Archive
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Louis makes Darlington debut
Jefferson Louis makes his first Darlington debut after being selected in the starting XI against Hayes & Yeading this afternoon. Jefferson Louis makes his first Darlington debut after being selected in the starting XI against Hayes & Yeading this
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Pools revert to Plymouth side
MICK Wadsworth, Hartlepool United's caretaker coach, reverted to the side that won at Plymouth for this afternoon's home game with Peterborough. Pools won 1-0 at Home Park and, despite making changes for the midweek JPT win over Bradford, Wadsworth restored
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Acute attack of the abdabs
WELCOME to the new second weekly episode of Soapwatch. The story so far in Emmerdale (ITV1)... Natasha killed Mark who wasn’t really her husband because he was still married to Faye and their secret son Ryan almost slept with his half-sister
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Death on the cobbles
HOW do you celebrate your birthday? A bit of a knees-up down the pub, dinner at a posh restaurant or a get together with loved ones. They do things differently in Weatherfield. Coronation Street will mark its 50th birthday in December with tragedy
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Pike’s progress
With roles ranging from Bond girl to housewife, Rosamund Pike is far from being typecast, says Steve Pratt. ROSAMUND Pike owns up to feeling a little embarrassed to be here talking about new film Made In Dagenham. “I was on it for no time at all.
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The Kray days
Rupert Penry-Jones is back on the trail of another vicious copycat killer in the sequel to Whitechapel. Steve Pratt reports. AS Whitechapel was ITV’s best performing new drama last year – more than nine million viewers watched the first episode
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Geordie Joe: back in the spotlight
In the run-up to a guest appearance on the show which made him famous, X Factor winner Joe McElderry talks to Steve Pratt about his new album. X FACTOR winner Joe McElderry will get back to doing what he most enjoys tomorrow night – performing
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The Woodlanders
Interior designer Lizzie Clarke took over a decaying seaside boarding house and created a hotel more Notting Hill than North Yorkshire. Peta King pays a visit. THE picture is so perfectly English – an Enid Blyton-style scene of two young boys kneeling
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Blaze of glory
Photographer Chris Booth heads off to Norway in search of the elusive Northern Lights. DEEP blue skies and perfect, white meringue peaks greeted our descent into Tromso and as I exited the plane after a two-hour journey from Gatwick, I could have
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Gardening by Andrew Willocks Nursery and alpines expert, Harlow Carr
NOW is a good time to start selecting and planting bulbs in the garden for next spring. If you look around some gardens you may already see bulbs in flower now, such as crocus speciosus, banaticus and colchicum or autumn crocus. Unlike springflowering
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A cracking vision
Lucy Crack lived in chaos to complete the home of her dreams. She shows Ruth Campbell how to achieve great style on a budget and explains why you don’t need a kettle in your kitchen. THE colours hit you when you walk through the door. Walls
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Choc tactics
As National Chocolate Week approaches, Steve Pratt watches one of Bettys highly-skilled chocolatiers at work. IT WAS worth the indignity of wearing a hairnet. I pulled on a white coat, hair protection and scrubbed my hands before entering –
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Out Of The Woods, But Not Over The Hill by Gervase Phinn (Hodder and Stoughton, £14.99)
FORMER schools inspector and now author and public speaker Gervase Phinn has earned a place in the hearts of millions with his heartwarming and humorous tales of his working life in North Yorkshire. Now he’s moved on a bit and, with his 70th birthday
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Taming Poison Dragons by Tim Murgatroyd (Myrmidon £8.99)
BANDIT warlord General An-Shu and his beautiful but sadistic consort, the Lady Ta Chi, are on the prowl in 12th Century Sung China and former court poet Yun Cai feels the whiplash of their wrath. He is not a natural hero, but their evil deeds
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Hope Against Hope by Sally Zigmond (Myrmidon, £8.99, myrmidonbooks.com)
Hope Against Hope by Sally Zigmond (Myrmidon, £8.99, myrmidonbooks.com) WHO would have thought that respectable Victorian Harrogate could boast unsavoury salons and brothels and a whole range of fraudsters and unscrupulous predators. Yet such proves
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Whitby Vampyrrhic by Simon Clark (Severn House, £10.99)
IT’S bad enough being at war with Hitler in 1942 but when the demonic invade Whitby the feature film, The Midnight Realm, being shot there brings fantasy face to face with reality with bloody consequences. Clark, who fell in love with the town when
