Archive
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Dinosaur show a huge success
DINOSAURS proved to be a roaring success when council staff held their second Garden Pride exhibition. More than 27,000 people visited the ten-day show on Scarborough's seafront - well up on last year's event. Six animated dinosaurs were the main stars
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Mallon appeal cash plea to police
A POLICE authority is being invited to find the £250,000 a suspended police chief will need to clear his name. A preliminary hearing into 14 disciplinary charges facing suspended Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon is being held in Hertfordshire on Friday
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Fresh fields and pastures new
OPEN up the doors of many an agricultural building in the North of England nowadays and the last thing you will find is an animal. Foot-and-mouth has seen to that. But so has BSE, scrapie, milk quotas, European food mountains, cut-throat price-fixing
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Comment from The Northern Echo - Truly adding insult to injury
WHEN Richard Neale left Northallerton in 1995, he received a pay-off of £100,000. His private consulting rooms were bought from him for £57,000. And he received a reference which was glowing enough for him to obtain immediate employment in Leicester.
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Bikers roar in to pay final respects to colleague 'Inch'
THE sound of hundreds of motorbike engines roared through the streets of a quiet town as bikers from all across Europe gathered to pay their respects to a good friend. The bikers escorted the funeral cortege carrying the body of 33-year-old Michael Horner
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Getting away from it all
AS you read this I will be on holiday. Or, more precisely, squashed in a car with an irritable husband, four squabbling children and lots of luggage for hours and hours and hours on end. And this is just the beginning. The journey will be fraught with
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From steam to space age
MANY of the locomotives may belong to the steam age - but the operations side of one of Britain's best-known heritage railways is bang up to date. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is keeping up with the latest technology and has installed satellite telephones
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Birds of prey enthral children on holiday
ADELIGHTED youngsters came face-to-face with some magnificent birds of prey as enjoyed their summer holiday. The head falconer at Sion Hill Hall, near Thirsk, took along three the birds to enthral children at RAF Leeming. Jasper the Harris hawk, Minnie
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Exhibition to celebrate railway
A CELEBRATION of South Durham's railway heritage is being held in Bishop Auckland. Displays of artefacts ranging from model engines to British Rail uniforms feature in an exhibition at Bishop Auckland's Discovery Centre. Darlington Railway Preservation
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£850,000 bid for dream stadium
A FOOTBALL club is hoping to move a step closer to building its dream stadium by pursuing a massive grant. Bishop Auckland Football Club is preparing a business plan in the hope it can get a £850,000 grant from the Football Foundation, in London. Plans
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An easier time in harder exams
LOOK, it was the grown-ups who invented the new exams - the teenagers are just making the best of them, so can we please stop blaming them for doing well? Exam results are up again. Well, yes, of course it raises doubts about standards. My own bugbear
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Lessons we still have to learn
AS the foot-and-mouth saga drifts on - destined, I predict, to continue until we ring vaccinate - news emerges of that far worse animal health scourge, BSE. It's well known that BSE, the mad-cow disease of popular concept, is linked to feeding cattle,
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Say a prayer for our text messagers
NEVER upwardly mobile, the column eschews cellular telephones. They are child's play nonetheless, as witnessed by the universal growth in text messaging. Text messaging, for the happily uninitiated, represents a sort of telephonic shorthand, a speechless
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Mark and Co in multi-A grade brigade
PUPILS at Framwellgate School in Durham were among those celebrating the bumper crop of A-level results. Mark Patterson achieved four grade As and is going to study maths at Newcastle University. He also received letters of commendation from the exam
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Hear All Sides
Letters from The Northern Echo RAY MALLON WHILE the idea of Ray Mallon becoming a mayor seems to have merit, it could also cause problems and a clash of interests when one considers the amount of toes he would have to tread on. It would be nice to think
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Scribes demonstrate beauty of the penned word
VISITORS to a museum can try their hand at different styles of writing which have been developed over the centuries. Northumbrian Scribes, a group of calligraphy experts, are demonstrating the art at the Bede's World museum in Jarrow, South Tyneside,
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Lessons we still have to learn
AS the foot-and-mouth saga drifts on - destined, I predict, to continue until we ring vaccinate - news emerges of that far worse animal health scourge, BSE. It's well known that BSE, the mad-cow disease of popular concept, is linked to feeding cattle,
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N-E writer brands Bard fake and fraud
WILLIAM Shakespeare, the world's most famous playwright, has been branded a fake and a fraud. A North-East author, who has dedicated half a century to researching the life and times of the Elizabethan dramatist, has presented his convictions in a book
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Parents billed for sign in road crash
A COUNCIL has demanded a couple pay the bill for a road sign damaged in a smash which nearly killed their son. Little Kieran-Jay Metcalfe survived being thrown out of the somersaulting car and plunging headfirst into a boggy field. Amazingly, the two-year-old
