WE are all used to warm sun, hard rain, snow and biting winds -- but all at once, will we ever cope? The multi-million pound Valhalla ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach is claimed to be the biggest dark ride in the world and no doubt it will draw crowds
DO we really need the new 'Bank Top Urban Area' signs in Blackburn, when the absence of cows would tell us the same thing for no outlay? SAM SPENCE, Ribblesdale Place, Blackburn.
I WOULD like to say how much we enjoyed the two-day music festival in Darwen. Not only was the event superbly organised, all musical tastes catered for and so well supported by the Darwen people, it was also a chance to meet up with old friends and to
MORE and more people with arthritis are turning to complementary therapies., as they grow disillusioned with conventional medicine. About 30 per cent of the British population have tried some kind of complementary therapy -- and nearly 60 per cent among
DOES anyone recall when the Letters Page was awash with diverse opinions? What a joy! Those days, I'm afraid, have been swept away in the wake of Brave New Labour, who stifle reasoned debate in a quagmire of Political Correctness. Like a clutch of clones
RESIDENTS invaded a cricket pitch and forced players to abandon their game as part of a long-runing dispute. A handful of people stood on the St Andrew's cricket ground, Eastern Avenue, Burnley, yesterday, to protest against the Hussania Cricket Club
EURO 2000 kicked off in Burnley in style as the annual King Cotton carnival scored a great success with crowds in the town centre. Community groups were invited to create colourful banners and flags representing their favourite teams in the soccer tournament
WHEN the call went out in 1940 for volunteers to defend the homeland as Nazi invasion seemed imminent, 250,000 enrolled in the first 24 hours for the Home Guard that rose to a million strong in World War Two. But there was no such rush when a recruitment
LANCASHIRE mourned one of its greatest cricketing sons before yesterday's match at Worcester with a minute's silence for Brian Statham (left), who died aged 69 at the weekend. Statham had been suffering from leukaemia in addition to osteoporosis, and
SCOOTERMAN Matheu Parry celebrated with Champagne after breaking his own world record and clocking up 161 miles inside 24 hours on a self-propelled scooter. Matheu, 28, of Church Street, Trawden, raced non-stop round Seedhill athletics track, Nelson,
A LEARNER driver caught behind the wheel of a bus without supervision or L-plates was one of many bus drivers and operators before Blackburn magistrates following a police crackdown. Police had swooped on 36 buses and coaches during Operation Safe Passenger
TEENAGERS were today placed on red alert against knife-wielding street robbers who are threatening their young victims. The warning comes from detectives in Accrington just days after police in Blackburn urged students in the town to be on their guard
A TAXI driver was stabbed three times and robbed of £50 in an attack in West Bradford early today. Insp Stephen Haworth, of Blackburn police, said the driver from Swift Cars, Clitheroe, picked up two men from outside the White Lion pub, Clitheroe, at
A MUSICIAN who started to learn the harp when she was five years old is one of the performers helping to open this year's Ribchester Festival. Lucy Wakeford, from Surrey, is a former runner-up in the string section of the BBC Young Musicians competition
DAVID Shirley died after being struck by a car as he returned to work after collecting his lunch from a road-side cafe, an inquest heard. The hearing was told that Mr Shirley banged his head on the kerb after a low speed collision in Salthill Road, Clitheroe
IAN Wright is backing England to reach at least the semi-finals of Euro 2000 -- kicking off with a 2-0 win in their Group A opener against Portugal tonight. The former England striker, whose Burnley future is very much up in the air as he moves towards
A HIGH-TECH computer chip has finally brought home Ben the black cat -- after more than two years wandering! Ben was living at the RSPCA shelter, Altham, when he was adopted by Elsie Walmsley and her son Jamie five years ago. But he had only been with
A NIGHTCLUBBER died after falling from a multi-storey car park early yesterday morning. Mark Turner, 26, of Cuerdale Lane, Walton-le-Dale, had been out with a friend at Utopia nightclub, Blackburn, on Saturday night, according to Inspector Stephen Haworth
Window man Martin is a clear favourite WINDOW cleaner Martin Andrews proved such a hit with his customers that 20 of them nominated him for a competition to find the best washer in the North West. Martin was eventually voted runner up in the competition
WILLIE Carter was caught on camera stealing coffee from the magistrates retiring room at Blackburn Magistrates' Court. And within minutes he was caught red-handed stealing confectionary from the cafeteria off the court corridor. Carter, 32, of Mosley
A RETIRED schoolteacher today told how he faces a 'David and Goliath' lawsuit with American motoring giant Ford. Vic Tucker, a pensioner from Hollin Hill, Burnley, is locked in a legal battle with the car company which owns the prestigious Jaguar marque