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Someone Else’s Son by Sam Hayes (Hodder £19.99)
MORNING TV talk shows often expose the seamier and darker side of life, with hosts often seeming to revel in the despair and pain of the people they interview. Often, they are made to look misfits who provide a ready laugh for an unthinking
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The Bride That Time Forgot by Paul Magrs (Headline Review, £12.99)
BRENDA and Effie, the defenders of Whitby against the awful forces of evil, are up against it in their latest magical adventure. Not only are they faced with the devious and deadly Aculard and his acolytes, the bloodhungry walkers who are infesting
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The Brave by Nicholas Evans (Little, Brown, £17.99)
THIS was the first time I’d read anything by Nicholas Evans. His previous books have been massive (15 million sales and counting for his first smash, The Horse Whisperer), but I thought they were pseudo-Western weepies aimed at the Mills and Boons
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Woath it? Coase Ah Am, Pet by Cheryl Kerl (Coronet Hardback, £12.99)
THIS splendid and intermittently hilarious book is a spoof celebrity memoir by Twitter sensation “Cheryl Kerl”, inspired by the life of a certain well-known Newcastle showbiz superstar. The book, which is written in pretty impenetrable dialect
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Fat chance
Though he was a little insulted at first, Gareth Hale is enjoying his role as a big, fat slob, he tells Steve Pratt. THE first thing that went through Gareth Hale’s head when he was approached to play Onslow in the stage version of the BBC
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Eating In: Food worth walking for
Rambler’s Rewards: Cooking from Coast to Coast by Elizabeth Guy and Pat Kirkbride. Photographs by Derry Brabbs (Frances Lincoln, £20) ELIZABETH Guy and Pat Kirkbride are country girls, used to work together at the Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes
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Motorcyclist dies after collision with wall
A MOTORCYCLIST has died after he collided with a dry stone wall after a mishandled right hand turn. The 38-year-old man, who has not been named by police, was riding with five others yesterday on the B6479 Settle to Hawes road when he collided
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Treat and retreat
The main problem with the cosy Fox and Hounds, at Carthorpe, is that it’s so difficult to leave. THERE’VE always been problems with the Fox and Hounds at Carthorpe: 20-odd years ago it was the bandit, an electronic cuckoo in an eminently cosy nest
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Kohl play
Give your make-up routine an overhaul with a revamp for the new season. Lisa Haynes reveals the trends to give you an autumnal glow. IF you’ve already packed away the SPF creams and beach towels, it’s time to do the same with your sun-kissed
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How I learned to sleep again
Linda Nolan, actress and member of The Nolan Sisters, talks about her battle with insomnia and reliance on sleeping tablets. ACTRESS Linda Nolan still remembers anguished nights following her husband’s death from cancer when she’d stretch out
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Suits you, sir!
As traditional tailors Humphrey & Tilly celebrates its first year in business, Ruth Addicott takes a look at what’s on the rails. THERE are few places in Britain you can take your dry cleaning, pick up a draught excluder and emerge looking
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Beat the rate-jackers
Too many people have been unnecessary victims of unwarranted credit card rate rises. EVERY credit card customer wields a secret power to say NO to any interest rate rises. Yet few know they have this force – better still, once you understand it,
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Five minutes with... Wendi Peters
WENDI PETERS is best known for playing Cilla Battersby-Brown in Coronation Street. Theatre appearances include The Vagina Monologues and Grumpy Old Women Live. She was also a finalist in Celebrity MasterChef. She plays Mrs Metherell in Northern
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Celebrity watch
TO Granada Studios in Manchester for a Street party. Note the capital S. That’s Street as in Coronation Street, the longest-running soap in the world (as verified by Guinness World Records). The makers of the top-rated soap stopped filming for the
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Feckless youth
ONE hears much about feckless youth these days – but it isn’t so. I saw a young woman in Darlington town centre on Tuesday operating a mobile phone, smoking a cigarette and guiding a pushchair with an infant in it while simultaneously and forcefully
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Race for Grace
LAST Sunday we joined many people gathered at Herrington Park, Sunderland, for the annual Race for Grace. It is a sponsored run to raise money for the Grace House Hospice to be built in Sunderland for terminally-ill children and their families.
