AN UNDERWATER survey to remove any lingering doubts about the fate of the trawler Gaul will be held in the summer, it was been announced. Ever since the Hull-registered vessel went down in 1974 in the Barents Sea with the loss of 36 crewmen, including
THE parents of teenage murder victim John Paul Robert Jeffries last night described how the loss of their trusting and popular son had affected their lives. Edwin Jeffries and Brenda Sowerby told The Northern Echo they felt that they and their family
A Jody Craddock own goal and a second half strike from Marian Pahars handed Southampton the points against Sunderland on Saturday. With Claudio Reyna making his debut, Peter Reid's side were bidding to add to Saints' miserable record at their new St Mary's
MRS Martha Macdonald has had the same garden for almost 40 years and can't recall having ever had much serious trouble with spring frosts - until three or four years ago. First it hit the trees at what she calls the bottom end of her garden where the
IF Steve McClaren wanted to show his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson how much he had learned during his time as his lieutenant, well he succeeded. McClaren is said to be Ferguson's first choice to take over at Old Trafford when the Scot retires at the end
It may be as much as Christmas tradition as the Queen, but turkey has had a bad press. But, as Nick Morrison discovers, one couple aim to show it doesn't have to be this way ROBERT would be the first to admit that turkeys are not the brightest of birds
A DALES community was yesterday celebrating a £50,000 windfall which will help to give its town hall a facelift. The Newcastle-based Northern Rock Foundation has offered the money for the refurbishment of the hall at St John's Chapel, Weardale. Last month
Vandals are targeting public buildings in Willington, near Crook, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage. In the latest incident, windows were smashed at the Health Centre, in Chapel Street, overnight on Thursday. In recent months, the Health Centre
THE future of a play and education centre on Teesside has been secured thanks to a grant of almost £140,000. The Northumbrian Water Environmental Trust (NWET) has announced the top up grant for Percy, the Teesside Play and Education Resource Centre for
Darlington can consider themselves extremely unlucky not to have beaten Plymouth who claimed all three points thanks to a late winner. David Friio notched the 82nd minute goal to send Darlo on the long journey home pointless. The Quakers had more than
A DALES community was yesterday celebrating a £50,000 windfall which will help to give its town hall a facelift. The Newcastle-based Northern Rock Foundation has offered the money for the refurbishment of the hall at St John's Chapel, Weardale. Last month
TEESSIDERS are being invited to unlock the submerged secrets of a shipwrecked steamer, without getting their feet wet. Using underwater video footage and photographs, the University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, has produced a 3D image of the wreck of the
MORE than 400 families on Teesside are to enjoy a Christmas hamper packed with treats, thanks to kind-hearted schoolchildren. Pupils from 11 schools in the district have taken part in a scheme to provide families in need with hampers filled with essential
BUSINESSES in Hartlepool have been praised for supporting a clean-up campaign. More than 40 have applied for awards through the Tidy Business Charter, a joint venture between Hartlepool Borough Council's Pride in Hartlepool team and the Tidy Britain Group
CONSISTENCY is a key factor to finishing somewhere near the top of the Premiership, and a lack of it goes a long way to explaining why every May, since 1997, Newcastle have failed to find themselves in the top half of the league. Since then a win over
CHILDREN normally expect Christmas presents to arrive in stockings or sacks, but some youngsters were delighted to find gifts in a suitcase. The suitcase had been packed full of toys for patients on the children's ward at Bishop Auckland General Hospital
High-achieving sportsmen and women from Stockton Sixth Form College are heading for the British Colleges finals in April. More than 40 students from the college's boys' hockey team, girls' netball team, boys' seven-a-side rugby, badminton boys' singles
PUPILS at Red House School, in Norton, are helping underprivileged children celebrate Christmas by collecting as many shoeboxes as possible. Operation Christmas Child, a project set up by Samaritan's Purse, asks local businesses and schools to collect
THE story following the journey of the Grumpy Sheep as it travels to see the infant Jesus has been brought to life by primary school pupils. Children from St Andrew's Primary School, Henknowle, near Bishop Auckland, took to the stage for two matinee performances
A CLASSROOM was left with smoke damage after a fire broke out at a school in Middlesbrough yesterday. Firefighters were called out to the blaze, in an art room at Acklam Grange School, Lodore Grove, Middlesbrough, at 7.36am. The flames were quickly extinguished
A BANKRUPT man fighting to keep a roof over his head this Christmas, is taking his case to the House of Lords. Ted Winter, 64, has been locked in a battle with the legal profession for 20 years since his hotel, the Queen's Hotel, Stockton, was destroyed
A BUSINESSMAN who started a nursery school business because of the trouble he had finding a place for his two daughters is now £22m richer after selling his stake in the firm. Darlington-based businessman Duncan Bannatyne has sold Just Learning Ltd, which
