RIPON, Yorkshire's "Garden Racecourse", opens its gates to racegoers on Thursday, April 20 - the first of 14 days' racing this year on the Flat. The Ripon area is steeped in equine history and racing has taken place on several sites, with the first
THE Thirsk and Hambleton area of North Yorkshire has been synonymous with the sport of racing for almost three centuries, and today Thirsk is a thriving racecourse which stages 13 days per year on the Flat, between April and September. Although racing
BEVERLEY racecourse is situated on the famous Westwood, a picturesque setting amid the rolling Yorkshire Wolds, overlooking the historic East Yorkshire minister town. There has been racing on the site since 1690. There are 19 scheduled racedays on
CATTERICK is in action every month of the year, as this busy North Yorkshire course stages both Flat and Jump racing. There are 18 scheduled racedays this year on the Flat between early April and the last day of October. A track with a fine tradition
PONTEFRACT'S 16-day 2006 Flat season runs between April and October. This very popular course stages three evening meetings and three Sunday fixtures geared towards providing top-class action and entertainment for the whole family. The first
WETHERBY hosts top-class racing over Jumps, and although this edition of Racing North is a guide to the new Flat season, Wetherby has a lot to offer racegoers during the spring and autumn months. Conveniently located adjacent to the A1, Wetherby stages
YORK has been at the forefront of British and European racing since the sport began on the Knavesmire in 1731. The winner of "The Racecourse of the Year" award on many occasions, York has the honour of staging St Leger Day in September, bringing
REDCAR'S hosts the first major meeting of the 2006 Flat season when the £100,000 William Hill Lincoln heads a quality programme on Saturday March 25. Yorkshire's seaside course is one of the fairest in the land. Racing on the present site began in
MATTY Robson accepts it won't be easy - but he is vowing to do all he can to help get Hartlepool United out of the messy situation they find themselves in. Easter Monday's late defeat at Milton Keynes put Pool four points from safety with just nine to
HEALTH experts from the region say Government targets to reduce health inequalities could give a misleading picture. The Government wants to improve the health of the poorest people in the fastest way, but experts said its method of measuring progress
STEEL maker Corus Special Profiles and manufacturer Water Filtration have both won prestigious Queen's Awards for international trade after achieving high export growth. The companies are two of 11 businesses and organisations across the region to earn
IN the city that has been the epicentre of Romania's many uprisings, the intimidating surroundings of the Lia Manoliu National Stadium was the stage where Middlesbrough were overpowered last night. But, nevertheless, a battle-hardened defensive display
HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon showed the benefit of its Westbury acquisition yesterday by revealing it sold £1.8bn worth of homes in the year so far. The York company, which was propelled into the FTSE 100 Index by the £643m deal for Westbury, described weekly
A TEACHER accused of groping a pupil during after-school lessons has been cleared by a jury. Joseph Kerr, a drama teacher at a Darlington school, was found not guilty at Teesside Crown Court yesterday of two counts of sexual activity with a child. The
STEEL maker Corus Special Profiles and manufacturer Water Filtration have both won prestigious Queen's Awards for international trade after achieving high export growth. The companies are two of 11 businesses and organisations across the region to earn
WAX jacket manufacturer Barbour last night confirmed it was considering a bid for troubled Wellington boot company Hunter, which plunged into adminstration last week. South Shields-based Barbour has asked for information from administrators about bidding
ASPIRING chefs can enjoy world-class tuition after a college was confirmed as a Centre of Vocational Excellence in hospitality and catering. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has given the accolade to Darlington College. The college, along with Yorkshire
A MAN who had previously been stopped trying to smuggle tobacco into the country was arrested with two sisters carrying 48,000 cigarettes, a court heard yesterday. Scott Wilkes was stopped with Sarah Pollard, 23, and Elizabeth Pollard, 30, at Durham Tees
A RESPECTED groundsman who has kept community football fields in top condition has won a medal. Jack Hornsby, 54, who looks after the Dodds Field football pitches and adjacent Seaton Park, in Hartlepool, picked up second prize in the Football Association's
THE decision to leave Grant Leadbitter out of Monday's North-East derby must have been secretly heartbreaking for the youngster, but Sunderland caretaker boss Kevin Ball revealed his protg accepted the decision like a true professional. The 20-year-old
AN awards scheme to encourage childminders to make their homes smoke free is to be launched. The project, which has been operating in Derwentside since January, is to be introduced across the whole of County Durham and Darlington from next week. The initiative
A CASH boost of £160,000 is to help continued efforts to rejuvenate a run-down area of Middlesbrough. The money, from Middlesbrough Council's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, will help pay for the extension of a pilot scheme by Tees Valley Housing Group (TVHG
NO objections have been raised over plans to merge two secondary schools. During a six-week council consultation, no parents or carers of children at Lowfields or Oaklands Secondary Schools, in west York, came forward. Under proposals put forward by City
VICTIMS of crime are to receive a better standard of care - with the opening of the first unit of its kind in the country. A Victim Care Unit has been opened in York to help people across North Yorkshire. The unit is open from Monday to Friday, between
Two boys were arrested on Wednesday evening after reports of youths firing an air rifle in the Epson Court area of the Red Hall estate, Darlington. One of the boys has been bailed and the other released without charge. Police have seized the weapon.