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Austerity
I AM tired of being told we need austerity, even mild austerity – eg, by your Comment column (Echo, Oct 6) and by Bernie Walsh (HAS, also Oct 6). “Austerity” is an excuse used by the political right the world over to cut public spending. The deficit
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War memorials
WE need to put our war memorials in the news for the right reasons. They are the most tangible link we have with those dark years of almost a century ago when, with no repatriation possible, our forebears had no other means of honouring those they
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Ship shape
SAVE for bibulous Blackpool, which may need neither introduction nor explanation, the large and possibly less meretricious village of Studley in Warwickshire is said to have more pubs per head than anywhere else in England. As much is revealed
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'Royal' prefix
RE your recent correspondence about the “Royal” prefix to the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, but not to the Army. Charles I was executed for waging war on Parliament. The Bill of Rights placed limits on the monarch keeping a standing army. It
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BNP
AFTER its dismal performance in both local and national elections, the BNP seems to be falling apart. Leader Nick Griffin has been sacking, suspending or expelling any BNP member he sees as a threat to his position as party leader. He has, for
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Labour supporters
IT would seem the demise of the Labour Party has affected the ideology of some of its supporters. At the party’s conference, they applauded Labour’s class war and calls for those who can afford it to contribute more to do so. Now, Conservative
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Big society
DAVID Cameron’s perception of a caring Big Society is a dream world. Sadly, we are living in an ever-increasing selfish (“me”) society where people are making decisions about who to vote for at a General Election based on how much better off they
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Child benefit cut
THE Chancellor’s announcement this week that child benefit is to be removed from households where one or more adults earn above the 40 per cent tax threshold (currently £43,875) is unfair, but not just for the reason widely reported. Many of us
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Tory conference
A CHARACTERISTIC I have always noticed about a Conservative Party Conference is that they are dominated by their Parliamentary leaders. It is assumed that they have all the wisdom and vision in the world. Some of the speeches are, in fact, interesting
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Meet the Osbo(u)rnes
JUST which world is George Orwell, sorry Osborne, in when he says the average weekly household income is £500? I think he and their Ozzy must have had their heads together. David Williams, Willington, Crook, Co Durham.
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Ghoul keepers
Hammer horror may have been dead and buried for decades, but you just can’t keep a good ghoul down. Long-time fan Nigel Burton reports on an overdue resurrection and a celebration of its movies at a film festival in Whitby. MARTIN SCORSESE
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Learning the hard way
THROUGH last week’s controversial announcement about child benefit cuts, Chancellor George Osborne displayed a basic lack of mathematical logic: families with one person earning more than £43,875 would be targeted for the cut but families with two
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The days when football really did go to the dogs
ON THE basis that what goes around comes around, we return – tail between the legs – to the subject of greyhound tracks around football grounds. Two weeks ago, the column supposed that the last Football League stadium so to be girdled was Redheugh
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Lee set to take more time out
LEE Westwood played on through the pain yesterday but it looks more likely that he will become world No 1 by taking time off next week than by finishing second at St Andrews tomorrow. The Ryder Cup star, who suffered a recurrence of his calf
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Delight as Shearer’s horse first past post
FORMER England striker Alan Shearer was on target as a racehorse owner when Justonefortheroad sprang a 25-1 surprise at York. The BBC soccer pundit made the right decision in being on the Knavesmire rather than be with the other two members
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Poet’s Place poses threat to Fahey’s Knavesmire quintet
DARK mornings, a chill at night, it can only mean one thing: jump racing is about to take over. This afternoon, however, there is a nice mix between the jumpers and the flat and the last chance to visit the award-winning York racecourse before
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Hamilton loses two hours of practice
LEWIS Hamilton admits his crash in yesterday’s opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix was the result of ‘‘pushing too hard, too early’’. Hamilton lost over two hours of development time after suffering the accident when he ran
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Cup men are left trailing by Parry
JOHN Parry left nine of Europe’s Ryder Cup side trailing in his wake at St Andrew’s, despite not qualifying until he won his first European Tour title two weeks ago. The 23-year-old from Harrogate, a team-mate of Rory McIlroy at the 2007 Walker
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Saturday Spotlight: Positive message is a heady brew at The White House
There’s a thin line between football success and failure at the top level of sport. At the other end of the scale, Sports Editor and Sunday league defender Nick Loughlin and his team-mates enjoyed a session with sports mind coach Richard Nugent
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Park pin hopes on pace to repel attacks by Bees
DARLINGTON Mowden Park are hoping their speedy young backs will sting the Bees today when Bradford and Bingley come calling. With home-grown fly half Sam Errington making his first appearance of the season, Mowden revert to the half-back pairing
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Harriers prepare to tackle Derwentside Hellhole event
MULTI-TERRAIN enthusiasts disappointed by the enforced cancellation of the Michael Page Memorial race have switched to the annual Derwentside Hellhole event at Stanley tomorrow. Houghton Harriers had little choice but to call off their fundraiser
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Falcons hit by injuries
NEWCASTLE Falcons head coach Alan Tait is facing a front row injury crisis ahead of next week’s Amlin Challenge Cup away game in Montpellier. Newcastle kicked off their European campaign with a 22-16 win over Bourgoin on Thursday night, but
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Stewart pays tribute to ‘streetfighter’ Colly
ALEC Stewart admits he has no concerns over Paul Collingwood’s form ahead of the Ashes and is adamant the Shotley Bridge all-rounder can be England’s star turn Down Under. Collingwood began the year in style, hitting 145 during the first Test
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The Legends: Strachan: Harmless or an insult to Boro supporters?
