Archive

  • Champagne in defeat as 2,000th wicket tumbles

    THE result was sadly familiar, but Durham City's cricketers still celebrated with champagne after last Thursday's defeat at Eppleton - Gary Hulme had taken his 2,000th first team wicket for the club. "An extraordinary achievement, probably unequalled,

  • A statley home from home

    IT'S getting on 15 years since the Little 'Un, as then he almost was, last lunched with us in the brewery country around Masham, in North Yorkshire. He was barely two at the time, innocently persuaded to try some futuristic orange cake that was up to

  • Call for youth help as bank becomes a 'one-stop' office

    WORK begins next week to breathe new life into a former Barclays Bank, which closed amid controversy last year. The dales community of Reeth is hoping for more youth involvement when it takes an important step towards its own community office next week

  • Models are sure to turn a few heads

    LAMBORGHINI, Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lotus, and TVR will be leading a line-up of the world's greatest supercars at one of the North-East's biggest celebrations of horsepower and performance this weekend. The country's leading exhibition for performance

  • How Cherie stole the roadshow

    IN Newton Aycliffe nine years ago, I achieved something I am unlikely to repeat, a 20-minute conversation with Tony Blair on election night. I was a trainee reporter with The Northern Echo. The man who then was just plain MP for Sedgefield was a rising

  • Student's dizzy rise to college success

    Redcar and Cleveland College is used to giving one-to-one coaching in numeracy and literacy to some students. But the help offered to building crafts student Denise Fines was a first. She had to have her own support worker to talk her through her fear

  • Gurkha soldiers pay tribute to royal victims

    SOLDIERS serving in North Yorkshire have been among millions of people around the world stunned by the massacre of the Nepalese royal family. Catterick Garrison is home to a regiment of Gurkhas - fighting troops from the Himalayas who share a special

  • Moscow circus comes to town

    THE Moscow State Circus has arrived in the North-East for the first time in six years. The world-renowned performers held their first shows in Darlington last night under the Big Top in South Park. There will be two performances every night until Sunday

  • Blair and Hague delight faithful

    TONY Blair and William Hague returned to the region last night, spending the final hours of the election campaign issuing rallying cries to supporters on home ground. And as both men issued impassioned appeals to their respective party faithful in their

  • The peasants were not impressed

    WHILST briefly the SDP member for Newcastle East, Mr Michael Thomas would tell the story about the miner MP who waited several years before honouring the House with his maiden speech. Finally, since the colliery from which he had risen was facing imminent

  • New hope in fight to save cigarette jobs

    CIGARETTE workers at a North-East cigarette factory have been given a glimmer of hope in their fight to save jobs. It had been feared that tough new European anti-smoking laws would pose a threat to jobs at the Rothmans plant in Darlington, which employs

  • Black PC sues police

    A black policeman is suing the Cleveland force claiming he was publicly humiliated by fellow officers when a woman falsely accused him of rape. The woman - who was a mentally-ill drug abuser - told detectives she had been attacked by PC Steven Allen and

  • Court dispute over identity of mouse

    AN expert told a jury yesterday that he was convinced a clockwork mouse at the centre of a Crown Court trial is the same one that was stolen from a North-East museum in 1994. The tiny gold mouse, encrusted with pearls, was on sale in London for £90,000

  • Letters

    DARLINGTON STADIUM A LOT of people might agree with the naming of the new ground, well I'm sorry, but I totally disagree with it. Yes, George Reynolds paid off the debts; yes, he saved us from liquidation, but what exactly is he trying to do? He's driven

  • 2,000 jobs hope as park plan is backed

    PLANS to build a business park in a North-East town have been given the go-ahead. Up to 2,000 jobs could be created at the park on the outskirts of Darlington. Darlington Borough Council and regional development agency One NorthEast will sign the agreement

  • Death probe: Barrymore held

    TV comedian Michael Barrymore was arrested yesterday by detectives investigating the suspected murder of a man found floating in a swimming pool at the star's home. Barrymore, 49, of Roydon, Essex, was being questioned last night about alleged drugs offences