REMOVAL men often have to contend with difficult loads, but rarely anything as difficult as two Egyptian mummies, collections of snakes and insects and a hippopotamus skull. After 122 years of entertaining and educating visitors, the Hancock Museum, in
HOSPITAL worker Samantha Douthwaite is half the woman she was a year ago - thanks to giving up fish and chips, takeaway meals and chocolate. She used to weigh 25st but has shed 12st 3lb by switching to healthy eating at her home in High Riggs, Barnard
PLANS for a much-needed youth centre for teenagers in Northallerton are to take a major step forward. North Yorkshire County councillors will be asked to approve £22,000 funding for the Northallerton Base Project at a meeting on Monday. If the application
A TEAM of young footballers really put their backs into the latest fundraising effort - hauling an aircraft 100 metres along a runway. The young players of Knaresborough Celtic FC are trying to raise £45,000 to give themselves some decent facilities.
PUBLIC SERVANTS: THE issue of pay for the public services has always been a difficult call. The police are no different to many, like nurses and the Armed Forces, facing risks and pressures, often in the limelight and the target of scrutiny. The public
THE death of a pool player has prompted an act of kindness by his mother. Mark Fisher died in February at the age of 32 after suffering a hypoglycaemic fit brought on by diabetes. He was a pool fanatic and had built a shed to house his own table where
A MAN who allegedly drugged a woman on a train and took pictures of her private parts lied to an officer about his identity when arrested, a court has been told Trevor Tarirah was questioned and said he was a surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital, in London
A MAN has died and his teenage son has been injured after a horrific car crash in County Durham last night. The pair were riding pony and trap vehicles in single file along the A689, near Coundon, at 7.30pm last night when a red Nissan Micra driven by
MATTY Robson accepts it won't be easy - but he is vowing to do all he can to help get Hartlepool United out of the messy situation they find themselves in. Easter Monday's late defeat at Milton Keynes put Pool four points from safety with just nine to
SUMMER holidays might be on the horizon but there are exams to get through first - meaning endless hours of revision for students of all ages. Faced with reams of paper to shuffle and complex terms to memorise, it's all too easy to stay up late, fuelled
A COLLEGE is responding to a boom in new technology by offering classes in how to use iPods. Technophobes will be taught how to use the music website iTunes so they can get the most out of their portable MP3 players. The workshop is among a number of
PARAMEDICS will be unable to enter the homes of dying heart attack victims who have left a cigarette burning and district nurses will refuse to tend housebound elderly smokers. Smokers living on boats will be forced to sail them outside Britain's territorial
BORN-AGAIN biking enthusiast Alan Wray's mania for motorcycling has rubbed off on all three female members of his family. First, daughters Catherine and Kirsty decided it would be a nifty way to beat the traffic and get to school on time. Now in their
As the Queen celebrates her 80th birthday, The Northern Echo takes an affectionate look back at her life so far. Committed to a royal 'job for life' Rumours over the Queen deciding to abdicate have arisen throughout her reign. Some believe as she grows
A MAN acquitted in one of the North-East's most sensational murder trials took his secrets to the grave, it emerged yesterday. An inquest heard yesterday that the body of 46-year-old Lawrence Wood was found slumped in the rear seat of his fume-filled
HEART attack victim Stuart Taylor yesterday had an emotional reunion with the airborne team that helped to save his life. The 37-year-old, from Rawcliffe, York, collapsed with a heart attack shortly after taking part in a moto-cross race at Armthorpe,
