Billingham Town have issued a press release regarding their issue with Hartlepool United. Here it is, reproduced in full: “The hearing of the winding up petition presented by Hartlepool United Football Club Limited was due to take place on 27th October
EMERGENCY winter packages are to be distributed to vulnerable elderly people in Darlington thanks to a charitable donation. Age UK Darlington has been given £1,492.60 from the County Durham Community Foundation’s Winter Relief Appeal. The money
NEWCASTLE UNITED'S trip to Birmingham City was called off after blizzards hit the West Midlands.The match was postponed at midday after Arctic conditions failed to abate at St Andrew's. The fixture will be rearranged at a later date.
TWO veterans praised shoppers for their response to a fundraising day they staged for wounded soldiers. Former Territorial Army Captain Trevor Jones and former RAF Squadron Leader David Wilmers collected £916 for Help the Heroes during a collection
SUNDERLAND make two changes for the visit of Bolton Wanderers today. After playing an hour at Fulham, David Meyler is not named in Steve Bruce's squad, with Asamoah Gyan starting up top with Darren Bent for the second successive home game. Simon
It was the year that the Backtrack column marked its 25th anniversary, still – like Autolocus in The Winter’s Tale – roaming the North-East, and far beyond, snapping up unconsidered trifles. Mike Amos looks back on 2010. QUOTES England football
A VARIETY of services will be held at York Minster over the Christmas season. Two of the traditional services of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held this year, at on Wednesday, December 22, at 7pm and 4pm on Friday, December 24. The crib service
There’s still time to buy a few last-minute Christmas presents. But which toys are likely to be in demand on December 25? Nigel Burton and Matt Westcott make their pick of the best. STINKY THE GARBAGE TRUCK KIDS love robots and, thanks to computer
WHO needs the Alps when you can ski in Weardale? Swinhope Moor, in Weardale, is one of Britain s biggest volunteer-run ski clubs (01388-527527, skiweardale.co.uk) and has seven pisted runs over 1km in length, two button lifts, a piste basher
THREE musical pupils have successfully passed their piano exams. The trio, who are taught by Terence Lawson, in School Aycliffe, recently undertook their Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exams. Sally Cresser passed grade two, Sarah Bedwell
Jordan’s barren, but breathtaking landscape is the backdrop for a series of tours based on the escapades of a cartoon hero. Caroline Davison goes along for the ride. IT’S more than 50 years since Tintin, the cub reporter and cartoon character
Ken Snowden rediscovers the art of slow travel with a ferry trip to Spain. WHOEVER said getting there is half the fun wasn t far off the mark. In a world where flying to Spain can be achieved in three hours from the North- East, I ve just spent
Buried by snow and ice, hellebores are tough little flowers that won’t be beaten by Arctic conditions. THE severe weather conditions we have all been experiencing of late have been the worst on record for many years, in some parts of the county dropping
A POPULAR children's author was guest of honour at a Shildon school. Anne Fine visited Timothy Hackworth Primary School to reopen its library, sign books, and meet pupils, after being invited by headteacher Anne Dockray. Two assemblies took place
EXHIBITORS are sought for a new season of displays. The Discovery Centre, in North Bondgate, Bishop Auckland, is launching its local heritage season early next year. Groups and individuals are invited to feature exhibitions about local history
CARL KING, the tallest man in soap, could have picked a better day to get married. Wasn’t it, after all, Christmas Day 2006 when his father Tom, the king of Kings, was defenestrated – or, to put it bluntly, pushed through an upstairs window to his
A POLICE force is axing 86 civilian posts, blaming Government spending cuts for the “heartbreaking” job losses. Durham Police announced the redundancies, the equivalent of 77 full-time posts, last night. Front counter and clerical staff will
THE women of Walford aren’t much in the way of domestic goddesses. They prefer stalking the local menfolk and killing them to stuffing the turkey and baking mince pies in EastEnders (BBC1). Poor Ryan, the man who’s too sexy for his shirt and therefore
Steve Pratt selects the 12 shows of Christmas that you’d can’t afford to miss (or at least record for when you’ve recovered from too much turkey and Christmas pud). 1 Whistle And I’ll Come To You (Christmas Eve, BBC2, 9pm). A ghost story at Christmas
