniversary of having his life saved - by running the famous 26.2 mile London marathon. But in August 1992, the computer operator, of Redstock Close, Westhoughton, was on the operating
A BOSS has been appointed to head a new "super" department of Bolton Council. Peter Wilson, 46, will be in charge of the newly-created legal and corporate directorate. The job was advertised in the national press with a salary of between £51,735 and £57,483
Everyone has their ups and downs, Sometimes smiles and sometimes frowns. The bad times never seem to end, But there's always light around the bend. When you find a friend who's friends with you. Be honest with them because friends there are few. Life
WHEN people reach their twilight years they should reasonably expect the State to contribute to their lives in the same way that individuals themselves have contributed to the community. Increasingly, however, the State instead is turning its back on
SIR: We the undersigned, all customers of the Tonge Fold Post Office, Bury Road, wish to state we don't agree with the lady, regarding the attitudes of the postmaster Mr Patel and his assistant. We have all found them friendly and helpful, and the lady
25 YEARS AGO From the Evening News, February 19, 1973 FIVE hundred 'Happy Wanderers' travelled in style to and from the big match at Bournemouth on Saturday. The Bolton fans were aboard the new League liner, British Rail's new £250,000 soccer special.
SIR: Part of my letter headed "That old chestnut" (Your views, February 18) about Bolton Council's stance over Birtenshaw farmland was omitted. My original letter which I submitted read: "For the benefit of those members who quoted Nicholas Ridley as
A FORMER opencast mine in Westhoughton has been declared a "death trap" for children after filling with heavy rain. Town and district councillor David Wilkinson pictured has condemned the owner of the mine for not providing proper security. But Rackwood
A SUPERFIT grandad says the secret of a long healthy life is simple: "You've got to roll with it." AlthouM-Vgh Alan Ralphs will be celebrating his 70th birthday in a couple of weeks he's still a roller-skating fanatic. Every month Alan, of Musgrave Road
THE three teenagers killed in the St James's School Alpine crash would probably have survived if their coach had been fitted with seat-belts, a Bolton inquest heard today. The inquest into the deaths of Robert Boardman, Keith Ridding and Nicola Moore
DEAN Holdsworth and Nathan Blake will be reunited on Saturday as Wanderers aim to land a hammer blow in their desperate fight to avoid the drop. The Reebok duel with Harry Redknapp's talented West Ham side marks the resumption of the attacking partnership
A BOLTON endeavour will - literally - bring life-blood to an Indian community. The Rotary Club of Bolton's president, retired Royal Bolton Hospital ENT surgeon Nath Mahindrakar, has made the provision of a blood bank in India the chosen charitable cause
THE next Horwich carnival queen will NOT, after all, be a hunky man. The BEN reported that Horwich carnival rules did not prevent males from putting themselves forward for the crown. Organiser Judith Pollard had said anyone could apply providing they
A GROUP of Bolton enthusiasts are trying to keep the romance of radio alive. Albert Davies, of Sutton Road, Deane, is spearheading a campaign to set up the British Amateur Radio Society, based in Bolton. The main aim will be to stop amateur radio from
SIR: We would like to thank all the staff at the ASDA Supermarket store at the Middlebrook Centre in Horwich for all their care and attention that we received last week. My husband has difficulty in walking and the facilities for the disabled are excellent
A GRIEVING mother has called for a change in the law after the owner of the nursery where her 20-month-old son drowned was fined £4,000 for breaching safety and childcare regulations. Catriona Rae, of Oakmere Avenue, Withnell Fold, made her plea after
PUB DJ Colin Watson may be one of the oldest swingers in town - but he can still leave the young ones in a spin. Colin, aged 51, of Astley Village, is top of the charts at the White Hart Hotel, Mealhouse Lane, Chorley, despite his advancing years. But
AN 18-year-old woman who threatened to jump from a motorway bridge on to the M6 is recovering in Chorley Hospital. The woman from Hoghton, who has not been named, was grabbed by police as she let go of railings at Cottage Lane, over the M6 Northbound,
