SUNDERLAND'S impressive new Northern Spire bridge was thrust into the national limelight on Saturday when it featured on TV’s biggest show Strictly Come Dancing. The new bridge, which opened to traffic at the end of August, took centre stage
THE man known as "Nick" whose allegations sparked the VIP sex abuse probe has appeared in court charged with lying to police and fraudulently receiving £22,000 in compensation. The 50-year-old - whose real identity cannot be revealed for legal
RAFA BENITEZ is convinced Newcastle United will still win the fight against relegation in the Premier League despite seeing the winless start to the season extend to nine matches. The Magpies’ worst start to a top-flight season continued when Brighton
JACK ROSS was delighted with the resilience that enabled Sunderland to claim a 2-0 win at Shrewsbury Town – even if he conceded his side were not always at their best as they climbed back to third in the League One table. The Black Cats struggled
REECE STYCHE says he is ‘gutted’ to be leaving Darlington, and says his surprise exit is due to finances. It emerged this afternoon just before Quakers’ game with Boston United that the striker would be leaving, with National League North rivals
PLANNING bosses have rejected plans to build on land near Bishop Auckland – even after the developer halved the proposed number of homes. An outline application for 22 properties at Holme Farm, in Toft Hill, went before members of Durham County
5:54pm Pools boss Matthew Bates admitted: “Job done, not very well. It was a nervy afternoon, but we didn’t push on after
THERE is no Reece Styche in the Darlington line-up today as he is due to leave the club next week. A transfer to another club expected to be sealed soon, bringing to an end the striker’s one year stay with Quakers. Latest: Styche gutted
TWO universities have called for authorities detaining a Durham PhD student in the United Arab Emirates to treat him with "proper fairness". Matthew Hedges, who is doing a PhD at Durham University, has been held in solitary confinement since May
A SCHOOLGIRL is celebrating after winning one of the top prizes in a popular annual challenge for primary schools. Sarah Johnson-Frost, of Crook Primary School has been named winner of Make Your World Bigger 2018, a video challenge designed to
A DRIVER refused to provide a specimen of blood for a drug test because he did not want to take a doctor away from patients in need, a court has heard. Brian Lupton, of Welbury Farm, Newton Aycliffe, was stopped at about 9.30pm on October 4, after
GAME from North Yorkshire is proving a hit in top London restaurants – and the industry in the region is booming while grouse remains in short supply elsewhere. Despite widespread cancellations this grouse season, estates in the North Yorkshire
A NEW class has been launched for people keen to try or return to netball. Walking Netball sessions, which introduce players of all ages and abilities to a slowed down version of the game, are held every Thursday night in Bishop Auckland. Founder
CAMPAIGNERS have called for better communication from private Yarm School after it won an appeal regarding a controversial plan to create playing fields and a footbridge across the Tees. The planning inspector ruled that despite a refusal from
A WOMAN has been charged with murder after a man is thought to have been stabbed with death. Helena Karine Atay, 42, of Jasmine Terrace, Birtley, is due to appear in court today after the death of Atakan Atay, 45. Murder investigation:
A RICHMOND-based restaurant has taken on three young people thanks to help from a District Council grant scheme. La Rustique in Finkle Street received almost £1,500 to part fund three apprentices for their uniforms, equipment and training. Sarah
AFTER successfully re-instating the ‘Wilfra cakes’ tradition, Ripon Museums have turned their attention to a Halloween treat. In August, staff and volunteers from the Ripon Workhouse Museum revived the tradition of baking Wilfra cakes which celebrated
QIPCO British Champions Day is a day to savour and I can’t believe Saturday will be the eighth edition. It has quickly bedded in and it’s strange to think British racing didn’t have such a big finale previously. With nearly £4.5m in prize money
It’s impossible to arrive at Hull railway station, formerly and more satisfactorily known as Hull Paragon, without being reminded at every turn that in 2017 this was the UK City of Culture. On the impressive concourse there’s both a statue and a
SATURDAY detentions and new teaching systems have been introduced to improve a secondary school judged inadequate by Ofsted. Northallerton School and Sixth Form was placed in special measures in March after Ofsted deemed it to be inadequate in
RIPON Community Link’s annual Apple Day has provided a financial windfall for the charity. Held at Ripon Walled Garden, the organisation more than doubled last year’s fundraised income, with receipts to date totalling in excess of £3,300. Almost
NORTH Yorkshire remains the lowest crime area in England and Wales despite a nine per cent rise in recorded offences. This was confirmed in the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) “Crime in England and Wales, year ending June 2018” bulletin, published
IT’S Champions Day at Ascot and the feature race is the final racecourse appearance of Cracksman (3.50) who has his optimum underfoot conditions (soft ground) as he bids to follow up his win in the corresponding race 12 months ago. Trainer John