WHILE the new series of Seventies hit Upstairs Downstairs introduces many new faces, there is one very special one from the past. Jean Marsh, who co-created the series with fellow actor Eileen Atkins, returns to the role of housemaid Rose. During
Playwright Mike Kenny has a magical touch when it comes to adapting classics. Steve Pratt reports. AWARD-winning playwright Mike Kenny is sitting outside the rehearsal room when I call, a telephone interview taking precedence over watching the cast
Former Emmerdale actor Stuart Wade’s having a tough time, forced to stay at home by snow and injury. But his panto show goes on, he tells Steve Pratt. FORMER Emmerdale star Stuart Wade sees his role as the captain of the ship who must steer the show
LIFE is a very apt title for Keith Richards’s autobiography as the 66-year-old guitar hero has certainly lived it to the full. The book starts with his childhood in post-Second World War Dartford, where he met Mick Jagger, and ends in 2007 with
DID you know that the chances of being hit by a falling coconut are 250 million to one? Or that the inhabitants of the Pacific Island of Nauru are the most obese in the world? Or that 10,000 shipping containers fall off ships every year? Well
THE rich, smoky atmosphere of the New Orleans bar or the New York dive, along with the passion of some of the world’s most talented musicians, blazes from these sharply defined black and white photographs. It is a rare and beautiful collection
A PEDESTRIAN suffered serious head injuries after being hit by a car yesterday. The 51-year-old man, from the Hartlepool area, was struck by a Vauxhall Meriva travelling west on Seaside Lane, in Easington Colliery, County Durham, at about 6.30pm. He
THE jury was out in our house as to whether this was just a coffee table book or an actual aid to cookery. While I felt that there was much to be learned perusing its smorgasbord of ingredients, beautifully laid out across hundreds of pages
IN the 13th novel from the Sunday Times best-selling writer, we’re introduced to chef and house sitter Holly Brown. Widowed after a short marriage, Holly no longer celebrates the festive season that her husband loved so much, preferring instead
A TONGUE-in-cheek take on the famous Christmas carol, John Julius Norwich’s collection of thank you letters is playfully accompanied by Blake’s celebrated illustrations. At first “enchanted” by the romantic gesture of being sent a partridge in
When you’ve overindulged the night before, something a little less complicated than these hangover recipes may be called for, says Sharon Griffiths. A HANGOVER, says writer Milton Crawford, “is an opportunity to see and taste the world in a new way
Sunset casts a cloud over Sunday lunch, but things are better by Tease time. ITS being the season for such frivolity, its being the Devonport Hotel at Middleton One Row, we engaged while awaiting Sunday lunch in what formerly was known as a parlour
Phone providers have hiked up their prices twice in the past year, but there are still savings to be made. HOME phone users have been smacked on both sides of the face this year, with price hikes in April and again in October. Yet now it’s
As Christmas rushes on, Jenny Needham visits a perfect little gift shop that’s just opened its doors in Barnard Castle. IT’S the last shopping weekend before Christmas and a mild panic could be setting in if you haven’t bought all your presents
Message in a bauble, Harrowgate Hill Methodists spread a little Christmas cheer by tying festive wishes to their Christmas trees. THE snow is no longer deep and crisp and even, as it was when Good King Wenceslas looked out. Rather it is hard and
HUNTS are preparing to welcome supporters to their traditional Boxing Day meets at pubs, town squares and high streets across the country. Hunting has enjoyed rocksolid support from the public since the disastrous and unworkable Hunting Act came
SO Bernie Walsh sees tuition fees as part of this Government’s attack on the working class, and does not see a public motivated to vote for cuts (HAS, Dec 13). Although there has never been a time when the public actually did want spending cuts
WILL the electric car become a reality or will it end up like the Sinclair C5? Just as the Government announces a reduction in road funding it decides to pay anyone who buys an electric car a £5,000. It is also paying £11.6m towards a new network
I have every sympathy with Alan Dodgson and his wife's experience of breaking her wrist after slipping on ice (HAS, Dec 16), and would like to share some observations I made during the recent spell of bad weather In York several factories and
AND so it continues – the unbelievable waste of our money by unelected EU bureaucrats. This time the European Commission has spent three million euros hosting an antipoverty development conference for 6,000 people in Brussels. A fashion show,
