Archive
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I'm crying inside, just like Jessica
When eight-year-old Jessica Cleminson tearfully confided to her diary the devastation she felt at learning that her pregnant pet cow Caroline was to be killed, little did she know that her child's-eye view of the crisis would touch the nation in such
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Sing it again, Sam, correctly
AZYGON but not forgotten, we turn from those poor orphan anomalies in last week's column to the mondegreen, a different creature entirely. It's Rob Williams's idea, though there are worldwide websites overrun by the pesky little perishers. A mondegreen
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McAllister secures dream final date
Gary McAllister wrote himself into Anfield folklore last night after scoring the penalty which sent Liverpool into their first European final for 16 years. There were just 72 seconds remaining of the first half when the 36-year-old Scot, who won the Merseyside
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National winner welcomed in city
GRAND National winner Red Marauder is to take part in a civic parade in his honour in owner Norman Mason's home city of Sunderland next week. The millionaire owner/trainer, and his wife Dorothy, will be joined by stable jockey Richard Guest, and the 11
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Mystery remains over baby death
A BABY who died when she was only 32 days old could have been shaken to death, an inquest heard yesterday. Melissa Featherstone suffered brain damage and died in a Teesside hospital on August 22, 1994. At the inquest, Peter Hildreth, a retired detective
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Boy of 13 on sex charges
A 13-YEAR-OLD boy, questioned after a swoop on suspected paedophiles, has been charged with possessing indecent images of children. The teenager, who has not been named by police, was quizzed following a raid on his home in Thornaby, Stockton, where he
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Boro join chase for Guardiola
NEWCASTLE United could face competition from Middlesbrough in the scramble for Barcelona skipper Josep Guardiola. The Spanish international is out of contract this summer and Manchester United and Liverpool are leading a chase which also features Chelsea
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Foot-and-mouth crisis 'fully under control'
THE Government's chief scientist last night announced that the foot-and-mouth epidemic was "fully under control". Professor David King's bold statement came as The Northern Echo brought together Tony Blair and a North-East farmer so that the Prime Minister
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A mother's tears for her missing angel
A DISTRAUGHT mother has begged her ex-partner to return her four-year-old daughter - feared to have been snatched and taken abroad. Police across Europe have been put on alert for on-the-run father David Lancaster who may have taken his daughter Lauren
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O'Sullivan is the hot favourite - Williams
WORLD number one and reigning Embassy world champion Mark Williams insists Ronnie O'Sullivan is the red-hot favourite to win the 2002 tournament and wreck his back-to-back title dreams. Welshman Williams admits his crisis of confidence has left him praying
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The final destruction of our sanity
IF ANY national crisis ever deserved the Biblical billing "a tale told by an idiot'' the foot-and-mouth catastrophe must be it. Let us remember the crucial facts: foot-and-mouth is a preventable, usually non-fatal, disease that poses no risk to human
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A landscape of a lesser God
INTERVIEWED when Songs of Praise was broadcast from Wensleydale recently, William Hague, the Tory leader, confessed to not being a regular churchgoer. He said that he and Ffion found God by walking in that great open-air cathedral, the glorious Dales'
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The case for vaccination gets stronger
A SINGLE outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Devon last weekend triggered the slaughter of 12,000 animals on the infected farm and its 15 neighbours. From space, North Cumbria, overhung with a pall from its grim animal funeral pyres, now ranks second only to
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Business as usual as police change stations
POLICE are promising it will be business as usual when they move to a new police station. The building, in St Aidan's Way behind Peterlee Leisure Centre, will come into operation at one minute past midnight, on Monday morning. It has been built - at minimal
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Bennett and Tait set to accept three-year contracts with Quakers
Darlington management pair Gary Bennett and Mick Tait look likely to accept new deals. Chairman George Reynolds revealed yesterday that he has offered the pair new three-year contracts. Bennett said: "We've spoken to the chairman about stopping beyond
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'Singing' criminal jailed for two years
A TEENAGER once known as the "Singing Defective" and one of the region's most infamous youth criminals was jailed for more than two years yesterday. Dean English, 19, of Basingstoke Road, Peterlee, County Durham, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court after