SIR: The complaint in the Bolton Evening News from Mrs Rattigan, Shireburn Avenue, Tonge Fold, concerning Mr John Patel at Tonge Fold Post Office, is pathetic. To say all the staff are miserable, is untrue. They are all very pleasant and go out of their
SIR: I was very surprised to read your article, January 30 about the lady with the gas bill. I go in this Post office three to four times a week, and always find them very helpful and pleasant and after all it was in her interest to do it right. Most
LOVE will be in the Chorley air when romantic couple David Schofield and Susan Gough get married this Saturday - Valentine's Day. The sweethearts are getting hitched at Park Hall Hotel, Charnock Richard - 11 years to the very day they first got together
INTREPID MP Lindsay Hoyle admits it's n-ice to be home after a week on marine manouevres in the Arctic Circle. The Chorley MP flew out to Norway to be put through his paces with the Royal Marines at Asegarden in temperatures of minus 30c. Mr Hoyle's mission
SIR: I write with reference to an article (BEN, January 30): OAP to boycott Post Office. I feel the article is totally misleading, Mrs Rattigan of Shireburn Avenue stated that she is disabled. I too am disabled. I go to Tonge Fold PO regularly. The postmaster
CASUALTIES were evacuated from a battle zone and survivors freed from an horrific car accident in Preston last week. But it wasn't the worst tragedy to hit the town in recent years - it was the chance for the army to train at Fulwood Barracks, ready for
A SCHOOLBOY pop group have scooped a musical jackpot rock idols can only dream of - a TV debut with Madonna. The four youngsters, three of whom are still studying for GCSEs at Bury Grammar School, call themselves Al!ve and will share a peak time slot
BEREAVED Farnworth parents are planning to complain to the BBC over the lack of helpline numbers following an emotional programme. On Sunday the television station broadcast "Our Son", a programme about a family grieving over the death of their young
PETER Beardsley will get a chance to resurrect his career under Joe Royle. Maine Road's change of manager 24 hours after Beardsley's loan move will not affect the 37-year-old golden oldie's first team opportunities. Beardsley made a lively debut before
WHETHER or not Manchester United superstar David Beckham and Posh Spice Victoria Adams buy a house at Dobb Brow, Westhoughton, it's worth remembering exactly why they and other celebrities want to live in this area. The attractive countryside and friendly
Chorley Old Road Methodist Church, Bolton. Runs until Saturday. THIS spoof of the Sherlock Holmes genre was perceptively written by Hugh Leonard. It's a ripping yarn, well presented and well cast in Peter Haslam's production, which opened its run last
THE cost of dying is going up . . . making our final journey probably the most expensive we ever make. Council leisure chiefs last night decided to put its charges for burials and cremations up by around 10 per cent. But the cost of a funeral already
WORK on an ambitious scheme to transform Bolton's town hall square has moved a step nearer to meeting the Spring start date. Final designs have been agreed and staff have been told to order the materials and draw up a list of possible contractors for
TOWN centre chiefs are considering lifting a pioneering alcohol ban to create a continental-style cafe society in Bolton. Bolton has previously banned outdoor bars and pavement cafes popular in city centres such as Manchester. Now town centre chiefs are
LOCAL rally ace Debbie Blackburn has teamed-up with a glamorous new co-driver. And the future has never looked rosier - in spite of a little bit of adverse publicity last year. The 'little bit' of not exactly glowing copy (the story was splashed on Pages
THE wedding was booked, the reception was ready, the outfits bought and bouquets made . . . but there was still one thing left to do on the eve of the big day. The groom needed to be told! Amanda Hardy, aged 28, planned her wedding down to the last detail
MOVES are underway to get two small stations reopened in the Leigh area. Before Dr Beeching's swingeing cuts in the national rail network, there were 15 railway stations within a tight radius of Leigh serving 100,000 people, including two small stations