THE Government Office for the North-East is to shed a third of its staff by October 2008. The job cuts, which will affect all Government Offices in England, have been ordered in a Treasury review of the network The review also directsthe offices to play
CRAIG Moore is championing the cause of Newcastle United's much-maligned centre-backs, claiming the club boast strength in depth amongst their defensive ranks. The Australia international, who has endured an injury-plagued season on Tyneside, has seen
NO doubt we'll be accused of sour grapes, but it's hard to see how the England and Wales Cricket Board can justify selecting Glamorgan above Durham for an Ashes Test Match against Australia in 2009. Inclusion in an Ashes series is a huge sporting prize
THE deaths of a mother and son struggling to cope with autism has highlighted the desperate need for the country's first respite care centre. Alison Davies and her son, Ryan, are believed to have jumped to their deaths from the Humber Bridge this week
KERRY'S DREAM produced a performance of star potential at Ripon yesterday when romping home in the style of a smart juvenile on her debut in the Sharow Maiden Stakes. Jockey David Allan was in no hurry to make his move aboard the newcomer, however, when
THIRSK'S inaugural meeting of the season gets underway with an excellent seven race card in which Ellesappelle (3.05) could be the name on many punter's lips. Karl Burke's daughter of the Derby winner, Benny The Dip, went agonisingly close on her reappearance
CRICKET chiefs have hit the North-East for six by giving Wales the chance to hold an Ashes Test match against Australia in 2009. Durham County Cricket Club made an "exceptionally strong bid" to stage the five-day match at the Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street
THERE'S a passage in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind which has stuck with me ever since I saw the movie. Discussing the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, one of the characters comments that the only common language between two different
Yorkshire's fast bowling debutant, Mitch Claydon, struck with his 12th delivery at Trent Bridge yesterday when the Championship match against Nottinghamshire finally got started after tea on the second day. But only 14 overs were possible before bad light
KENT yesterday refused to roll over as Leicestershire did in the face of a massive Durham total in the first match of last season. The strength of their batting is the main reason why Kent have always been in division one and they look capable of grinding
A POLICE officer suffered a devastating facial injury when a teenager swung a bottle at her during a routine inquiry. PC Clare Douglas stopped Wayne Jones in the early hours of New Year's Day as he and a friend walked through Jarrow shopping centre, in
THE decision to leave Grant Leadbitter out of Monday's North-East derby must have been secretly heartbreaking for the youngster, but Sunderland caretaker boss Kevin Ball revealed his protg accepted the decision like a true professional. The 20-year-old
BACK in 1984 former president Nicolae Ceausescu ordered work to start on the building that was his greatest folly. But today, although no-one would admit to it, the uncountable billions of lei (Romanian currency) it cost to construct was worthwhile at
A MAN who threw a pint glass into another man's face during a fight in a nightclub has been spared jail. Adam Egglestone, of Kingsway, Darlington, had previously been warned that he could face custody after admitting carrying out the attack in the Escapade
MARTIAL arts pupils have made a big impact in Europe. The tae kwon do students from Darlington returned from Portugal with 17 gold medals. The 18-strong team from Kim Chung Do Kwan tae kwon do based in the town, competed in four different aspects of the
AN annual parade that was threatened by financial irregularities has been saved after an overwhelming public response to pleas for funding. Last month, it emerged several thousands of pounds were missing from the Barnard Castle Meet committee's funds.