  • IT centre bidding to step up role in village jobs blackspot

    A COMPUTER training centre is seeking to expand its operation just one year after logging on in a former east Durham mining community. The information technology (IT) venture in Shotton Colliery was the brainchild of a group of village volunteers, who

  • The man who gave us Leylandii

    A LITTLE-KNOWN landowner has been revealed as the man who brought the 'hedges from hell' to Britain. Christopher Leyland, who was skipper of the revolutionary turbine vessel Turbinia, lived at Haggerston Castle, in Northumberland, and tested Charles Parsons

  • Appeal for stewards at Love Parade

    STEWARDS are needed to help with crowd control at the Newcastle Love Parade. Training for the nine-hour stint on Saturday, July 21, will be provided for volunteers, who must be aged over 17. Following the success of the Leeds Love Parade last year, which

  • Hot tips on food safety

    THE potential perils of barbecue cooking are to be highlighted in a council roadshow. Hambleton District Council's environmental health officer Kevin Hardisty will be donning his chef's hat and showing where the dangers in outdoor cooking lie. He will

  • Decision due in road closure row

    A ROW over an experimental road closure is to be rekindled -with a decision expected on whether the temporary order is to be made permanent. Gypsy Lane, Nunthorpe, straddles the boundary between Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough borough councils.

  • Burning Questions

    Q: My mother has a pack of cards named Belisha, which she bought in London in 1939. All the cards depict a picture relating to traffic and have different road signs in the corner. These include 30 Limit, Go Slow, Stop, Traffic Lights, Railway Crossing

  • Crackdown on youth crime

    POLICE in the Sedgefield area have launched an operation to combat the growing problem of youth crime. Operation Lottie includes a series of measures to tackle under-age drinking, petty vandalism and rowdy behaviour. Police patrols will target troublespots

  • They decide and we have to live with it

    WELL, it's all right for Euan Blair. No wonder he was out campaigning with his parents over half term. He's not doing AS levels this week, unlike most of his Lower Sixth contemporaries who spent their week off locked in their bedrooms revising for exams

  • Town hall opts for kinder cleaner

    COUNCIL staff in Darlington are enjoying a sparklingly health working environment after the introduction of an environmentally-friendly cleaning system. The Neptune Programme is a three-step system which cuts down dust and pollutants whilst reducing the

  • Fears after sword stolen

    POLICE are keen to trace a Samurai sword which was stolen from a car. The sword was taken as part of a spate of thefts from cars in the Haughton Road area of Darlington, overnight between Sunday and Monday. It is described as a training weapon for the

  • Missing Miles walkers arrive

    THE plight of families with missing relatives was highlighted yesterday when a group of charity walkers stopped off in Hartlepool. The walkers are taking part in the sponsored Missing Miles 2001 event that aims to raise money for the National Missing

  • Volunteers honoured at stadium party

    NINE volunteers were rewarded for their work last night at Sunderland's Stadium of Light. A party was held by Sunderland Social Services to mark National Volunteers Work. More than 200 people joined Sunderland Mayor, Councillor Ken Murray, who presented

  • Feng shui and the art of parking

    THE secretary of a local branch of the Christian Union seems to have gone off his rocker. Simon Carpenter makes the front page of this week's Church Times with his suggestion that offices and factories should receive the laying on of hands. Now, blessing

  • Treasure from the boss who never forgot

    A WOMAN is hoping that her parting gift from a former boss could net her a jumbo profit this month. The 12in high plastic elephant had been a feature of her living room for years when a near identical example featured in television's Antiques Roadshow

  • I'd rather watch Big Brother

    WHEN it comes to voting for Tony Blair, let me try to spread a little apathy. For a start, there's more reality in Big Brother than there has been throughout Blair's election campaign. It's all been spin and smoke and mirrors, deceitful propaganda and

  • Friends flock for Pickering

    Stan Wilson attended John Pickering's funeral at Hutton Rudby yesterday with memories of the day he clipped him round the ear. It was a Monday morning in1958. John, later Middlesbrough's much respected first team coach, was captain of the Under-13s at