ON page three of The Northern Echo, December 13, you quote a mother whose child was handed an unauthorised religious leaflet as they left Santa’s Grotto. The mother in question is quoted as saying: “It is shocking and has spoilt what was to be
RE Dove asks about words in the English language which are abused, and comments on “yes” and “yeah” (HAS, Dec 13). I can think of another – “you”. You is a pronoun which can be used to denote either singular or plural. Why then is it increasingly
I WOULD dearly love to join in the chorus of ridicule aimed at Nick Clegg and his fellow Lib Dems. Shortly before the election, I denounced Mr Clegg as a chancer and his party as an irrelevant side show. However, the deranged reaction to the Coalitions
THE Highways and Winter Maintenance budgets were slashed for a period of years prior to Durham’s unitary authority. It would have been prudent for Durham County Council, to have set aside these savings to tackle future winter weather. Durham County
CON-DEM ministers suggest repeatedly that the recently announced spending cuts are necessary to save the nation from Labour’s reckless spending and excessive borrowing. That the Labour government acted irresponsibly is a convenient assertion to
Thirteen-year-old Liam Jones has been named BBC’s Young Chorister of the Year. Ruth Addicott talks to him about his extraordinary voice and the glittering future that lies ahead of him. THERE are not many 13-year-olds who have sung solo at St
DURHAM City are hoping that their game at Clitheroe in the EvoStik First Division North is given the goahead. Joint manager Lee Collings said: “It’s a tricky one to come back to for a midweek game if it’s postponed.” Midfielder Andrew Stephenson
ARSENE Wenger promised that Arsenal can prove against Barcelona that they are better side than the one destroyed by Lionel Messi in the Nou Camp last season. The Gunners’ manager and players had spoken of their desire for a rematch with the
THE NORTH-EAST Cross Country Championships, postponed due to bad weather for the first time in their 105-year history last weekend, has been rescheduled for January 8 at South Shields. North-East athletics officials were reluctantly forced
THE question of whether prisoners should be denied the chance to vote in elections is not straight forward, not least because the British Government is bound by European law to remove a “blanket ban” deemed to be discriminatory. The coalition
THE Qatar royal family’s property company is one of nine bids shortlisted to take over the athletes village after the London 2012 Olympics. Qatari Diar, who own the Chelsea Barracks, are known to be on the look-out for other high-profile acquisitions
STL Northern League clubs won’t be forced into switching venues for FA Vase ties, according to the FA. With another freeze taking a grip, the home Vase ties involving Shildon and Dunston have been postponed for the third time, and have been re-arranged
LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson has pledged to field his strongest team when their Europa League campaign resumes in February against Sparta Prague in the last 32. The Reds boss was grateful to avoid long-distance trips in yesterday’s draw, which
NEWCASTLE Falcons’ Amlin Challenge Cup hopes might be hanging by a thread, but today’s home game with Exeter promises to be a red-letter day in Joel Hodgson’s career. Newcastle-born Hodgson graduated from Falcons’ Academy this summer, having
LINGFIELD shrewdie Suits Me has been handed a fine opportunity to land Listed spoils in the Inside Track Racing Club Quebec Stakes. Although he has only one course victory to his name from 12 starts, he has been placed on a further eight occasions
JAMES Anderson may seem an unlikely figure for Mitchell Johnson to thank in the wake of his brilliant six for 38 in Perth, but the 29-year-old says the Lancashire seamer played a big helping hand in a spell of bowling that turned the Test – and
FROZEN pitches seem certain to wipe out the North-East rugby programme for a fourth successive week today. Nor is there any joy for those heading out of the region, with Darlington Mowden Park being told in mid-afternoon yesterday that their
Home favourite Retief Goosen and Germany’s Alex Cejka shared the lead after the first round of a rain-affected South African Open after scores of eight-underpar 64 in Durban. The pair were a shot clear of world No 12 Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel
TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp believes no-one in football, including Jose Mourinho, could have done a better job at Blackpool than Ian Holloway. Redknapp takes his Spurs side to the seaside tomorrow on a wave of excitement after drawing seven-times