AN appeal has been issued for villagers to support efforts to win an award in this year's Northumbria in Bloom competition. Residents, businesses and community groups are being urged to helped make Sedgefield look as attractive as possible. Bloom judges
A SACRED icon is to begin a national tour in the North-East this weekend. The picture - Our Lady Star of the Sea - will be touring Catholic churches in the North-East from April 22 to May 25 to encourage people to offer prayers for seafarers, and also
A NEW junior parish council has been awarded funding to help it support young people in the area. The Gets and Gives Council, from Wolsingham, received £500 from volunteer group 2D. The council was set up last September when Wolsingham Parish Council
TRADERS fear they will lose business when a new health centre is built on a car park near their shops because it will take spaces used by shoppers. Derwentside Primary Care Trust has won outline planning permission from Derwentside District Council's
A GUIDE group which has been reformed in a village after an interval of seven years is preparing for its enrolment night. Nine girls who have joined the group, led by Jane Addison at Middleton in Teesdale, near Barnard Castle, will be formally enrolled
RESIDENTS living near a North-East industrial estate were ordered to stay indoors as a cloud of toxic fumes drifted from a large fire in a factory unit. The blaze, in the storage unit of Containers Direct, on the Glover Industrial Estate, in Washington
A WOODLAND park has won an award for its community work. Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park in Billingham, Teesside, has won the Community Forest category of the North-East Community Forest Awards. The award recognises the achievements of Stockton Borough Council
Two teenage burglars who repeatedly raped a pensioner in her own home were jailed for life today. David Humphrey and Lee Beazley, both 19, were high on a cocktail of drugs and alcohol when they broke into the home of the 65-year-old woman on the night
A TEACHER accused of groping a pupil during after-school lessons has been cleared by a jury. Joseph Kerr, a drama teacher at a Darlington school, was found not guilty at Teesside Crown Court yesterday of two counts of sexual activity with a child. The
CRICKET chiefs have hit the North-East for six by giving Wales the chance to hold an Ashes Test match against Australia in 2009. Durham County Cricket Club made an "exceptionally strong bid" to stage the five-day match at the Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street
A BARMAN who has more than 20 convictions for fraud and theft stole more than £2,600 from his employer's safe to feed his gambling and alcohol addictions. Liam Hickson, who worked at Hotel Bannatyne, in Darlington, run by millionaire businessman Duncan
A DANCE night takes place this weekend to launch a new youth club. Tomorrow's event, which is aimed at youngsters aged 12 to 17, takes place at Meadowfield Leisure Centre, near Durham City. The event is staged by Club DC, which is arranging events for
MORE than 100 tenants on an industrial estate will be balloted over plans to improve security. Businesses on Teesside Industrial Estate, in Thornaby, will be given a bird's eye view of their premises in a ballot-by-DVD project. Cowpen Industrial Association
FOUR recruits have been welcomed to the community safety warden service on Teesside. The new additions, two men and two women, were welcomed by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council as they took a stroll down Redcar High Street. Peter Roberts will be based
The Queen revealed last night she wanted just one thing as she celebrates her 80th birthday today - "a nice, sunshiny day". As she toured the BBC's Broadcasting House, the monarch disclosed she had no particular requests for presents, but was keen on
A floating nightclub has slipped anchor to clear the way for a multi-million pound dockside redevelopment scheme. The Tuxedo Royale has been moved into storage by its owners following negotiations with Tees Valley Regeneration (TVR), the body behind the
AS further talk circulated about the increasing likelihood Steve McClaren will soon be named the next England boss, the Middlesbrough manager last night hailed three performances which keep alive his hopes of becoming a trophy winner this season. A strike
A COLLEGE is responding to a boom in new technology by offering classes in how to use iPods. Technophobes will be taught how to use the music website iTunes so they can get the most out of their portable MP3 players. The workshop is among a number of
CRAIG Moore is championing the cause of Newcastle United's much-maligned centre-backs, claiming the club boast strength in depth amongst their defensive ranks. The Australia international, who has endured an injury-plagued season on Tyneside, has seen
Cry God for Harry, England and St George! Or maybe not. as St George's Day approaches, Shoptalk looks at our poor attempts to celebrate our patron saint's day. IT'S St George's Day on Sunday. Do you feel a wave of patriotic fervour overtaking you, an
THE way we bend over to please the Welsh you would think they were the only people to suffer from pit closures. We allowed them their own assembly, then they secured the 2009 Ryder Cup ahead of Slaley Hall and in the same year they've now been granted
She has been a devoted fan of the Royal family all her life. As the Queen celebrates her 80th birthday today, Anita Atkinson tells Lindsay Jennings how the monarchy has found stability again - and why Charles will make a good king. ANITA Atkinson has
SAM Russell believes the only way Darlington can guarantee a play-off place is by winning all their remaining games. The 23-year-old goalkeeper has targeted three wins from three if Darlington are to finish in the top seven. Beginning with the visit of
A MAN who allegedly drugged a woman on a train and took pictures of her private parts lied to an officer about his identity when arrested, a court has been told Trevor Tarirah was questioned and said he was a surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital, in London
A WOMAN has declared herself homeless in an attempt to escape what she describes as years of torment from tearaway youths. Mercedes de Dunewic moved to West Cornforth, County Durham, from Bournemouth in 2002 in search of an idyllic life. But she says
IN the city that has been the epicentre of Romania's many uprisings, the intimidating surroundings of the Lia Manoliu National Stadium was the stage where Middlesbrough were overpowered last night. But, nevertheless, a battle-hardened defensive display
RESIDENTS living near a North-East industrial estate were ordered to stay indoors as a cloud of toxic fumes drifted from a large fire in a factory unit. The blaze, in the storage unit of Containers Direct, on the Glover Industrial Estate, in Washington
