A LOOK at events, from amateur theatre to rambles through our beautiful countryside. Clitheroe Ramblers meet Chester Avenue car park, Clitheroe, 1pm. Twiston. Nitin Sawhney, The Mechanics, Manchester Road, Burnley. Star Night, The Railway, Blackburn Road
WELCOME to my first contribution. My aim is to bring reviews and recommendations of local amateur theatre, but remember I'm only one voice and my opinion may differ from audiences'. The season has already kicked off and my first viewing was Babes in Arms
A NAKED Gun-type spoof awaits theatre lovers in Blackburn Arts Club's Inspector Drake and the Perfekt Crime, by David Tristram, which runs from September 30 to October 4. Inspector Drake attempts to unravel a twisted plot, involving a doctor, a warthog
REGARDING Councillor Dave Smith's remarks (Letters, September 11), I apologise for unintentionally telling porkies about the block grants in the Queen's Park area of Blackburn. I was wrong -- they had individual grants. The block grants in Blackburn include
I DO wish that the people of Blackburn would stop complaining about their new refuse collection service. If they lived just a mile or two down the road in the Ribble Valley, not only would they have to buy their own bins (I am told that only council house
THERE is now not the slightest possibility that a referendum on the European single currency will be called before the next general election. It is off the political agenda, but this is a mistake nonetheless. Britain used to be the gateway to the European
A LAY preacher from Leigh was today starting a three-year jail term for a series of sex offences against children. Francis Fletcher, aged 66, admitted six charges of indecent assault on two sisters between 1989 and 1993. He was ordered to sign the Sex
THE future for school buses in Bury could soon be yellow! For transport bosses hope to extend their successful yellow school bus schemes (currently operating in Stockport, Wigan and Tameside) to other areas of Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester Passenger
POLICE found ingredients for making a bomb, plus a book on how to do it, when they raided a man's house in the early hours, a jury was told. Burnley Crown Court heard how officers discovered explosive substances, copper piping and possible detonators
BURY North MP David Chaytor will deliver a keynote speech during a Clearing the Air -- North West Clean Air Public Transport conference in Manchester on Wednesday. The event will explore the issues surrounding air quality and the critical role public
THE traditional sounds of Hapton remembrance service could be under threat after it was revealed the regular bugler would be unable to play at this year's event. The Last Post is usually played but this year the parish council has been unable to find
BOSSES at Padiham FC revealed today that arsonists had caused £1,000 of damage at the ground. A fire, which started about 6am on Saturday, damaged several plastic seats and part of a wooden barrier in a stand at the Arbories ground. Officials said today
SHAKERS chairman Albert Doweck insists Bury can haul themselves back into the promotion battle. The team he took over during the summer have slumped after a promising start, with two consecutive defeats sending them plummeting into the lower reaches of
ANDY Preece will be hoping one of his injured dynamos can come back in the nick of time to help Bury kick-start their stuttering season. Shakers are already looking stretched to the limit through the middle, with key playmakers Terry Dunfield and George
RESIDENTS who claim they are trapped in their homes because of smelly emissions from a factory said today they hoped planning controls would tackle the problem. Householders who live near unit 16 of the Barnfield Industrial Estate have complained to Pendle
CLASSIC car enthusiasts geared up for a challenge to drive 2,000 miles round Europe in 48 hours. Members of Club Triumph, including Martin Randle, of Barnoldswick, took up the challenge earlier this month, which saw a convoy of 15 classic Triumph cars
LAST week presented just about as good a snapshot of the Clarets as you are likely to see. In a week in which we saw the good and the not so good in equal measure, everything we knew about the current squad was confirmed. It was the season so far in a
TWO young ballet students joined some of the best dancers in the country. Clare Holding, 14, and Katherine Fox, 10, were made associates of the Royal Ballet School after being pupils at Pat Eaket's School of Dancing, Blackburn.
THE past week must have been one of the hardest in Lucas Neill's football career. First, he is deservedly sent off for a rash tackle, which contributed towards another home defeat. The following day he's hit with the news that he had actually broken Jamie
THE latest card craze has reached Hyndburn, with the first Yugioh tournament to be held at Hyndburn Sports Centre this Saturday . The event, similar to the popular Pokemon, starts at 11am and finishes at 3pm and there are various levels entrants can compete
A WOMAN ejected from an Accrington nightclub later went on to hit a man over the head with a stiletto heel. The victim was sitting on a wall when Sharon McWilliams came up from behind and hit him over the head, leaving him bleeding from a head wound.