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Magpies go out in eight-goal thriller
BOBBY ROBSON'S European dreams were agonisingly dashed in an eight-goal extravaganza at St. James' Park last night. French side Troyes clinched a place in the first round of the UEFA Cup on the away-goal rule, after Newcastle fought back from 4-1 down
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Strike threat at regional airport
HOLIDAYMAKERS could face misery if a threatened strike at one of the region's airports goes ahead. Ground staff at Newcastle Airport yesterday voted for industrial action over pay by an overwhelming 94.6 per cent. The Transport and General Workers' Union
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Concern for missing man
POLICE are concerned for the welfare of a 58-year-old man who has been missing from his Darlington home for 24 hours. George Eric Spencer requires constant medication. He is described as 5ft 10in, of heavy build, and has greyblack hair. When last seen
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Minister to intervene over possible cuts at hospital
A GOVERNMENT minister will intervene over possible cuts in services at a North-East hospital. Health Minister Jacqui Smith is to meet Stockton North MP Frank Cook to discuss the possible closure of the North Tees orthopaedic services, which would force
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Fairy tale ending for brave little girl
IT'S not been much of a fairy tale start in life for brave Tayla-Jane Cookson. Diagnosed with a kidney tumour at the tender age of two, she has endured a major operation and months of chemotherapy without complaint. But the five-year-old was able to forget
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£850,000 bid for dream stadium
A FOOTBALL club is hoping to move a step closer to building its dream stadium by pursuing a massive grant. Bishop Auckland Football Club is preparing a business plan in the hope it can get a £850,000 grant from the Football Foundation, in London. Plans
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Crime boss escapes speeding fine
A CRIME boss in an area where motorists are being hammered by a speeding blitz escaped a ticket after claiming he "couldn't remember" whether he was driving or not. Det Supt Adrian Roberts of Cleveland Police received the ticket through the post after
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Cecil sure to be on Song
LEADING Yorkshire Oaks contender Sacred Song has the class to bring a much-needed boost to an otherwise disappointing season for Henry Cecil. A couple of years ago it would have been inconceivable that the ten-times former champion trainer would only
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Tourists save life of boy trapped in pool
A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy was rescued by hero holidaymakers after remarkably surviving being trapped at the bottom of a pool for five minutes. Tony Wilson desperately struggled to free himself after trapping his arm in an uncovered filter on holiday in Turkey
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Officers will tackle council rent debts
Officers are to be introduced in a Teesside town to reduce council rent arrears. Hartlepool Borough council staff are to adopt dedicated roles as recovery officers. Currently officers have wide-ranging roles, tackling tenancy and management of empty homes
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Plea to treat coast cliffs with respect
FOSSIL hunters are being reminded that they must treat the Yorkshire coast with respect. The areas around Whitby and coastal villages such as Robin Hood's Bay are rich in dinosaur fossils dating from the Jurassic period, between 208 and 157 million years
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Pool match priority - Liddle
SKIPPER Craig Liddle wasted no time in putting Monday night's deflating defeat to Sheffield United behind him as he prepares for Darlington's crunch derby match at Hartlepool on Saturday. With the Worthington Cup first round tie heading for 30 minutes
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Theatre to rock audiences with season's line-up
THE new season at Harrogate Theatre opens with the world premiere of a rock musical based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Tears Of A Clown follows in the rock'n'Bard tradition of previous hits at the theatre, Bob Carlton's From A Jack To A King and Return To
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Art students' work goes on display
CREATIVE work produced as part of the degree studies of two North-East artists have gone on show in city centre workshop units. Billed as "Contemporary Art at Fowler's Yard", the exhibition features 44 works by Tom Rowan and Kim Graham, from County Durham
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Disc jockey aims for musical delight
A DISC JOCKEY is hoping to strike a chord in the clubs with his first album. Christian Kay, alias K Delight, has achieved a loyal following across the North with his blend of hip-hop, funk and breakbeat music. The Darlington musician has been disc jockeying
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Learning Japanese secrets of success
THE Northern Echo and BKR Haines Watts have teamed up to give world-class manufacturing advice to companies in the Tees Valley. This week Paul Bell, of BKR Haines Watts, looks at the concept of continuos improvement versus radical change. Continuous Improvement
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National Front march plan foiled
PLANS by the National Front to march in a North-East city next month will be thwarted by an existing ban. The right-wing party wanted to march through Sunderland city centre to Seaburn last Saturday to protest about asylum seekers. Home Secretary David
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Life ban after thug killed pup with truncheon
A THUG who smashed a puppy's head with a wooden truncheon has been banned from owning animals for life. Peter Scotter battered the 14-week-old Staffordshire bull terrier pup after it fouled the kitchen floor, Sunderland magistrates court heard yesterday
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Hospital welcomes nursing recruits