JOHN Cockroft is bang on course to lift the Lancashire Evening Telegraph sponsored Harold Ryden Trophy for the first time in his career after a blistering display in Saturday's qualifying stages. The Nelson player topped the list of qualifiers thanks
Tomorrow Friends in Bereavement, Pendle Community Hospital, Leeds Road, Nelson, 7pm. Craft taster session, Accrington Road Community Centre, Blackburn, 9am-noon. Carers open day, St John's Centre, Victoria Street, Blackburn, 10am-3pm. Health, wellbeing
But while everyone is right behind them, much more important is England's reputation off the field. Already and too often, it has been dragged down into the gutter by hooligan fans abroad. They may be a mad, vicious minority, but the harm they have done
CAR enthusiast Vic Tucker could face an expensive reverse for wanting to post his interest on the Internet -- a "fine" of 3,000 US dollars or even having to pay damages of $100,000 to the Ford motor giant. But why should such a multinational colossus
THANK goodness that the long-awaited crackdown on serious crime appears to be under way at last. One brave policeman has made a start by fearlessly confronting a dangerous young woman driver armed with a bottle of water and booking her for blatantly drinking
HAVE New Labour bottled out? All this rumpus over a student not being selected for university is utter bolony. No doubt there will be hundreds, possibly thousands, who will not be selected for their first choice. For Labour's ministers to screech and
I WONDER if Evening Telegraph readers can help me with my hobby which is collecting brass embossed colliery lamp checks, or tokens and tallies as they are sometimes called. These are brass discs with the name of the colliery on them and also the miner's
NIEL Hansen, of the National Anti-Hunt Campaign, decries and condemns the people assisting Lord Burns' government-sponsored inquiry into hunting with dogs (Letters, May 29). They were appointed to look into the social and economic effect of a ban on hunting
I AM writing in desperation concerning the planned sports complex opposite Talbot Road, Accrington, on school playing fields in front of many private dwellings in our area. This is a quiet, secluded area except for the occasional school football matches
A RETIRED schoolteacher today told how he faces a 'David and Goliath' lawsuit with American motoring giant Ford. Vic Tucker, a pensioner from Hollin Hill, Burnley, is locked in a legal battle with the car company which owns the prestigious Jaguar marque
MORE than 100 workers have been laid off for six weeks because of the devastation caused to their factory by flooding. Staff at bed linen manufacturer Westpoint Stevens were told on Friday that their factory is not likely to be back into full production
RESIDENTS invaded a cricket pitch and forced players to abandon their game as part of a long-runing dispute. A handful of people stood on the St Andrew's cricket ground, Eastern Avenue, Burnley, yesterday, to protest against the Hussania Cricket Club
THE future of Burnley Agricultural Show is set to be decided in the next couple of weeks after crowds turned out to show their support for one of the town's biggest events of the year. Organisers wanted sun and support at yesterday's event to ensure the
CONTROVERSIAL plans are being considered to extend a highly successful Pendle business park into neighbouring green belt fields to provide essential extra space for industry. The proposed move to almost double the size original of Lomeshaye Industrial
THE picture of the mystery 1887 Rossendale football team said to be England's "national champions," sent to Looking Back last week by Bud Johnson, of New Hampshire, USA, is probably the Valley's Irwell Springs side of that year, says Stacksteads reader
CELEBRATING its 70th year, Moor End County Primary School in White Ash Lane, Oswaldtwistle, is appealing for any photographs of the school and pupils since it opened in 1930. They are wanted for an open day for former teachers and pupils on June 30. But
Despite fielding six more debutantes Lancashire Lynx went down to their twentieth consecutive league defeat at the hands of in-form Oldham. Once again individual errors especially in the first half contributed to Lynx's downfall but despite a much improved
But the day before, Darwen maintained second spot in the Northern Premier League with a crushing six wicket win over Kendal. Batting first the Cumbrians had progressed slowly to 57-1 but dramatically lost their remaining nine wickets for only 39 runs
INDIAN police investigating cricket's match-fixing scandal claim to have linked key mobile phone numbers to Padiham professional Ajay Sharma. The former Indian international is alleged to have used the phones to contact bookies. And the agency investigating
BRITISH Aerospace announced a major deal which looked set to help secure Lancashire's defence industry. The company chose the prestigious Paris Air Show to unveil a joint venture with Swedish manufacturer Saab which was worth up to £440million. BAe was