BOXING legend Frank Bruno made one of his final public appearances before being taken to a mental health unit at an East Lancashire nightclub. And clubbers who watched Bruno perform a guest DJ set at the Opium night spot, in Accrington last Friday, said
A PRESTWICH woman appeared at Bolton Crown Court charged with burglary, theft and obtaining goods and services by deceit. After entering a plea of not guilty, the trial of Julie Ann Crossley, of Ostrich Street Prestwich, was adjourned until December 1
FAKE designer boots were found for sale on a stall at Clitheroe Auction Mart's Wednesday market. A stallholder had 19 pairs of fake Rockport boots for sale, Blackburn magistrates were told. BThe court heard that Iqbal Patel had previously received a written
FARMERS in East Lancashire are being offered training in a variety of skills to help them diversify and boost their incomes. Northern Rural Training based at the Ribblesdale Centre in Lincoln Way, Clitheroe, has been given £88,000 by the Department for
CLARETS boss Stan Ternent is hoping that tomorrow morning he will be indebted to Premiership managers for helping him to get a shot at a Premiership club in the Carling Cup. The Turf Moor supremo has been given permission to play his trio of loan players
POLICE are promising to take action after three cars were 'hijacked' in the space of eight days. All the vehicles were stolen from their owners in the Prestwich area. Now the local police chief has said that extra manpower will be brought in to tackle
CHILDREN are more likely to be offered a place at one of their top three chosen high schools under a new allocation system introduced by Bury education chiefs. The co-ordinated admission scheme does not become compulsory until 2005, but Bury has voluntarily
WATER sports fan David Webster took a leap into the unknown after he was inspired by a visitor to his club. David, of Dawson Street, Bury, was in awe when he witnessed blind skier Janet Gray take to the ramp at Whitworth Water Ski Centre and decided to
A GRIEVING father says he will not visit his son's grave because the headstone was paid for by social services -- who he blames for the teenager's death. Wayne Cook plans to return the stone to Stephen Sloss, director of social services, and buy another
EAST Lancashire MP Janet Anderson has called for a public inquiry into plans to build a massive £50million wind farm in the area. She has written to Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt calling for the hearing before any decision is taken on whether
SCHOOL and college leavers are invited to attend an all-day Careers Mela at King George's Hall, Blackburn, tomorrow . The event, organised by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, is aimed at introducing young people to the career options available to them
LEE Sculpher has praised his side for bouncing back from a week of severe change at Clitheroe. The Blues were rocked by the departure of chairman Dave Burgess, then Chris Whittingham and Neil Reynolds made the step up to the UniBond First Division by
A MOTORIST cheated death by seconds in a four-vehicle collision on the M66 at Bury. The northbound carriageway was closed at the Heap Bridge junction for most of Monday afternoon, causing traffic delays along Rochdale Road, Wash Lane and in Bury town
IT is a measure of East Lancashire's dental health crisis that Burnley's MP, Peter Pike, normally far from a back-bench rebel, is driven to lay into the government and demand that more is done to tackle the region's severe shortage of NHS dentists. And
PEOPLE waiting for cataract operations in East Lancashire have received another massive boost. Mobile surgeries, run by a team of South Africans, will treat hundreds of patients across the area over the next five years. The announcement comes a month
CURTAIN RAISER has helped the Oswaldtwistle Players cast their new play Theft just five weeks before the opening night. With time running out and a shortage of men hampering proceedings, the players placed an appeal in the Evening Telegraph for new members
AS a daily user of the M65, I was disgusted to see a mobile speed camera unit operating around 11am on September 15 slightly before the Accrington turn-off going towards Blackburn. On looking at my speedometer after passing the bridge, I was doing a speed
A COMMUNITY united in grief paid its respects to a father and his two sons who drowned in a tragic fishing accident in Scotland. Hundreds of mourners lined the streets as the funeral of Shaun Ridley and his sons, Michael, aged 12, and Steven, aged 15,
REGARDING the remarks in "Grave concern over state of cemetery" (Letters, September 18), why has the anonymous writer picked on those who have had the misfortune to have a lost child for the "tatty" state of Pleasington Cemetery? It is quite clear that
A DISTRAUGHT mother today told of the final moments before her 12-year-old son was found hanged in the bedroom of his home. Lynn Smith, of Oak Street, Great Harwood, and her husband found Mathew, a pupil at Norden High School, Rishton, with a belt around
EFFORTS to prevent car park security lights from shining into homes around Fairfield Hospital will be turned up a notch. Householders have been troubled by the brightness of lights shining into windows, and have requested alterations several times over
LEIGH RMI boss Mark Patterson takes his struggling side to in-form Morecambe on Tuesday night looking for improved performances from his two centre-backs Neil Durkin and Martyn Lancaster writes David Magilton Patterson pulled no punches when he blamed
A PIONEERING Bury project to keep families together is set to be copied across the region. Bury is the only north west council to be commended by the Government's Chief Inspector of Social Services for services to children, this time for its work in tackling
GRAEME Souness headed off to Turkey today insisting Rovers are now better equipped to cope with the demands of European football than they were 12 months ago. Souness's troops face a potentially tricky UEFA Cup first round first leg tie with Genclerbirligi
be no Turkish delight Matt's memories are Crystal clear BLACKBURN striker Matt Jansen has warned his Ewood colleagues to expect a hot reception as Rovers prepare to launch their UEFA Cup campaign in Turkey tomorrow. Jansen knows how volatile Turkish football
AT ITS recent meeting, Cliviger Parish Council heard a number of complaints from residents, among them one of offence caused by bad language from users of Mount Lane sports field during football matches. This matter has been taken up with the relevant
VANDAL-resistant windows are to be installed at shops in Burnley town centre in a bid to curb the damage caused by yobs. Private businesses in Lower St James's Street, from the Garden Bar and JJB Sports up to the Plane Tree Hotel, will be fitted with
AN office block could be turned into a 15-bed ward to help with the chronic beds shortage at Burnley General Hospital. Health chiefs meet tomorrow to look at ways of solving the crisis. They have come up with several options to provide new beds at the
THE grieving family of a Gulf War veteran found dead in his car suffered severe depression because of the horrific things he witnessed in Iraq. Shaun Smith's parents, Peter and Jackie, have accused the army of failing to give him adequate treatment and
EAST LANCS MP Peter Pike has told the government that it must do more to tackle the crisis caused by the shortage of NHS dentists in the area. He said that the recruitment of two new salaried dentists in his Burnley constituency was just "a drop in the
POLICE found ingredients for making a bomb, plus a book on how to do it, when they raided a man's house in the early hours, a jury was told. Burnley Crown Court heard how officers discovered explosive substances, copper piping and possible detonators
A COUNCIL worker who scaled some of the world's most fearsome mountains retired from Burnley Council after 34 years. John Wells took up a new post as town clerk in Clitheroe.