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Residents pin hopes on Prescott
RESIDENTS are hoping Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will stop a housing development in their village. People living in Middleton St George, near Darlington, believe their village is already overdeveloped. But a further 80 homes could be built if
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Attractions share museums grants
THREE North-East attractions have been awarded grants as part of Museums and Galleries Month. English Heritage's Berwick Gymnasium Gallery, Killhope North of England Lead Mining Museum, at Cowshill, County Durham, and Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology
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Fresh spotlight on survival fight of National Park birds
THE uncertain future of the most threatened birds in the northern uplands is coming under the spotlight - in the hope of reversing the downward trend in their numbers. The plight of 27 different species that habitat the Yorkshire Dales has been highlighted
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Shedding a tear for Mandelson
THE vultures are gathering over the perceived corpse of Peter Mandelson. And we are talking not just politics here. Under the heading, Has Mandelson Gone Mad, The Sunday Telegraph devoted a full page, signalled by a front page story, to picking over the
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Residents given say on future of local authority
RESIDENTS are being invited to have their say on proposals that will change the way their local authority operates. A spokesman for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said they had already received a good response to a leaflet, which sets out three
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Man jailed for bat attack on women
A MAN who attacked his former girlfriend and her mother with a baseball bat was jailed for three years and nine months yesterday. Michael English, 20, was told by a judge at Teesside Crown Court that he showed no mercy to the women and that the court
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Campaign will hit drink drivers
CLEVELAND Police are joining forces throughout Europe in an initiative to rid the roads of people who drink and drive. A series of high-profile patrols will be involved in a 24-hour campaign, which begins tomorrow, at 6am. Inspector Mick Bennett said:
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Oh Minister, messing with TV could prove dangerous
As a government policy, it's a vote-catcher on a par with Anne Robinson standing for the Welsh Assembly. No politician would dare be the one to turn off the nation's TV sets and leave viewers all over the country with blank screens. The situation is not
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Has Berriman's van had its chips?
PERHAPS because so many readers can still taste the smell, the smoke gets in your eyes whiff of nostalgia has hung heavily since a passing reference in last week's column. It was a two pint reverie, no more, during which memories of Berriman's chip van
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Candles warning after family flee house fire
A MAN, woman and a child were taken to hospital after waking to find their home in flames yesterday. They were not seriously hurt but were taken to hospital in Durham suffering from smoke inhalation in the blaze, at Dorset Crescent, Moorside, Consett.
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On another planet
WHEN this column was young, that is to say younger still, the Monday afternoon venue was always the Red Lion, over the road from the office. It was labelled the Liquid Luncheon Club, its undoubted star Coun Peter Jones, prominent businessman and chairman
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Blair's Britaion, four years on
'Gosh!" exclaims Tony Blair, looking at The Northern Echo's front page of May 2, 1997. The headline screams "Blair's Britain" above a large picture of a jubilant Mr Blair and his wife Cherie arriving at Aycliffe Leisure Centre - the count which swept
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Security company is taken over
ONE of the North-East's largest security firms has been taken over for an undisclosed sum. Darlington-based Security Surveyors has been taken over by ADT Fire and Security, one of the world's biggest home security companies, with branches throughout the
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Search for the British Judge Judy
Ever watched Judge Judy, she whose autobiography is entitled Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining? It's a mesmerising American television series, starring the formidably feisty Judge Judy Sheindlin presiding over real cases, usually involving
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The face behind the golden mask
STATE that Amanda Berry is organising a prize-giving followed by a dinner party this weekend and it sounds like a fairly ordinary social occasion. It takes on a rather different complexion when you learn that we're talking about the Orange British Film
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Let us now praise famous men
George W Bush. The very first act of the new US president is to open up the Arctic, one of the world's last great wildernesses, to oil exploration. The day after he was sworn in, his White House spokesman announced: "Moving quickly on a national energy