THE first nine of 59 nurses recruited from the Philippines to work at Teesside hospitals have arrived in Britain. The nurses have completed a two-week induction programme at the University Hospital of North Tees, and are about to begin working on the
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Determined Turner vows to keep playing ball
CHRIS Turner is determined to keep his Hartlepool United players passing their way out of the Third Division. There is a belief that playing attractive football will not lead to promotion from the bottom league, however manager Turner is convinced that
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Taxi driver travels hundreds of miles to bring ale to festival
BEER fan Alan Campbell was so determined his favourite brew should be included in a beer festival he drove hundreds of miles to collect it. The Consett taxi driver is a fan of Fraoch, which is brewed in Scotland, with heather rather than hops. When he
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Faithful trio seek loving owners
THREE dogs in the care of the RSPCA need new homes. Polly, a four-month-old collie-cross, was taken to the RSPCA because her owners could no longer care for her. Jazz, a one-year-old whippet, was given up because his owners were moving and could not take
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Cycle link riders do the honours
THE latest link of the nationwide cycle network has been officially opened by some tired environmentalists. Members of the Acorn Trust opened the cycle link to Stanley town centre after completing a coast-to-coast cycle ride to celebrate the green group's
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Darlington streets stage theatre
THEATRE is coming to the people this weekend when actors and performers take to the streets of Darlington. As part of the Orange Darlington Festival, various street theatre acts are coming to the town. To get people in the mood for the festival, which
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Call for clamp on rogue parking
SHOPPERS are being asked to blow the whistle on supermarkets which fail to cater for the disabled. Darlington Association on Disability (DAD) is joining a campaign to ensure disabled parking spaces are not used by able-bodied shoppers. The national Baywatch
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Service to take strain of visits
A NEW bus service should be just the ticket for elderly people making hospital visits in east Cleveland. Until now, visitors to East Cleveland Hospital, Brotton, have had to rely on taxis, or walk to keep appointments. That will change from Monday, September
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Region's new housbuilder plans to create 50 jobs
A SIGNIFICANT new player in the region's property development market is planning to create more than 50 jobs. Lancing Homes has been set up by Michael Long, former managing director of Hassall Homes, who left the company along with other members of the
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Urgent plea for short-term cash aid for farmers
PRESSURE is mounting on the Government to provide more financial aid to help farmers recover from the effects of the foot-and-mouth crisis. North Yorkshire has been among the worst-hit areas in the country and a large swathe of it is still subject to
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Power station blast still a puzzle
SAFETY inspectors investigating a power station explosion which killed three workers have so far found no evidence of mechanical failure. Andy Sherwood, 36, and Darren Higgins, 28, caught the full brunt of the blast in a transformer at Enron's Teesside
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Fort bathes in top-ten glory
A NORTH-EAST Roman fort has been listed among the top ten museums in the world. A national newspaper asked a panel of experts, including Loyd Grossman, the TV presenter and chairman of the Campaign for Museums, to name their favourite museums. Segedunum
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Cash used to boost confidence
A £3.3m National Lottery grant will be used to boost the confidence of thousands of youngsters across the region. The cash has come from the New Opportunities Fund and includes a grant of £500,000 to help almost 12,000 pupils in County Durham. The money
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Say a prayer for our text messagers
NEVER upwardly mobile, the column eschews cellular telephones. They are child's play nonetheless, as witnessed by the universal growth in text messaging. Text messaging, for the happily uninitiated, represents a sort of telephonic shorthand, a speechless
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Museum cooks up travel show
HE is widely recognised as the founding father of the package holiday, and travel pioneer Thomas Cook is now being honoured by a museum exhibition. The remarkable story of Cook, whose first rail excursion eventually spawned a multi-billion pound industry
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Priests shortage is worse in N-E
A SHORTAGE of priests is leaving some parishes waiting up to two years for a vicar to take over after the departure of the previous incumbent. Concern over the issue has prompted Church leaders to step up recruitment efforts, but they admit it is likely
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Quieter times for Mrs Archer
I CAN'T understand why Mary Archer has been looking so glum since her husband Jeffrey's imprisonment. She should be relieved for the first time in their married life she now knows where he is and what he's up to every night tucked up safely, and alone
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N-E military vehicle club holds rally
THE North-East Military Vehicle Club is holding its 28th annual rally in Durham this weekend. The event will feature more than 70 restored vehicles and guns being displayed in the grounds of the dli - formerly the DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery - on
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School notches up 100% pass rate
AN independent Quaker school for girls is celebrating its best ever A-level exam results - achieving an astonishing 100 per cent pass rate. Staff at the Mount School in York were cock-a-hoop as the results rolled in, and 71 per cent of the grades were
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Mother's Day treat - football all day...