MATTHEW BATES won’t allow any lack of preparation or complacency to affect Hartlepool Untied this afternoon. Pools take on Kidsgrove Athletic in the fourth and final qualifying round of the FA Cup. Only Dunston of the Northern League are ranked
PAUL Edwards in School Aycliffe, near Darlington, has been down to Tremadog to help sort his late father’s effects. Among them he finds a Backtrack cutting from 2001. That, in turn, referenced a 1975 John North column which began: “I have lost
ANOTHER away day, another sold-out away end for Sunderland. Regardless of where the Black Cats travel in League One, no matter how far, it is becoming a familiar theme to see every seat taken. That was the case at Bradford before the international
TWENTY six soldiers who left their homes never to return from the First World War will be 'brought home' thanks to a village project. The Gainford's Fallen Tommies project has been launched by a dedicated group of villages whose members have been
THEY might have started the season miserably, but Newcastle United can point to their eight Premier League matches so far and cite mitigating factors for their failings. Taking on five of the top six? Always going to be difficult. Cardiff away? A missed
A NEW exhibition exploring time and physics is opening today. Durham University’s Oriental Museum is hosting the interactive art exhibition, which explores the physics and philosophy of time. Action Men recreate mountain climbs at Durham's Oriental
RESIDENTS are invited to find out more about preparing for a flood at an event hosted by the Environment Agency and Hartlepool Borough Council. Currently, only four per cent of residents in the town are signed up to receive free flood warnings –
PUPILS have been taking part in theatrical role play to learn all about their school council and how they can make an impact on decisions at their school. The development days, for students across Redcar and Cleveland, were delivered by ‘Konflux
AMATEUR artist Brian Ramsey has been chosen from hundreds to compete against eight artists and alongside a further 50 “wildcard” artists in the third heat of this year’s Landscape Artist of the Year series. The programme started on Tuesday on Sky
A MONSTER double-bill of fiendishly good scary movies takes place at a Durham cinema this Halloween. Gala cinema will screen two of the scariest films ever made in its Halloween Horror Double Feature, starting with the director’s cut of 1973 supernatural
THIS week we are tackling an alternative climb of Ingleborough taking in Simon Fell and continual dramatic views across the Ribblehead viaduct to Whernside. It explores the least visited side of this impressive mountain and this does make the paths
I WOULD always deny being a food snob. Generally, I don’t subscribe to absolute, hard-and-fast rules about what and how anyone should eat. The worst case of food snobbery I ever came across was the fine dining establishment in Durham (long gone
STAND-up and Britain’s Got Talent winner The Lost Voice Guy is to headline a night of comedy at Lumley Castle. Lee Ridley, who shot to fame as the winner of the twelfth series of BGT, will take to the stage at the Chester-le-Street hotel on Thursday
TWO big health and safety stories have made the front of The Northern Echo over the last few weeks – the complete closure of roads in Yarm for the town fair because of terrorism concerns, and potential changes to the Santa Tours in Newton Aycliffe
A NORTH-East building society is celebrating after picking up prizes at two award ceremonies. Darlington Building Society, which was shortlisted for three Money Age and two North East Marketing Awards, was successful in a number of categories at
SIXTY years ago today, The Northern Echo reported that 75-year-old Hannah Macmillan of Fylands, near Bishop Auckland, had died – and with her died a 150-year-old mining community. Hannah had lived at Fylands for more than 55 years and steadfastly
DOCUMENTARY series Made In Great Britain tells the story of how our nation's craft and manufacturing skills have shaped our towns and cities. Teesside's Steph McGovern, 36, tells Georgia Humphreys about what she discovered from presenting the show
A COLLEGE providing students with agricultural and land-based education is celebrating its 80th anniversary. Staff and students at East Durham College’s Houghall campus, on the outskirts of Durham city, are marking the anniversary today. The
NHS bosses have pledged there will be “no hidden cuts” among plans to transform health services to meet distinct needs of Britain’s largest Army garrison and one of the country’s most rural districts. After Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby clinical
SHOPPERS will be able to take advantage of Fair Trade Extravaganza next weekend. The annual event is taking place in Yarm Methodist Church, on Saturday, October 27 between 10 am and 1pm. The event celebrates everything fair trade, whilst connecting
A FAMILY-run independent bookshop is on the shortlist of retailers in the running to be named Britain’s Best Small Shop of 2018. Drake The Bookshop owner Richard Drake considers the shop to be a community hub, running five book groups, from children
TWO young burglars have had their liberty “restrained” as an alternative to them mixing amid the potential bad influence of other criminals in custody. Jacob Chambers and Corey Ramplin were caught not far from the scene of a breakfast time burglary
A CROWD of breastfeeding mothers took over part of a town centre in protest on Friday morning. Scores of Teesside parents turned out to show solidarity to a young mother who was asked to breastfeed in a toilet by restaurant staff reportedly fearing