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All the President's men
IF you'd switched between Channels 4 and 5 around 11 o'clock last Thursday, you'd have seen Martin Sheen on both. And by coincidence, he was playing the President of the United States in both. Not the same President and not a real one either. His regular
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Jacqueline's special delivery
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Jacqueline Clough became an emergency midwife to help deliver her sister's baby. The drama unfolded in Morrison Close, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, when 16-year-old Lisa Clough began experiencing labour pains - seven weeks before her
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This Lady is a true tramp
There's nothing quite as satisfying as an unpleasant soap character getting a good thumping, especially when it happens in front of a large crowd of regulars in the local pub. The person on the receiving end of policewoman Angry Angie's fist in Emmerdale
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Countryside courses offered
Courses are being offered at the Tees Forest to encourage people back to the countryside. More than 20 courses have been organised this spring and summer to introduce people to traditional woodcraft and art activities. Courses include basket making, greenwood
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Centre builds bridges with financial experts
A SHOPPING centre's recent multi-million pound expansion is building bridges with City financial institutions. The Bridges, in Sunderland, is bucking the trend in regional retail ratings, according to visiting Stock Market experts. Twelve City of London
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Computer store to step up security
NEW security measures are being planned for a computer shop after raiders managed to bypass an alarm and break in. The area manager of Chips computer store, in Clark's Yard, Darlington, was awoken when the shop's back-up alarm triggered a remote telephone
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So long-winded, logistically speaking
WHITE van man has been driven off the road; logistics man leads the convoy now. Have you noticed? Where once a van might do deliveries and maybe even express deliveries, now the side of every other HGV offers "logistics", global logistics, integrated
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Go-ahead for music festival
FEARS over foot-and-mouth have failed to stop a popular dance and music weekend going ahead. The annual Teesdale Thrash will be taking place in Barnard Castle, County Durham, between May 4 and 7, and is expected to draw hundreds of visitors to the market
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Carbon commerce in the temple
THE breakdown of the talks to control greenhouse gases, arguably the biggest threat to our planet, might have a bright side. It could undermine the on-line trading in emissions, which began last week even as the frantic efforts to save the planet began
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Punishment more fitting to the crime
'TOUGH on crime, tough on the causes of crime." We all remember that. And our hollow laughter rings out. The Tories are right to highlight the decline in police manpower, now down by about 3,000 since the General Election, against that "tough on crime
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Where there's a way, there was Will
GREAT compliments of our time: "You are The Northern Echo," said a charming old lady at Ferryhill Wheelers cycling club's annual dinner on Friday night - "you, Sharon and the death notices." It gets no better than that. WILL Hay's death notice appeared
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How Jim got back between the sheets
JIMMY Carter died last week; not the peanut planting president, the other one. Jim was the former landlord of the Coverbridge Inn, a charming and very popular country pub a few miles south of Leyburn in North Yorkshire. Trouble was, he kept overlooking
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Chocolate, chocolate everywhere
FACED with two of the screen's most beautiful actresses, the inclination is to just sit and stare. This, however, would be a dereliction of journalistic duty - and besides one of them is sitting next to her husband. The film is Chocolat, the screen version
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Bella, bella, bella Bellucci
THERE'S no doubt that Monica Bellucci is perfectly cast in the new movie from the director of the acclaimed Cinema Paradiso. She plays the title character in Malena - a woman who causes men's heads to turn wherever she goes. So surely it was no coincidence
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Expanding company surveys bright future with move to new premises
BUILDING surveyors Peter Fall Cowie has invested in new premises on Teesside. The company is opening premises at Preston Farm, Stockton, for 12 staff, with room for expansion. Peter Fall Cowie has been in the North-East for more than 25 years, with offices
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Family of man killed in Med hold charity day
THE family of a man killed on a Mediterranean holiday are holding a charity fun day to raise funds for the legal battle with Greek authorities. Chris Rochester, 24, died in a Rhodes hospital after plunging 40ft from a hotel balcony in June last year.