A FARMER'S daughter is the toast of East Lancashire today after her cooking was declared the best in the UK. And Gill Armer, 33, of Lower Heights Farm, Bolton-by-Bowland, has also been nominated for the Lancashire Woman of the Year title. Farmers travel
SCUNTHORPE manager Brian Laws will be acutely aware of the threat that Burnley present after the two clubs had differing fortunes this weekend. While the Clarets were cracking four goals past Bradford City in the first division, the Division Three side
CLARETS boss Stan Ternent knows how high the stakes are as his side take on Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park tonight. A win at this second round stage could pave the way to financial rewards that would make the rest of the season somewhat more comfortable
HELP for Bury's ethnic communities to play a full part in community life has been backed to the tune of £82,055. The money has been received by Bury Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) from the Home Office as part of the Government's Connection Communities
CLARETS boss Stan Ternent is hoping that tomorrow morning he will be indebted to Premiership managers for helping him to get a shot at a Premiership club in the Carling Cup. The Turf Moor supremo has been given permission to play his trio of loan players
GRAEME Souness headed off to Turkey today insisting Rovers are now better equipped to cope with the demands of European football than they were 12 months ago. Souness's troops face a potentially tricky UEFA Cup first round first leg tie with Genclerbirligi
A NEW exhibition has been opened at Helmshore Textile Museum which profiles the work of young artists from Lancashire. The exhibition, called New Creators, includes examples of work from more than a dozen artists, all of whom are recent graduates. The
PLANS for a replacement ambulance station for Stacksteads will be discussed at a meeting of ambulance service chiefs later this week. The new station will cost £350,000 and a site has been earmarked in Blackwood Road. But the controversy over what will
RIVER quality in the North West is continuing to improve, according to figures released by the Environment Agency (EA) today. The Agency's annual survey of rivers and canals showed 91 per cent of the region's waterways were of good or fair chemical quality
LANCASHIRE County Council's trading standards chiefs have renewed their call for the public to beware of dangerous sweets containing Konjac after more products were found on sale in the UK. The sweets, which pose a choking risk, were banned in Europe
A DISTRAUGHT mother today told of the final moments before her 12-year-old son was found hanged in the bedroom of his home. Lynn Smith, of Oak Street, Great Harwood, and her husband found Mathew, a pupil at Norden High School, Rishton, with a belt around
CONSUMER watchdogs who raided a Blackburn shop found several thousand fake CDs and audio tapes and 1,900 illegally copied video tapes. Blackburn magistrates heard that seven video recorders linked through a television were also seized in the visit to
YOUNG-at-heart granny Mags Whiteley has proved that there's more to life than hip ops -- hip hop in fact. The 56-year-old hit the headlines two years ago as the 'Drumming Granny' after she embarked on a contemporary music course which changed her life
ANDY Grimshaw is leaving his Ramsbottom side in capable hands for tonight's trip to Warrington. The Rams manager is away on business but his close friend and former Clitheroe player Steve Parry is taking temporary charge. "If Ged Walsh is playing it makes
NEW Rossendale manager Paul Lynch was impressed with his side's performance in his first game in charge. But the former Colne chief won't let his judgement rest on one game. So the Dale players will have it all to do again when they travel to Bamber Bridge
THERE'S no rest for the wicked, or so the saying goes. Accrington Stanley are gearing up for tonight's showdown at home to Burton Albion, which is hot on the heels of their win at Dagenham and Redbridge and their fourth red card of the season. Midfielder
CHILDREN are more likely to be offered a place at one of their top three chosen high schools under a new allocation system introduced by Bury education chiefs. The co-ordinated admission scheme does not become compulsory until 2005, but Bury has voluntarily