MIDDLEHAM trainer Kate Walton will be hoping Haydock’s meeting gets the goahead today. After tasting victory earlier in the week at Catterick with Star Beat, Kate has a solid chance with Stopped Out in the Maxilead Vote McCoy for Sports Personality
NYSD regular Ian West has spent the last five winters in Melbourne, where he has played club cricket. He writes for The Northern Echo from Australia. THE highest rainfall since records began – that was the story in Melbourne for November. I can
THE battle for the Ashes intensified on a day of vicious swing, and even more hot air, at the WACA. Mitchell Johnson’s spell of four wickets for seven runs and eventual figures of six for 38 were in no way flattering as he almost single-handedly
Tomorrow sees the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards; today it’s the big one as far as sport in the North-East is concerned. After an action-packed 12 months, Assistant Editor Scott Wilson selects the winners of The Northern Echo’s North-East
THE freezing winter weather might be raising hopes of a White Christmas, but it is causing major headaches for the region’s racecourses, who are losing meetings left, right and centre. Today’s scheduled meeting at Newcastle became the latest
FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s proposal to play the 2022 World Cup in Qatar during January has provoked a mixed reaction from Premier League managers. Wolves manager Mick Mc- Carthy branded it ‘‘nonsense’’ and Blackpool boss Ian Holloway as
CARLO Ancelotti yesterday insisted Chelsea’s Barclays Premier League title challenge would not be killed off by a defeat to Manchester United this weekend. Tomorrow’s crunch clash at Stamford Bridge has been billed in some quarters as decisive
Darlington’S match at Cambridge United this afternoon was postponed due to a frozen pitch before Quakers set off yesterday. Mark Cooper’s team were saved from making a wasted trip as today’s match at the Abbey Stadium was called off due to
SIR Alex Ferguson will pass Sir Matt Busby’s record as longest-serving Manchester United manager tomorrow, admitting it still feels like his fellow Scot should hold the accolade. When Ferguson sends his team into battle against Chelsea at Stamford
FOR THE third Saturday from the last four, Hartlepool United’s scheduled game at Victoria Park has been frozen off. Mick Wadsworth’s side were due to meet Charlton this afternoon, but just like the games with Southampton and Yeovil, it has
As this is the last column of the year, we asked The Legends to sum up 2010 for their respective team. MALCOLM MACDONALD: 2010 has been a very good year for Newcastle and a rather surprising one. At the first chance they regained their Premier
BOLTON boss Owen Coyle believes his squad of “genuinely nice guys” is reaping the benefits of putting a group mentality above any individual interests. Wanderers have excelled so far this season and go into today’s lunchtime kickoff at Sunderland
ALAN Pardew is confident he will keep Joey Barton and Andy Carroll “on the straight and narrow” during his time as Newcastle United boss. The controversial duo are two of the Magpies’ most influential players, but their onfield performances
TO most 15-year-olds growing up in the Academy of a leading English football club, life could hardly be more luxurious. The facilities are fantastic, the strips are well fitting, education is provided for free. Unlike a decade or so ago, even
SUNDERLAND’S record signing Asamoah Gyan has been voted the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010. Voted for by fans across the world, the £13m man beat the likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Samuel Eto’o to the award. It’s been a great
WHEN the majority of footballers were enjoying the last few weeks of summer lying on beaches and relaxing, Phil Bardsley was undergoing a gruelling fitness regime in Manchester in an attempt to return to pre-season fighting fit. Towards the
STEVE Bruce admits he was disappointed with Phil Bardsley when he first walked through the door at Sunderland but praises the defender for rolling up his sleeves and getting his career back on track. Earlier in the season, it seemed certain
Tony Mowbray last night expressed his support for Jason Steele, despite the goalkeeper’s stoppage-time error condemning Middlesbrough to a 2-1 defeat at Doncaster. Steele got a hand to Brian Stock’s deflected effort as it crept through a crowd
TRIBUTES have been paid to a farmer who built one of the biggest poultry businesses in the North-East. Arthur Bainbridge, who has died at the age of 83, had more than 40,000 hens at one time on his farm in Eggleston, near Barnard Castle. His eggs