RIVAL managers Chris Turner and Garry Thompson joined forces to sympathise with Hartlepool United fans who suffered a 580-mile wasted journey on Saturday. Pools game at Bristol Rovers was abandoned after just 12 minutes - leaving the 200 or so Pool fans
RIVAL managers Chris Turner and Garry Thompson joined forces to sympathise with Hartlepool United fans who suffered a 580-mile wasted journey on Saturday. Pools game at Bristol Rovers was abandoned after just 12 minutes - leaving the 200 or so Pool fans
PUB group Pubmaster is close to landing a £500m deal for the Inn Partnership estate run by Japanese bank Nomura. The Hartlepool-based group is hoping to seal the acquisition as early as Tuesday after rivals pulled out of the bidding. The deal would make
PLANE SPOTTERS THE detention of 12 British plane spotters in Greece developed into a modern-day Greek tragedy. Ludicrous, outrageous, and farcical though the situation may be, it was also of the utmost seriousness. The one significant factor in all of
The last Methodist chapel in Coundon will soon be closing, but preacher John March has no plans to step down from the pulpit JOHN Marsh, preacher and poet, is marking 50 years around the Methodist circuit. He is 81, a golden oldie as jubilee liners might
A BUSINESSMAN who started a nursery school business because of the trouble he had finding a place for his two daughters is now £22m richer after selling his stake in the firm. Darlington-based businessman Duncan Bannatyne has sold Just Learning Ltd, which
IF Steve McClaren wanted to show his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson how much he had learned during his time as his lieutenant, well he succeeded. McClaren is said to be Ferguson's first choice to take over at Old Trafford when the Scot retires at the end
NEWCASTLE'S Michael Stephenson will be hoping to show he's not just a seven-a-side specialist when the Falcons entertain Wasps in the sixth round of the Powergen National Cup tomorrow. The former England Schools full back has played mostly on the wing
NINE people were taken to hospital after a car collided with a mini-bus late on Saturday night. The female passenger of a VW Polo had to be cut free after the car failed to negotiate a left-hand and collided with a minibus outside the Sportman's Inn,
THANKS to the tireless efforts of the local community, a resource centre will be opened in Norton next week. The Albany Community Resource Centre, serving the area from Norton Road to the A19, will be opened by the Mayor of Stockton, Councillor Terry
John Boy and his famous family are meeting up again in the New Year, 20 years after their final "good night" TWENTY years ago the Waltons said "good night" for the last time. The lights in their house in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia dimmed for
THE death of a man with Down's Syndrome who was hit by a van after going missing from a residential home was caused partly by neglect, an inquest found yesterday. Richard Doyle, 26, died from massive head injuries five days after being hit by a Ford Transit
Five crew members had to be rescued by an RAF helicopter following a blaze on their cargo ship off the North-East coast. The vessel Rose Bank, a small coaster carrying fertiliser, caught fire on Friday night seven miles from the Farne Islands, off Northumberland
A TIME capsule has been buried to herald the future of a new school. Businessman Sir Tom Cowie was the special guest at Thursday's ceremony to bury the capsule at the Community School, at Hylton Castle, Sunderland. Formerly known as Felstead School, the
A TEENAGER who battered to death a student and wedged his body between rocks at a marina was yesterday found guilty of his murder and jailed for life. Kevin Littlewood, 18, from Hartlepool, was locked up after a jury spent nearly four hours reaching its
ONE of the biggest carol concerts ever staged in Stockton took place yesterday. There were two hours of music and singing from around the globe in the town's civic square, with a big line up of bands and choirs. A touch of Caribbean was provided by Huntcliffe
WORK is under way to look at ways of celebrating the rich culture and heritage of Hartlepool's historic Headland. Arts link officers Roger Dickinson and Mary Paterson have been appointed by the North Hartlepool Partnership to work with residents on a
THE story following the journey of the Grumpy Sheep as it travels to see the infant Jesus has been brought to life by primary school pupils. Children from St Andrew's Primary School, Henknowle, near Bishop Auckland, took to the stage for two matinee performances
CHILDREN normally expect Christmas presents to arrive in stockings or sacks, but some youngsters were delighted to find gifts in a suitcase. The suitcase had been packed full of toys for patients on the children's ward at Bishop Auckland General Hospital
STOCKTON Borough Council has been named by the Government as the leading housing authority in the North-East region for the third year running. The council has also been rated as "well above average" three years in a row. The authority learned that it
FORMER Tory leader William Hague has revealed that his successor Iain Duncan Smith "begged him to stay after the party's General Election drubbing. And the Richmond MP has vowed to stand again for his constituency in the next election, ending speculation
CONSISTENCY is a key factor to finishing somewhere near the top of the Premiership, and a lack of it goes a long way to explaining why every May, since 1997, Newcastle have failed to find themselves in the top half of the league. Since then a win over
A VARIETY of events have been lined up at Hartlepool's central library in the run-up to Christmas. Craft events for children and adults will be held on Sunday, between 12pm and 3pm. Youngsters will be able to make Christmas cards under the guidance of
