Archive

  • SOCCER: Bhutia go ahead

    BURY got the news they were waiting for today when the final obstacle in their bid to sign Asian goalscoring star Baichung Bhutia was overcome. The Shakers' bid to make the 22-year-old striker the first Indian ever to play in the Football League received

  • Twin towers family final!

    THE famous twin towers of Wembley have got a new home - in the front garden of a house in Radcliffe. A replica of the giant towers was built right outside the semi-detached home of the Turrell family in Stand Rise, Outwood, after dad won a national competition

  • Restored Smithills, a hall for plenty

    THE beginnings of a multi-million pound refurbishment of Smithills Hall were unveiled this weekend - with double the number of visitors that usually pass through the door in one year. More than 10,000 packed in during the weekend to take a look at the

  • Monica saddles up for serious horseplay

    BATTLING Monica Reddyhough is determined to give something back to the cancer care unit which cured her rare skin disease.sd So the stalwart charity fundraiser, who recently was diagnosed with cancer, donned horse riding garb for high jinks in Market

  • Cage the councillors

    I fully agree with the "lions' cage" as long as councillors are kept inside it. Why could the council not be privatised? A dozen paid people could run this town better. If not, the people of Bolton could sack them! F Simm Radcliffe Road Bolton Converted

  • Rivals in canal argy bargy

    A WATERWAYS war looks set to break out after a new group was set up and announced plans to restore part of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal system. For the old established Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal Society knew nothing about the new group

  • Gill and tonic is the perfect pick-me-up

    By Gordon Sharrock: Gillingham 1, Bolton Wanderers 4 EIDUR Gudjohnsen led the way as Wanderers took a stroll down Easy Street last night. The Icelander could have had a hat-trick but settled for two beauties in a four-goal demolition job that put Gillingham

  • Work starts on taking health care to the people

    WORK has started on a pioneering project to take modern day healthcare into the heart of a Bolton community. Work is well underway to build a new health and community centre for residents of Deane, Derby and Daubhill. The new primary care resource centre

  • Reebok date

    THE next meeting of Excellence North West is in the Lion of Vienna Suite at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, on Monday, September 27. The speaker will be Andrew Fitzmaurice, managing director of TNT Specialist Express and Mail Services. TNT UK Ltd was the

  • John's happy to be home

    UNITED Utilities' new chief executive John Roberts is more than happy with his new job. It means he can return to the region where he has spent most of his working life, after moving away for three years to South Wales to work for electricity company

  • Former pupils club together for wheels

    ST Matthew's School's class of 1940 held their 10th reunion at Smithills and Heaton Conservative Club. Around 60 former pupils - including Nat Lofthouse - attended the evening. The ex-Wanderers footballer provided a ball signed by current Bolton Wanderers

  • Family mourns bus tragedy Emma

    THE funeral of a young woman who died under the wheels of a bus in Bury was taking place today. Relatives and friends of Emma Waters gathered at the Bury Cemetery chapel to bid their final farewells to the popular student. Emma, aged 19, of Longridge

  • Church hall appeal grows

    A £45,000 appeal to transform a Bolton church hall reaches its climax on Saturday with a slap-up meal. The Millennium Appeal by Chorley Old Road Methodist Church is marking a year of fund-raising to turn its church hall into a multi-purpose community

  • Single budget cash boost for twins club

    FARNWORTH Twins Club has been boosted by its first ever cash injection - a £500 grant from the Single Regeneration Budget. And the club could not have enrolled anyone better to make the presentation than Cllr Derek Burrows, a twin himself. The club was

  • Proposals must not go ahead

    THIS is a copy of a letter I have sent to Mr Swift, Head of Strategy at the Strategy Division at the Bolton Education and Arts Committee, Mrs Blenkinsop Director of the Education, Cllr Stuart Lever and Education Minister David Blunkett. " IF your child

  • 34,000 calls to phone nurses

    MORE than 34,000 people across Greater Manchester have tapped into NHS Direct, the confidential 24-hour health helpline service, over the last six months. Launched in April, the service - based at Ladybridge Hall, Bolton - serves the whole of Greater

  • 800 new jobs could bite the dust

    TWO multi-million pound out-of-town shopping schemes which could create 800 new jobs could fail to get further than Bolton's planning councillors tomorrow. They are a £35 million shopping and leisure designer village in the Tonge Valley and a £20 million

  • From the BEN files

    25 YEARS AGO FOURTEEN people were arrested and charged with offences under the Public Order Act last night after an anti-National Front demonstration in Nelson Square, Bolton. Fears of future clashes in the town grew today when National Front men said

  • Treatment is on offer

    IT'S one thing to wake up feeling a little stiff after indulging in strenuous exercise the day before - it's quite another to be so immobile that you can barely get out of bed, let alone walk downstairs. Severe, painful early morning muscle stiffness

  • What's on in and around Bolton, Thursday, 16.9.99

    THEATRE, MUSIC & DANCE BOLTON Music Service's activities include Bolton Junior Youth Choir, 6pm-7.30pm, Bolton Girls' Choir, 6.45pm-8.45pm, Bolton Youth Choir, 6.30pm-9pm and the Gamalon Orchestra at Bolton Music Centre, The Deane School, New York