WE ASKED the Legends this week: As people who work in radio, do you think Gordon Strachan’s comments last week were harmless or offensive to Boro fans? MALCOLM MACDONALD: YOU can’t have harmless fun and involve drugs or alcohol
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Tykes delight at Sidebottom capture
FAST-BOWLER Oliver Hannon-Dalby says Yorkshire have signed “one of the best players in the country” after the Tykes confirmed the capture of Ryan Sidebottom. The 21 year-old, who was one of Yorkshire’s best performers in the County Championship
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History for Norton
NORTON are ready to welcome the biggest crowd in their history when they take on FC United of Manchester in the FA Cup third qualifying round this afternoon. The visitors, who were formed by rebel Manchester United season-ticket holders protesting
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The Insider, October 9, 2010
NEWCASTLE Falcons might have secured a multi-million pound investment, but hopes of an immediate cash injection into the squad appear far-fetched. Tyne Valley businessman Semore Kurdi secured a 40 per cent share in Falcons at the end of last
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City to ring the changes
DURHAM City managers Lee Collings and Dickie Ord are set to ring the changes for today’s Evostik First Division North game at Radcliffe Borough. City lost 4-0 at Salford in midweek and Collings said: “Our performance was horrendous on Tuesday
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Guthrie has to be patient
DANNY Guthrie has admitted he cannot expect to walk straight back into the Newcastle United side following his lengthy injury lay-off at the start of the season. Guthrie has been sidelined since sustaining a knee ligament injury in training
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Allon and Baker promote Pools reunion
JOE Allon and Paul Baker were back together this week to promote the reunion of Hartlepool United’s 1990-91 promotion winning squad. The pair formed a formidable strike force 20 years ago and will be back in tandem next month, as the squad
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Quakers boss unhappy with mentality of club
SEEING his team throw away a lead for the fifth time this season has left Darlington manager Mark Cooper in reflective mood, questioning the character of his players and the mentality of the club. Quakers have been in a winning position in nine
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Owls to get £2m up front
SHEFFIELD Wednesday have revealed a third party investor has confirmed its intention to put money into the npower League One club. Although known to the Owls and the Co-operative Bank, the investor has asked that its identity remain confidential
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Yantorno keen to repay Wadsworth
FOLLOWING a stop-start introduction to his Hartlepool United career, Fabian Yantorno is hoping his injury troubles are behind him. Since arriving at Victoria Park on trial in the summer and signing a deal to stay, the Uruguayan forward has been
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Davies insists he has plenty to offer
KEVIN Davies is out to prove he can be far more than a onedimensional target man. At 33, Davies could become the oldest England debutant since 1950 when the Three Lions tackle Montenegro in their Euro 2012 qualifier. The burly Bolton frontman
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Mixed fortunes for British contingent
HARROGATE’S Jenny Duncalf was forced to settle for silver after her gold medal squash showdown with Malaysia’s long-standing world number one Nicol David ended in defeat. Duncalf, who will seek another medal opportunity when she teams up with
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England Under-21 2 Romania Under-21 1
England Under-21 2 Romania Under-21 1 CHRIS Smalling’s first goal for England Under-21s gave Stuart Pearce’s side a slender lead from the first leg of their European Championship play-off against a well-organised Romania side at Carrow Road.
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Lobbying for eco bank
THE man behind an environmentally-friendly business park has lobbied the Government on the advantages of locating the new Green Investment Bank (GIB) in the North-East, pointing out its low-carbon credentials. John Orchard, director of Marchday
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Ankle injury blow for Chris
CHRIS Tomlinson’s dreams of adding to his European bronze in Delhi were hanging by a thread last night. The Teessider departed the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on a stretcher during Commonwealth Games long jump qualifying. The 29-year-old broke
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Carroll signs on for five years
ANDY Carroll last night expressed his pride at signing a new five-year contract with his hometown team Newcastle United. Carroll penned a new deal yesterday to end a lengthy spell of negotiations, which began when he played a pivotal role in
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Campbell first to score five.