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The passing of a quiet man
MORE than anything in recent years, last week's column on the passing of Tony Hawkins was warmly acknowledged. Tony's family, unfortunately, were less enthusiastic. Any distress is much regretted. The shortest message - three words, ten letters - concerned
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Hit show put on in just 36 hours
A YOUTH theatre group will be celebrating its 15th anniversary by putting on a show in just 36 hours. Durham Youth Musical Theatre plans to rehearse and perform Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, this weekend
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How ads for Safeway lost their way
THREE North-East towns have been inadvertently moved almost 200 miles to the other side of the country by one of Britain's top supermarket chains. Shoppers at Safeway stores in Darlington, Redcar and Berwick have been left chuckling at the error on a
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Display recalls proud moments
NEWSPAPER cuttings reliving Grand National success and pictures of a winning FA Vase team will form the heart of an exhibition celebrating sporting heroes. Long gone are the days when Bishop Auckland won the FA Vase, and Red Alligator stormed to victory
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Letters
METRIC MARTYR STEPHEN Thoburn, the Metric Martyr, may have lost his case in court, but his courageous stand has been noticed and admired by millions of people around the world. It has drawn attention to the ridiculous situation we now find ourselves in
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The plague that halted the troubles
I AM back in Belfast for the first time in three years and it has been a strange, almost surreal experience. For a start, I am used to armed police stopping and searching cars at security checkpoints here but, in the past, they were looking for Semtex
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Rare breed of cattle threatened by disease
THE world's oldest breed of cattle is under threat of being wiped out by foot-and-mouth. A new case at Millfield, Northumberland, spells danger for the Chillingham herd, which roam in parkland only ten miles away. The herd, which has been bred for more
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Bikers killed in accidents seconds apart
TWO motorcyclists, friends since schooldays, died in high speed crashes just a second apart on a notorious stretch of North Yorkshire road, an inquest heard yesterday. Dean Ayres, 24, and John Binks, 26, were on a pleasure ride from their Harrogate homes
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Mask-making celebrates 100 years of meccano
YOUNGSTERS at the Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum, Redcar, have been making mechanical masks as part of a series of holiday events and activities taking place at the museum to celebrate 100 years of the children's toy, Meccano. Liam White, three, of Middlesbrough
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Man denies sex assaults on girls
TWO schoolgirl sisters accused a man of sex assaults after he took one of them with him to walk his dog, a court was told yesterday. On her return, she told her family that Norman Dyer, 48, indecently assaulted her as they sat to rest on the Castle Eden
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Jail horror nurse wins damages
A PRISON nurse left traumatised after witnessing a mentally-ill inmate disembowel himself with a broken coffee jar has won her claim for damages. Pauline Stewart suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being exposed to what a judge described as
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County fears it is losing out on cash aid from Government
COUNCIL officials have issued a plea to the Government for financial aid to help communities devastated by the foot-and-mouth outbreak. North Yorkshire County Council fears it may miss out on the £15m Westminster has promised to help rural businesses
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Barbarism fuelled by sheer greed
ALREADY it is clear that the main lesson of the foot-and-mouth catastrophe will not be learned. Clinging doggedly to the no-vaccination policy, both the NFU and the Ministry of Agriculture fail, or refuse, to recognise that the mass destruction of animals
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No longer the poor relation
THE British Academy Film Awards have always been Oscar's poor relation. They've been regarded as an after-thought, a ceremony that occurs weeks after the more glamorous Academy Awards in Hollywood. The Oscar ceremony may be over the top but boy, do those
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Carry on acting - the sequel
THE only disappointing thing about meeting Leslie Phillips is the welcome. You expect to hear him sigh one of his trademark "Well, hel-low" greetings rather than "How are you?". But the distinctive Phillips voice is unmistakable as he reflects on a career
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The Grinch makes it a merry Christmas after all
That bah-humbug chap The Grinch tried to ruin everyone's Christmas on the screen but ended up making the festive season a very happy one for Hollywood studio executives. The film starring Jim Carrey as the green, mean Dr Seuss character debuted in early
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Help at hand for young Dales people
YOUNG people in the Dales farming community are being backed to provide a successful future for the region. Cornerstone is a new initiative aimed at people aged 18 to 35 who wish to stay within the rural community. The aim is to provide free practical
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Father tells of Greek sailing terror
AN exhausted father has spoken of his relief after his family survived an Easter sailing break that almost turned to tragedy. John Owen, 43, his wife Jacqui, 39, and their children had to endure a 24-hour battle with the elements when their 38ft yacht
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Horse's death led to bitter wrangle
A retired police inspector has been ordered to pay compensation after he allowed a rare £10,000 show-jumping horse to wander off his land to its death. The road accident that killed Coral Bay Reef, a bay mare expected to have a great future in the equestrian
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The hidden face of our food industry
AMONG the questions not answered - or even asked as far as I can see - over the foot-and-mouth crisis, is: what takes place at the at the "fattening" unit in Northumberland which is a suspected source of the outbreak? Yes, of course, pigs are fattened
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Police continue hunt for gunman
POLICE are stepping up the hunt for a gunman who shot a Tyneside man at the weekend. The 33-year-old man was shot in Nevison Avenue, South Shields, just before 9.30pm on Saturday. Detective Chief Inspector Frank Whittle, of Tyneside police, said: "Fortunately
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A farmer, and father's message
WITH due respect to Britain's farmers, they do not enjoy universal sympathy. Despite the undoubted misery spread by foot-and-mouth disease, many people retain the view that farmers expect - and receive - too much help from the State, compared with workers
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Rival fans get together