  • Don't panic over asylum seekers

    I WAS distressed to read the headline: Britain will be flooded over a letter from Frank Rushton on September 6 warning of an influx of asylum seekers to Bolton and complaining that they will be treated too generously. Don't panic is the gist of my reply

  • It's safer for trees to act as barriers

    I WRITE in response to Councillor J A Foster's letter (BEN August 23) which was a supposed reply to Mr P Riley's letter on the subject of the A58 Ring Road (BEN August 11). It is, in my opinion, an excellent example of how officials are so good at manipulating

  • BBC has no ability to perform in an open market

    IT seems rather bizarre, and strange, the way this Government handles its priorities for subsidies, and the decline in social behaviour. The BBC has a long understand standing with Governments past and present. The simplicity of asking and being given

  • Wez is a whizz on the Web!

    A SCHOOLBOY boffin looks set to become the next Bill Gates after he cracked a complex computer password - much to the astonishment of a web wizard. Wez Hunter, 13, amazed staff at Cyber Jungle internet cafe at Middlebrook when he came to the rescue of

  • Back in business

    STEVE Banks is hoping to cause problems for Colin Todd. The Wanderers keeper made his first appearance of the season in last night's emphatic Worthington Cup win at Gillingham and doesn't intend it being his last. Keith Branagan, rested for the cup tie

  • Mum brings church out of the 'wilderness'

    AFTER five years without a minister, worshippers at the Church of the Nazarene in Halliwell are looking forward to new beginnings and putting the tough times behind them - with new pastor Tracey Day. Tracey, aged 37, will be officially introduced into

  • Health hazard here

    THIS letter is written on Monday. The above is a typical sight which awaits any visitor to Doffcocker Lodge after the weekend. The dog walkers have obviously been "responsible" and are using the bin provided. Unfortunately it will not be emptied until

  • Cash crisis 'may shut college'

    UNIONS have asked the town's three MPs to step in to resolve the cash row at Bolton College, claiming it could lead to eventual closure. Last night, unions and college governors held a crisis meeting to discuss next year's budget which could lead to up

  • Ban on the barbaric

    MR Winward tried his best to detract BEN readers away from the Tories' support for fox hunting, but I'm afraid it won't wash. At last we have a Government with the strength to end this barbaric sport, and that is what sticks in Mr Winward's throat so

  • Flights hit as hurricane heads for Florida

    WORRIED Florida-bound Bolton holidaymakers are monitoring the latest hurricane news from across the Atlantic. Tour operators have been dealing with scores of calls from local people due to jet out to the sunshine state. Millions of people have fled their

  • Governing without credibility

    IT started with the European elections. An overly confident political party personified by its glib leader hardly bothered to campaign. Yet nobody was more astonished than the Tories at victory. More than just the matter of defeat it was the nature of

  • Flower award is a blooming disgrace!

    A DISGRUNTLED park-goer has blasted Bolton's success in a top horticultural awards ceremony. Last Friday the town was named the best large city in the 1999 North West in Bloom competition, the fourth time in six years the honour has been bestowed on Bolton

  • There's no UK now

    I HAVE just seen the Last Night of the proms, and heard Rule Britannia and Jerusalem, stirring choruses which causes us to reflect that there is no United Kingdom now, as it has been transformed into 12 EU regions, out of 222 in all Europe. Our politicians

  • Health bosses nominate themselves of top title

    HEALTH bosses have put themselves forward for a top national award. Bolton Community Healthcare Trust has nominated itself for the Trust of the Year in the Health Service Management Awards. Since the Trust's inception in 1994, its budget has grown from

  • SOCCER: RMI pick up a cup win

    Leigh RMI 2, Ashton United 1 LEIGH RMI opened their cup account with a well-deserved 2-1 win over Ashton United at Hilton Park last night. The victory was more emphatic than the scoreline suggests, with the premiership side always too good for their first

  • Leader Bob faces challenge

    THE leader of Bolton Council Cllr Bob Howarth is facing a re-selection battle. He could be challenged for the first time in more than 20 years as the candidate to fight the Central ward in May's local elections. Former councillor Martin McLoughlin, who

  • OPINION: Church at the centre

    THE powers that be in all denominations of churches should take a look at the first class plan that is currently reaching a climax at Chorley Old Road Methodist Church in Bolton. There, a year of fund raising has resulted in £45,000 to transform the church

  • THE DAILY POEM: Photographs

    PHOTOGRAPHS in colour or even black and white You hold the camera steady and hope they turn out right, There're wedding snaps and christenings and holidays by the sea, There're happy ones and sad ones and even some of me. The best ones are the old ones

  • Danny's on his bike for hospital appeal

    BOLTON soldier Danny Wilson will get on his bike today in a pedal-power bid to take a charity cancer appeal the length of Britain. He is one of three Army cyclists from the First Battalion of the King's Regiment who are aiming to cycle 989 miles from

  • OPINION: Ripples on the water

    CANALS used to be dirty, smelly stretches of water, meandering around industrial areas , often inaccessible. But then, nobody wanted to go there anyway except mischievous youngsters. These days, although the above description still applies to some stretches