TV planners have scored a dramatic own goal after scheduling a ten-hour feast of FA Cup football - for Mother's Day. Plans have been unveiled to stage all four FA Cup quarter-final ties on Sunday March 10 - Mothering Sunday - with each of the games being
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Conditional discharge for farmer
A FARMER was given a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £700 costs for a waste offence, by Bishop Auckland magistrates yesterday. Alfred Swinbank, who manages West Middleton Farm, at Middleton St George, near Darlington, admitted a charge
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Manufacturing continues to struggle
BUSINESS investment by the struggling manufacturing sector fell sharply in the last quarter, official figures have shown. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed investment by manufacturers into their businesses in the second quarter of 2001
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Man, 74, 'left to die on hospital trolley'
AN investigation is under way after a 74-year-old former Newcastle man was left to die on a hospital trolley after waiting almost nine hours for treatment. Burns victim Thomas Rogers died alone and his family claim he was in agony after being ignored
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Change of name reflects new focus
TEESSIDE Training Enterprise (TTE) is officially changing its name to reflect the change in its focus. Over the past 11 years TTE has grown into a leading provider of management and technical training in both the UK and growing international markets.
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Police search woods after body is found
POLICE will continue to search a remote woodland area today after the badly-decomposed body of a young woman was found. The grim discovery was made yesterday in woods near Lindley Reservoir, between Harrogate and Otley. North Yorkshire Police last night
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Dog fight left man injured, court told
A DOG accused of being dangerously out of control when it got involved in a fight with a mongrel was described yesterday as being "as good as gold". Brian Wright, 31, is facing charges under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. Mr Wright took his father's alsatian
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Power firm plugs in 1,000 jobs
LONDON Electricity is celebrating the appointment of its 1,000th recruit, after its latest recruitment phase added 75 jobs. The company has now more than doubled the 450 jobs it planned to create when it moved to the Doxford International Business Park
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Action demanded over sewage stink
A COUNCIL is being urged to act over smells from a sewage works. Areas of Redcar have been assailed by an offensive smell, on and off since April, forcing residents to leave their homes. Liberal and Democrat councillors for the town are demanding Redcar
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Pier survives another possible catastrophe
A JINXED pier was evacuated yesterday following the discovery of a bomb on the beach. A surfers' shop, an amusement arcade and ice cream kiosk on Saltburn Pier were cleared of people and the east Cleveland resort's famous funicular railway stopped, after
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Pratt the younger called up
DURHAM have drafted Gary Pratt into their squad for the penultimate championship match of the season, starting at Hove today. After scoring 188 for England Under 19s against the West Indies last week, the left-hander is set to come into the side to face
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Uncertain future for forensic training centre
THE future of the North-East's acclaimed forensic training centre could be in jeopardy, amid suggestions it may be relocated further south. Harperley Hall, near Crook, County Durham, trains about 1,000 students a year in forensic science and is recognised
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Volunteer Marcin honoured
A 19-year-old from Poland has become the first young person to be presented with an award recognising voluntary work on Teesside. Stockton Borough Voluntary Development Agency wants to recruit young people aged 16 to 24 for a Millennium Volunteers Project
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Ricketts strike adds to McClaren's woes
TWO games, two defeats. A managerial record for Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren that he will not be wanting. The former Manchester United assistant manager is quickly learning what being in charge of a Premiership club means. Bolton Wanderers overcame
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Dumped cars amnesty plan to beat area's arson blight
AN amnesty is to be declared on untaxed abandoned cars and a special tip opened where owners can take their vehicles, in an attempt to exorcise a town of its arson-blight. The project, which should also see the rapid removal of fly tippers' waste and
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Fantasy forest dream is dashed
A FORMER shipyard worker has lost his battle to create a fantasy forest of elves and Hobbits after pouring his life-savings into the venture. Harry Davison and his wife, Val, spent more than £30,000, and even sold their house in Tyneside to fund their
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An easier time in harder exams
LOOK, it was the grown-ups who invented the new exams - the teenagers are just making the best of them, so can we please stop blaming them for doing well? Exam results are up again. Well, yes, of course it raises doubts about standards. My own bugbear
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Support group for Durham-area gays