YOUNG Newcastle and Sunderland fans joined together at a party ahead of Saturday's derby match at the Stadium of Light. Forty youngsters from Newcastle's Magpies Club and 20 from Sunderland's 24/7 Club met at St James' Park at an event designed to promote
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£8m cinema joins battle for audiences
THE region's own Star Wars is about to be played out when an £8m multi-screen cinema opens later this summer. A string of Hollywood box office flops have failed to dampen enthusiasm for the movie-going experience. Audiences in the region have more than
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Builder 'was bitten in street row'
A MAN bit a builder's cheek in a street scuffle, a court heard yesterday. Daniel Wiper, 23, of Whitby Way, Darlington, appearing at Teesside Crown Court, denied unlawfully wounding builder David Snowball in the town, in March last year. The jury heard
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Farmers urged to stop strays
COUNCIL officers have appealed to farmers to ensure their animals are kept secure. Following reports of stray animals being allowed to wander, North Yorkshire County Council has said that animals which escape and are not claimed will be destroyed. Animals
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At last, the convicts' revenge
AMONG the insults flung at nations, none is more misplaced than the familiar jibe that Australia was colonised by convicts, Britain's rejects. Of course it's true. But there's a deeper truth behind the deportations. It is that the supposed undesirables
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Figures turn up pressure on bank for cut in interest rate
HIGHER meat prices following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth helped put the brakes on inflation's fall last month. The key underlying figure remained static at 1.9 per cent, although the headline rate did tumble 0.4 per cent on the back of lower mortgage
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Lives, by any standard, remarkable
DEATH'S sting may be even worse than Gadfly's, and these past few weeks - though there can be no apology for it - it has become something of an obituary column. Three more file mournfully for attention today: a Prussian countess with a Spennymoor connection
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You have to be tough to watch TV
ANOTHER day, another new reality TV show. I was prepared - determined even - not to like Channel 5's The Mole in which ten contestants have to perform tasks and unmask the traitor in their midst to stay in the game. The original Belgium version was a
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Approval expected for quad bike site
PLANS for quad bike tracks and a community forest near Hartlepool are likely to be approved today. Members of Hartlepool Borough Council's planning and licensing panel are being asked to approve plans for three tracks, formed with straw bales, at Brierton
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Restaurant gives volunteers appetite for clean-up
Volunteers teamed up with McDonald's staff and members of the environmental group, the Acorn Trust, to clean up their town. They were rewarded for their efforts with free Big Macs and other refreshments from McDonalds. The volunteers cleaned up the town
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Very heaven to be Scottish
IN THE recent House of Commons debate on hunting, all 75 Scottish MPs cast their votes. As it happened, they were all against hunting. But that's not the point. The Bill they were voting on was to ban hunting in England and Wales. Whether hunting continues
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A serious case of plastic surgery and bad wigs
EVERYONE was so busy watching the return of wobbly-walled British soap Crossroads this week that an old American favourite slipped back on screens virtually unnoticed. The return of Knots Landing to Channel 5 was only temporary, in the form of a two-part
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Keeping our head above water (just)
READERS gasping for the promised column on cigarette cards must again get their pipe; as the waters deepen, it's time once more to call out Reeth Fire Brigade. These columns over the years have had abundant mileage out of Reeth's single fire engine: there
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Enraged by captive cruelty
We don't have dancing bears now, do we? Of course not. If we did, the public would, rightly, feel nothing but disgust. But hold on a minute. We still do have dancing bears. They're called dolphins these days, and people love to see them perform. And the
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A few teensy mistakes in US election
AS America holds its breathlessness, news via Ike Dawson - former director of Teesside International Airport - of other curious election practices in Florida. Ike, now in Gainford - Gainford-in-Teesdale, he likes to call it - sends an account e-mailed
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A street by any other name
BRITAIN'S most famous street could have been known by a completely different name had it not been for the intervention of a Granada Television tea lady. For the past 40 years millions of viewers have tuned in each week to catch up with the goings on in
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Elevated debate of no consequence
IN A debate in the House of Lords on leylandii hedges, a source of great distress to many, Earl Ferrers, a former Tory minister, said: "At the moment you have got hedgerow officers who tell you what hedges you may and may not remove. You have got tree
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Let there be lights... eventually
THOUGH it may prove akin to the youthful realisation that Santa has several billion little helpers, needs must that we recount another salutary story for Christmas. Every year, a youngster is invited officially to switch on the lights - of which the column
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A victory for the common sense lobby
SUCCESS at last? It would be satisfying to think that some of the concerns of this column are picked up and acted upon in places of power. So, vanity being what it is, the temptation exists to present the Government's newly-announced plans for harsher
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School blaze pair allowed to go free
TWO teenagers who set fire to a school, causing more than £130,000 of damage, escaped detention yesterday. A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Teesside Crown Court charged with arson at West Park Primary
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What's in store on the small screen
ITV's Director of Programmes David Liddiment talks of "balancing the new with returning favourites and a schedule studded with major television events". The new Controller of BBC1, Lorraine Heggessey, talks of an "emphasis on modern, home-grown and intelligent
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Divided but not deprived
NOW that we are truly into a new millennium, as the Queen usefully reminded us, I find I have become part of an "underclass'' - a source of concern to our caring Government. I am on the wrong side of what it calls the "digital divide''. In other words
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It's an honour to know you, Nellie
A POT-POURRI of a column, or rag-bag as the churlish might assert, in which we shall honour old friends, dig six feet deep, essay a veritable compendium of word games and ponder what might be read into the human posterior. The bottom line, as it were.