  • Takeaway scheme turned down

    COUNCILLORS have refused planning permission for a former betting shop to be turned into a pizza takeaway. Altan Bulduk sought permission from Durham City Council to open the business in Front Street, Kelloe, near homes and the former pit village's workingmen's

  • Greeks swept aside in England landslide

    IT was not quite a pre-election landslide but the dramatic swing in England's fortunes continued as Sven-Goran Eriksson proved, appropriately enough in Greece, that he retains the Midas touch. And as Eriksson became the first England coach to secure five

  • Police blaze heroes get top honours

    TWO police officers who pulled a woman from a burning car, and a rookie PC who excelled in his first year in the force, have won top awards from Durham Constabulary. PC Dave Sampson, 32, and PC Peter Tate, 27, have been awarded the Matt Wilkinson Trophy

  • A line of Lycra, in praise of the Lord

    COXWOLD Sunday, and Solomon in all his glory may not have been arrayed like the colourful crowd - Lycra for like - assembled in St Michael's. It is the 75th annual Cyclists Touring Club service, the one at which the Kingdom of God was once likened unto

  • Cadbury close to wrapping up Orangina package deal

    CHOCOLATE and soft drinks group Cadbury Schweppes is close to snapping up the Orangina drink brand from French rival Pernod Ricard as part of a £419m deal. The deal would see Cadbury buy Pernod's soft drinks brands and businesses in continental Europe

  • Judge blasts fine for child sex images

    A JUDGE yesterday criticised magistrates who imposed only a fine on a man who hoarded Internet images of men having sex with children as young as five. A leading children's charity urged courts to take child pornography more seriously after John Linsley

  • We say...

    WILLIAM Hague is right. The polls do not matter. In fact, this morning they are utterly meaningless. This morning, when you walk into the polling booths, Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat and all the other parties are level pegging on zero. There

  • Johnston puts faith in Ffrench connection

    WHEN Royston Ffrench notched up a grand total of 77 winners in 1998 it seemed he was a jockey destined for the very top. But such is the fickle nature of owners and trainers the talented lightweight then simply fell out of fashion and he ended last season

  • England resume rivalries under the floodlights

    THE Old Trafford Test may be remembered for its no balls and verbals as much as the feast of dramatic cricket. Four days later under the Edgbaston floodlights, the two sides resume rivalries today with emotions hardly having had time to cool in the first

  • Durham stand to miss out again

    THE curse of the seventh-wicket stand returned to haunt Durham yesterday at the scene of its most harrowing appearance last season. The 52 added by Karl Krikken and Nathan Dumelow before bad light ended play is some way short of the 258 put on by Dominic

  • Peer pressure and outdated privilege

    REGARDLESS of the size and direction of the swing in tomorrow's General Election, two dozen MPs from the last Parliament will take seats in the new one. And they will have gained them without any of the distasteful antics required in the month-long thrash

  • Drink-driver admits 'I'm guilty as sin'

    Shaun Williams was sharp to reply when police charged him with drink-driving, a court was told yesterday. Williams, 19, immediately confessed: "Guilty as sin", said Ian Bradshaw, prosecuting. He was two-and-a-half times the alcohol limit when police pulled

  • Life support beats expectations

    MORE than 227,000 North-East people have learned a little something about life in the past 12 months. That is several thousand more people than were expected to visit Newcastle's Centre for Life, a place where scientific research, science, ethics, education

  • Farm fund's £89,000 boost

    Farmers reeling from the foot-and-mouth crisis were given a boost yesterday when it was announced that a fund set up to help them would get match funding from the government. The Farmers' Fund was set up by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, organiser

  • Officer was hurt in drunken fracas

    A MAN left a police constable with nerve and ligament damage after a drunken fracas. Newcastle Crown Court heard that Graham Borthwick, 35, attacked pizza delivery man Raymond Hale as he staggered home from the Colliery Tavern pub in Boldon last December

  • Court spares dog that bit little girl in 'scuffle'

    A Labrador which bit a four-year-old girl as she tried to prevent it "scuffling" with another dog escaped a death sentence yesterday. Eleven-year-old Sam acted completely out of character when he nipped the girl on the thigh, solicitor Simon Berger told