SHOPKEEPERS have been warned that Trading Standards officers will continue to use undercover techniques to catch traders selling solvents to children. Lancashire chief trading standards officer Jim Potts made the announcement after the conviction of Accrington
RIBBLE Valley nursery will display an ambitious 'through the ages' garden at this year's Gardeners' World Live exhibition. Peter Foley and his staff at the Holden Clough Nursery in Bolton-by-Bowland have spent months putting together a garden which covers
RESIDENTS were today urged not to panic after traces of a bug which can cause serious stomach problems were detected in drinking water supplied by an East Lancashire-based treatment works. North West Water has warned East Lancashire Health Authority and
PARISHIONERS have said farewell to their church -- until next Easter. St James's Church in Clitheroe has closed for a £500,000 facelift, 162 years after it was built, to bring it into the 21st century. In the meantime, parishioners will attend services
A WOMAN died in her sleep from an acute stomach condition 10 days after undergoing a successful bypass operation. Hilda Turner, 67, of Burnley Road East, Waterfoot, died on February 25, in Burnley General Hospital. Home office pathologist William Lawlor
EAST Lancashire MPs today admitted they were fighting a losing battle in their bid to stem the tide of more than 1,500 lost jobs. Janet Anderson and Greg Pope have been locked in talks with company bosses at Rossendale-based travel firm Airtours and Accrington
RONALD Lawrence Haworth, 38, of Cavendish Street, Darwen, was sent to Preston Crown Court for trial when he appeared before Blackburn magistrates charged with two offences of raping a girl under the age of 16. Both offences are alleged to have been committed
A WOMAN allowed her nephew to leave two stolen prams and two stolen mountain bikes at her house. Blackburn magistrates heard that police arrived before Michelle Jeal could get him to move them. Jeal, 25, of Mosley Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to
HOME SECRETARY Jack Straw officially opened a £1million Blackburn bail hostel aimed at giving offenders a second chance to stay away from crime. The Blackburn MP toured the purpose-built 26-bed Haworth House on St Peter Street, and chatted to residents
COUNCIL leaders in East Lancashire need to give greater priority to protecting and enhancing local hills and moorlands, a conference was told. Senior officers from Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale met in Bradford on Friday
PASSENGERS were stranded and traders' takings were down as bus drivers staged their latest strike as part of a pay dispute. The strike, which continues today, was the fourth day of action by Stagecoach Ribble drivers in the last two months and Blackburn
POLICE today launched a summer-long offensive against car thieves and burglars in Blackburn and Darwen. The crackdown, named Operation Enigma, is aimed at known offenders and is part of the ongoing battle against crime in the borough. Thousands of letters
CHERRY TREE let their lead at the top of the Jennings Ribblesdale League slip as they went down to defeat at the hands of Padiham. Indian professional Ajay Sharma did the damage scoring 65 with the bat as his side chased Cherry Tree's total of 173-8.
NEIL Simpson has been dramatically stripped of his maiden international rally win. The 26-year-old Colne driver clinched a last-gasp victory on the Kumho Tyres Scottish Rally, the third round of the Mobil 1 British Rally Championship. But following a
CHURCH pro Mike Watkinson, back from Lancashire duty, steered his side into a EW Cartons Worsley Cup semi-final against Todmorden at the expense of Nelson. Watkinson survived an lbw appeal from his first ball but went on to make 72 before he was bowled
A MAJESTIC unbeaten 51 from Nigel Heaton saw Chorley through to the regional final of the National Knockout in a tense finish against local rivals Darwen at Windsor Park yesterday. A Chorley win had looked a formality earlier in the afternoon as Darwen
LANCASHIRE are in an unfamilar position at the bottom of the Norwich Union National League's first Division after their third consecutive one day defeat at Old Trafford yesterday. They were beaten by 12 runs by Worcestershire Royals at Old Trafford to
OVER the course of the last decade Ian Austin has built up a lot of affection for One-Day finals at Lords. On Saturday, however, the man they call Oscar wouldn't have opened the curtains if Glamorgan and Gloucestershire had played out this season's Benson
OVER the course of the last decade Ian Austin has built up a lot of affection for One-Day finals at Lords. On Saturday, however, the man they call Oscar wouldn't have opened the curtains if Glamorgan and Gloucestershire had played out this season's Benson
FORMER Blackburn Rovers legend Derek Fazackerley believes England are equipped to win Euro 2000 as they prepare for tonight's opening group A clash against Portugal in Eindhoven. Rovers record appearance holder was today helping Kevin Keegan put the finishing
DEFENDING Transco Lancashire League champions Nelson re-ignited their title challenge by defeating leaders Colne. Ben Johnson (49) and Gary Hunt (46) made a solid opening and late on Gary Laycock (31) and Jeff Ellis (25) helped Colne reach 177-7, despite