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Why this crisis is all about money
THE foot-and-mouth crisis had been running for about a week before news emerged that animals can be vaccinated against it. And a further week or so passed before it was widely reported that the disease, far from being fatal to the infected animals, is
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Awake for Queen Vic... and Berriman's chips
FOR no other reason than patriotism - duty, some might say - the column found itself on Monday drinking to the Old Queen's memory at the Victoria in Durham. That it is the North-East's best pub - the Grey Horse at Consett runs a close second - must be
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The brutal truth about 'soft drugs'
THE story on the front page of The Northern Echo yesterday about a senior manager at Aycliffe Young People's Centre taking cannabis while on holiday appalled me. My feelings were nothing to do with the example this person sets to some of the most troubled
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Thieves in dawn doorstep raids
DETECTIVES are on the trail of early morning thieves who are stealing organic milk from people's doorsteps. Three such thefts have been reported in two days to police in Darlington, who successfully cracked a similar persistent problem in the same area
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Turning up the heat on the Cold War
PERHAPS you remember the TV pictures? Though I've seen no mention of it, next Sunday brings the tenth anniversary of an event that symbolised the end of the Cold War. No, not the breaching of the Berlin Wall, which happened on November 9, 1989. Fifteen
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Tales that are not so unexpected
When the news came out that Phil Mitchell was going to be shot in EastEnders, you could have been excused a feeling of deja vu. The Who Shot Phil? scenario is a blatant attempt to emulate the Who Killed JR? furore 21 years ago when Larry Hagman's devious
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Why all this killing must stop
WHEN will the madness end? "I am in blood stepped so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as to go o'er.'' Presumably, it is something like the thought that spurred Lady Macbeth through multi-murder that now drives the Government's
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Rail event boss denies discrimination claims
THE boss of a failed train festival sexually discriminated against two of his female employees, a tribunal heard. Journalist Tony Baker said the former chairman of Rail 2000, David Champion, had been "demeaning and undermining to female staff". Details
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Ah, sausages - the food of love
HAPPY Valentine's Day, and firstly to a Safeway promotion that dropped breathlessly through Richard Jones's door - and doubtless many more - in Darlington. Regulars may recall that the column has recently suggested that Safeway might have erred from the
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The great Brussleton folly
TONY Hawkins, likeable rogue, died last week, aged 64. His passing affords the opportunity to recount the calamitous story of the Brussleton Folly - co-starring George Reynolds, Gadfly and a policeman reading the Beano. Brussleton is a hamlet above Shildon
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Shop, eat and watch an executuion
The weird side of the web surfaced again with reports on everything from a new medical condition, smart wardrobes and executions online. Adults who want to see executions could log on and pay up to see the Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh being killed.
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CBI calls for runways expansion to protect jobs
JOBS could be lost unless more airport runways are built, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned. Air passenger levels are to double over the next 15 years and airport capacity has to be expanded, said CBI director general Digby Jones.
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We must vaccinate now
WHETHER or not the ruthless foot-and-mouth massacre succeeds in containing the disease, there's another aspect that should trouble us. The news management of the cull has been a brain-washing exercise worthy of Dr Goebbels, Hitler's master of propaganda
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Nest egg for children
DEAF children were presented with a nest egg at their Easter party. The 24 children, who attend Deaf Project at The Return to Learn Centre, at Stanley, County Durham, watched as a representative of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham freemasons donated