CAMPAIGNERS against a wind farm development have said any revised plans to reduce turbine numbers are a step in the right direction. However, they have warned other proposed wind farms close to the Moor House site, near Darlington, could still
A SCHOOLGIRL with a passion for art has moved towns so that she can take up a scholarship at an independent school. Olivia Forster won the Simon Bailes Scholarship at Polam Hall School, in Darlington, and, now, the 11-year old and her family
A MENTAL health trust has been accused of targeting some of the lowest paid staff in the NHS in an attempt to cut costs. Proposals to downgrade the jobs of health care assistants working for a North-East mental health trust have been criticised
AN inquest was opened yesterday into the death of a 24- year-old goalkeeper from the North-East who was found dead at his home. The body of Dale Roberts, who played for non-league Rushden and Diamonds, was discovered on Tuesday morning at his
CONTROVERSIAL multi-million pound plans to restore the country home of a celebrated Victorian novelist have won the backing of his appreciation society. Robert Smith Surtees, best known for his Jorrocks stories, inherited Hamsterley Hall, near
YOUNGSTERS from a primary school marked their last day of classes before the Christmas break by dressing up as Santa to raise money for charity. All 33 pupils at North and South Cowton Primary School, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, took
THE FTSE 100 Index finished down yesterday as a sharp downgrade of Ireland’s credit rating sent banking stocks into decline. Ireland’s credit rating was slashed from Aa2 to Baa1 by key agency Moody’s, while Greece had its already low rating
INDUSTRY leaders and unions have welcomed the decision to give a five-year extension to the life of Hartlepool power station, which has safeguarded about 700 jobs in the region. The move by EDF Energy ensures the plant, which brings in an
THE father of North-East TV presenter Matt Baker wants the region to propel him to sequin-laced success in tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing grand final. Speaking from his farm near Lanchester, County Durham, Mike Baker said: “I think he’s got
A MAN who fractured a policewoman’s skull after pushing her to the ground as he tried to avoid arrest has been jailed for three years. Paul Tweedy, 27, ran at PC Kim Robson after he was seen snorting cocaine in the Market Place, Durham City, at
A MAN’S car insurance policy was withdrawn after he told his broker he was carrying out voluntary work for a cancer charity. Kevin Richardson was told Axa would no longer underwrite his policy after he declared he drove up to 30 miles a week
AN attacker who broke his girlfriend’s jaw and perforated her eardrum was spared jail after a judge heard how he ended up on a life support machine because of a vigilante attack. Jason Ainsley-Weighell, who turned up in court with a black eye
THOUSANDS of children enjoyed a free school Christmas dinner yesterday. Staff at Taylor Shaw, the main catering contractor for Durham County Council’s free school meals pilot, prepared just under a tonne-and-a-half of turkey, nearly a tonne
HEALTH chiefs at one of the biggest hospital trusts in the region have been told to find £80m of efficiency savings – £1 in every £6 they spend on patient care. County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust insists the savings could be found without
THOUSANDS of families face a chilly Christmas after being warned heating oil deliveries may be delayed by more than a month. To make matters worse, customers in isolated areas of the North-East and North Yorkshire have seen oil prices almost
A CHILDREN’S ward was turned into Neverland yesterday as the stars of Peter Pan spread some Christmas cheer. Tinkerbell, Wendy, Tiger Lilly and Peter Pan visited Darlington Memorial Hospital children’s ward yesterday, however, Captain Hook decided
DOCTORS warned last night that Britain was facing a major health alert as 11 people in the region were confirmed critically ill with swine flu. Medical experts are concerned because the return of swine flu has coincided with a drop in the number
SWATHES of Britain ground to a halt today as the big freeze returned, throwing early getaway plans into jeopardy and threatening to leave homes without heating or presents at Christmas. Arctic conditions meant flights were cancelled at several
DONCASTER boss Sean O'Driscoll had some sympathy for Middlesbrough after a last-gasp goal from Brian Stock earned his side a 2-1 victory at the Keepmoat Stadium. Stock, who has endured injury problems in recent seasons, pounced from 12 yards in the fourth