  • Cull protestors grieve for future

    THE top hats and candles may have signalled a very traditional cortege - but for the mourners their grief was as much about the future as the past. Farmers from across the North gathered in Tony Blair's Sedgefield constituency yesterday for a symbolic

  • Oars at the ready for the 'Henley of the North'

    THE annual Durham Regatta will be held this weekend with record numbers of people taking part. The event, known as The Henley of the North, attracts competitors from Britain and as far afield as Canada. Durham Regatta is five years older than Henley,

  • Villagers protest at industry scheme

    VILLAGERS packed a meeting to voice a united protest over plans to create an industrial site in their area. Residents of Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, are angry about plans to convert existing buildings on a former Army training site, in Roecliffe Road,

  • Teenager's invention is rail genius

    Schoolboy Martin Rosinski has invented a £40 device that could put an end to the carnage on Britain's railways. The youngster's electronic box, which fits on to train axles, could avoid disasters such as the Hatfield crash. Martin, 16, who was sitting

  • Ambulance staff honoured on retirement

    AMBULANCE chiefs have paid tribute to two long-serving members of staff who have retired due to ill health. Stockton paramedic Tim Finn and Middlesbrough-based Dave Sedgewick were honoured by ambulance service chief executive David Craig and associate

  • BP workers rise to mountain challenge

    A TEAM of refinery workers has been helping dreams come true by taking part in a multi-sports event in the French Alps. Phil Connor, Carl Slatter, Lisa Price and Peter Brazukas, from BP Wilton, Teesside, raised more than £6,500 for the Wooden Spoon Society

  • Pupils put lid on green campaign

    MORE than 1,500 schoolchildren are helping a superhero clean up the planet. Youngsters from primary schools across Sunderland are joining caped crusader Eco Ranger for a nine-day event at Rainton Meadows, near Houghton-le-Spring. Those taking part will

  • Exercise gets into the record books

    A PART-TIME soldier from the North-East had an audience of thousands yesterday. More than 35,000 people turned out to see the closing hours of a punishing 24-hour, record-breaking exercise marathon. Among the ten contenders to get into the record books

  • Quilter's blooming marvellous effort to brighten town

    PENSIONER Jean Watson hopes her double bed-sized quilt will help spread a little happiness and warmth. Quilter Mrs Watson has been at work on her grand design for the past 18 months. Thousands of stitches have gone into the bed cover. Both it and quilts

  • Rats plague claim as burial protests begin

    PROTESTORS will take their campaign to close a mass foot-and-mouth burial site to ministry headquarters today. People from Tow Law, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, will join other anti-burial site campaigners who will visit foot-and-mouth disease

  • Bus company takes action to ease city delays

    A BUS company has come to the rescue of passengers frustrated by delays on a popular service. Arriva North-East's number 48 service, between Durham, Bearpark and New Brancepeth, is being held up by roadworks. Contractors for Northumbrian Water are carrying

  • Time to get into training for annual 10km road race

    TODAY is the first day of a ten-week training schedule designed to help people get fit for this year's Darlington 10km Road Run. Each week, The Northern Echo will print part of a fitness programme which should help even those who have not been inside

  • Mutual man Hilton takes the helm at Newcastle

    NEWCASTLE Building Society has appointed a new chairman. He is 51-year-old Chris Hilton, a senior partner in law firm Eversheds, and a member of the council of the University of Newcastle. He has taken over from Eric Davey who has retired. Mr Hilton was

  • Has the hyphen reached the end of the line?

    JUST when we might have been suffering from grammatical over-exposure - or at least a punctuated lung - Peter Sotheran writes from Redcar about that ubiquitous little blighter, the hyphen. Hyphens have become the wisteria of the printed page, which is

  • Fun day gets 007 appeal

    A JAMES Bond look-alike will add to the atmosphere of a fun day in Stanley. Nick Richmond, from Darlington, will be at the Cancer Research Campaign event from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, June 30. All proceeds from the day, supported by Derwentside District