Newcastle Benfield striker John Campbell becamse the first player in the league to score five in a league game, when he did so against Esh Winning in midweek. Three players scored five in a game last season -- Dunston's Andy Bulford, Micky Chilton of
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Cable says firms key to success
SUCCESSFUL firms rather than Government agencies will drive the region’s future success, Vince Cable told North-East business leaders yesterday as he defended the decision to scrap regional development agency One North East. The Business Secretary
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Prison officers put in ground work for pupils
A SPECIAL school has received more than £4,000 from a group of prison officers. They visited every Scottish football ground within a 48-hour period to raise cash and had a £1,000 boost from the Prison Officers Association. The eight-year-old
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Sir Peter hands over the reins of top N-E schools
A NORTH-EAST business leader who has sponsored some of the country’s most successful academies has announced he is handing over his schools’ foundation after more than two decades in education. Sir Peter Vardy opened Emmanuel College in Gateshead
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Guides visit region to discover first Scout camp
GUIDE and Brownie leaders rediscovered their roots with a visit to the North-East site of the first official Scout camp. More than 600 leaders visited Look Wider Cairn, Humshaugh, Northumberland, where Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout
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Hooligans in smoke bomb confrontation
A SMOKE bomb was thrown and a hooligan wielded an extendable baton during a confrontation between two sets of football fans at a station, a court heard yesterday. Newcastle United supporters tried to ambush Sunderland fans as police were escorting
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Priests’ training college set to close next year
TRUSTEES of a 200-year-old Roman Catholic seminary have begun consultation on its closure, it was announced last night. Would-be Catholic priests have been trained in the picturesque surroundings of Ushaw College, near Durham City, since 1808
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Asbestos victims facing longer wait for justice
MANY sufferers of asbestos related disease face a longer wait for justice after appeal court judges referred their claims to the Supreme Court – the country’s highest court. The three judges could not agree on a previous High Court ruling that
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Back from Afghanistan to loved ones’ delight
THERE were emotional scenes as 85 battle-weary soldiers were reunited with their loved ones yesterday. The 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment returned to Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, following a six-month tour of Afghanistan
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‘We must protect arts and culture’
ARTS and culture should not fall victim to public spending cuts, a North-East town’s residents have declared. Extra seats had to be brought in to accommodate those at a meeting called to discuss how the arts should be treated as Darlington Borough
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Perfect ten for classmates Daniel and Sophie
TWO children from the same class are turning ten on the tenth of the tenth 2010. Daniel Sunley and Sophie Nixon are looking forward to their birthdays tomorrow. The youngsters, who attend Castleside Primary School, near Consett, were both born
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Eleven arrests as crime tackled with Sledgehammer
ELEVEN people have been arrested in a series of police raids against suspected organised criminal gangs. Four men and two women from the Peterlee, Shotton Colliery and Wingate areas of east Durham were arrested on Thursday. And yesterday, a further
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Tourist died from fractured skull on Spanish holiday
A NORTH-EAST tourist who failed to return from a hiking trip in Spain died after he suffered a fractured skull. While the possibility that former soldier Michael Leslie Egglestone, 53, was attacked could not be ruled out, he probably died after
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Music centre is saved after funding secured
THE fight to save a popular music centre from closure has been won. The Forum Music Centre, in Darlington, faced an uncertain future because of difficulties accessing £80,000 of funding. However, last night, Humantics, a community interest company
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Bloomin’ ridiculous...
A GREEN-FINGERED eight-year-old boy has left experienced gardeners scratching their heads with his homegrown sunflowers. Henry Ward, from Merrybent, near Darlington, has grown sunflowers which each have more than 20 flower heads. The
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Brothers jailed after smashing into man’s home with knives
TWO brothers have been jailed for more than five years after smashing their way into a house and attacking a terrified man with knives. Jonathan Whitworth was watching television at a friend’s home hours after being involved in a fight with
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Girl, 11, gets £1m for brain injuries
A GIRL who suffered a stroke when she was born has won a £1m NHS compensation package at the High Court. Bethany Jane Davison suffers from long-term neurological problems and mild cerebral palsy, affecting all four of her limbs, after sustaining
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Fury as killer’s sentence is cut
A MAN who killed a North-East football fan with a single "haymaker" punch has had his prison sentence cut by the Court of Appeal. Maurice Rowell struck Stephen Wilson outside The Beehive, a pub in Bishop Auckland, following a row over a football