IMAGINE growing up in a tough ex-pit village with no money, no prospects and a low self-esteem born out of fortnightly dole queues - not the kind of environment designed to encourage hope. Now imagine that you are gay. Statistics suggest there are likely
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Internet porn 'is threat to teachers'
PUPILS in the region are "seriously jeopardising" the careers of their teachers by creating pornographic images of them and putting them on the Internet, a union has warned. In a prank which is proving increasingly popular, children are downloading pornography
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Don't exploit murder victim with these racist leaflets, says family
THE family of a young father killed in a street attack are concerned that his death is being exploited by Right-wing extremists. Leaflets entitled Justice for Simo were distributed outside Darlington football ground on Saturday by a group calling itself
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Art opens door on future for youngsters
THE STEP-UP from primary to senior school is being eased for a small group of youngsters during the summer holidays. They have given up a week of the six-week break to work on a project called Doors and Bridges, with an artists' cooperative at Bearpark
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Teenage arsonist warned by judge
A TEENAGER was warned he could face being locked up after being found guilty of setting fire to a derelict leisure centre and causing £30,000 of damage. The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of arson by a jury at Teesside
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Fury at payouts for botched operations
LEADING members of the group which campaigned to have disgraced gynaecologist Richard Neale struck off have been refused compensation by the NHS, it was revealed last night. Other former patients of Mr Neale have rejected "insulting" offers of £15,000
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Man's body identified after crash
POLICE have confirmed the body found in a river at the weekend is that of a man missing for more than a week after two boats collided. Mark Smith, 29, was one of three men sent crashing into the River Tyne after their dinghy collided with the nearby training
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Shutterbugs shine
BUDDING photographers who captured the mood of the Stockton International Riverside Festival can now see their work displayed. Shutterbugs 2001 again proved a very popular part of the Festival and hundreds of festival-goers seized the opportunity to get
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BP set to axe 81 jobs at Wilton
THE shadow of the axe is hanging over more Teesside jobs after BP announced plans to close its polyethylene operations at Wilton.. Consultations are taking place with the 81 BP employees who work at the plant, and the company has committed itself to helping
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Moves to improve health care debated
HEALTH chiefs have met representatives of primary care groups wanting to improve treatment and care in the Darlington area. County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust set up the Darlington, Dales and Sedgefield primary care groups in 1999 and they are now
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Tanker drives' planned strike protest averted
A PLANNED strike by tanker drivers in the North-East was cancelled yesterday. A day-long protest at the Conoco site at Jarrow, South Tyneside, yesterday, was expected to seriously disrupt Jet petrol stations. Officials of the drivers' union, the Transport
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Detectives hunt post office raid suspect
DETECTIVES hunting raid-ers who robbed a North-East post office have released this sketch, right, of one of the suspects. They want to trace the man after a raid on the Springwell Post Office, in Wingrove Terrace, Washington, Wearside, on August 8 this
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Drink-driver is banned
AN engineer driving to hospital for treatment after an alleged assault was arrested for drink-driving, a court heard yesterday. Police in a patrol car saw Shaun Alan Ashton, 31, of The Crossway, Darlington, sitting in a Ford Mondeo parked at the side
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Burning ambition that got the Victorians all fired up
ONE of the burning issues of just over 100 years ago in the North-East concerned the disposal of dead human bodies. The Victorians were suspicious of cemeteries - they believed the decomposing bodies buried there gave off noxious fumes, so nearly all
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No Place is the place for a musical cruise
AND now for something completely different. The Beamish Mary pub at No Place, near Stanley, is to hold a monthly music night called Something Different, in an attempt to bring different kinds of music to the local pub scene. On the first Something Different
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Three in court after disturbance
THREE friends on a night out in Darlington were arrested after getting involved in a disturbance outside a nightclub, magistrates were told yesterday. Steven Andrew Noble, 25, of Caledonian Way; Michael Dutton, 22, of Killin Road; and Paul Geoffrey English
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Police launch hunt for sex attacker
POLICE are hunting a man who indecently assaulted a woman as she walked home from a night out. The unnamed 42-year-old was left badly shaken after she was attacked as she walked along the cut from Plawsworth Road to Highfield, in Sacriston, just after
