MOST of us have encountered at some time or another that bolshy or dominant horse or pony which just doesn't seem to have been taught manners and tramples all over you given the chance. This problem is so varied it can range from being very annoying through
THE South Durham Pony Club tetrathlon was held by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Stephenson at Crawlease Farm, Bishop Auckland last weekend. The swimming phase was held at Aycliffe Leisure Centre and the shooting, cross-country riding and running phases
COUNTY councillors are likely to refuse extra funding to aid a long-running campaign by villagers for a £1.1m primary school. Estimates for Sutton under Whitestonecliffe's new primary school were found to be £500,000 higher than expected. The county
A YOUNG father crashed his girlfriend's car down a 200ft cliff after going "rallying" with three friends. An inquest in Richmond on Wednesday heard that Luke Dempsey, 18, lost control of the Ford Escort while driving at speed on the racecourse gallops
A TINY Texan donkey beat bigger counterparts to become a champion. The dark brown stud donkey, called Country Music's Johnny Paycheck, stands at just 31in high. Owner Ann French, of Azerley, near Ripon, bought him when he was just a three-week-old foal
WORK is expected to start later this year on 200 homes and a new primary school in Brompton on Swale. Persimmon Homes has received planning permission for the development on land off Gatherley Road. The company has agreed to give an area of the site to
FARMER'S leader David Hugill will be able to go ahead with expansion plans after all. The chairman of the North Riding and Durham County NFU had feared his plans woul be scuppered as he was one of 2,300 farmers who had still not received a penny of the
POLICE issued a fresh warning to bikers on Wednesday after two inquests into motorcycle deaths in the Yorkshire Dales. Jonathon Walsh, 45, of Quarry Hills Lane, Leyburn, died on August 27 last year after his bike collided with a BMW on the A684 near Aysgarth
A NEW Zealand sheep-breeder praised the men who introduced the Stabiliser beef and Meatlinc sheep breeds to this country. Jeremy Absolom, of Rissington Breedline, on New Zea-land's North Island, felt Richard Fuller, JSR Farms' manager at Givendale and
A NEW date has set for one of the North's most popular annual shows and sales of rare, native and minority breeds. Staged at Skipton auction mart, in association with the Dales Support Group of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, the fixture for traditional
DARLINGTON Football Club has been granted permission to hold concerts at its stadium, after impassioned pleas by club and council officials that it was crucial to the town's economy. Club chairman George Houghton said he was delighted they would be able
BY WILL ROBERTS A TEESDALE councillor has accused the Post Office of "moving the goal posts" as he looks to keep the branch in his ward open. The sub-post office in Hamsterley will close when the sub-postmistress retires at the end of this week. Hamsterley
A HANG-GLIDER pilot was airlifted to hospital after crashing into a cliff face. The man, 52, suffered pelvic and spinal injuries after hitting the cliff face at Saltburn next to the Cliff Lift, which links the seafront and the road. Three crews from Tees
ASCOT and Mark Johnston, with his sharp tartan waistcoats, have long been synonymous. But, this year, even the shrewd Scot was not sure his team would perform well there. Come Friday, though, and the last three races on the card fell to the Middleham
HEALAUGH rider John Sunter narrowly failed to prevent Dan Thorpe making it two wins in a row in the Wainwright Shield Trophy trial at a bleak and cold Marsett last Sunday. Last year, the Chesterfield sports science graduate won the Wetherby Motor Club's
A TROUBLED hospital trust which is shedding hundreds of jobs to cut a £56m deficit has confessed it lost control of its finances. Simon Pleydell, chief executive of South Tees trust, which runs Northallerton's Friarage Hospital and 1,000 bed James
A TEN-MONTH investigation into video footage of Army recruits being hooded and forced into humiliating poses has ended without charges being brought. The controversial training footage was filmed at the Army's School of Infantry, in Catterick Garrison
TROUT farmers facing possible bankruptcy may have won an easing of quarantine restrictions on stock movement. An outbreak of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia in North Yorkshire saw a clamp-down to stop it spreading. The highly contagious fish disease,
ELDERLY residents on the Stumps Cross Estate in Guisborough fear that a sculpture planned to mark the entrance to the estate might be dangerous. Nancy Robson travelled to James Godbold's wrought iron workshop in Egton to see the sculpture, planned by
MIDDLESBROUGH road racer Paul Veazey aims to impress some of the sport's highest ranking team bosses when he takes to the grid at the GAS British Motorcycle Grand Prix this weekend. The 19-year-old won't be squaring off against the likes of Valentino
GREAT Ayton, the only side to win in last Sunday's rain-affected programme, aim to keep the pressure on leaders Bishop Auckland when they meet fourth-top Hartlepool at Park Drive tomorrow. Skipper David Grainge is very happy with his team's form, but
A TOURIST information centre shut down by a cash-strapped council after 21 years is set to reopen under local independent management. Hambleton District Council, which had to make cuts in its tourism budget following council tax capping, pulled out of
POLICE Federation chiefs have claimed controversial proposals could lead to 60,000 officers being lost across the country. National chairman Jan Berry was speaking at an open meeting of the North Yorkshire branch of the federation at the Park Inn in York
CONSERVATIONISTS are celebrating after recording more than 1,000 male black grouse in the North of England. "It is absolutely fabulous news and we can now confidently announce that the English black grouse population has finally turned the corner," said
ONE of the most important sections at the Great Yorkshire Show has a new leader. Peter Brier, who has been helping to run the pig classes for many years, is the new chief steward of the section. Mr Brier, who comes from two generations of butchers and
ORGANIC growers have accused the National Farmers' Union of having a rose-tinted view of genetically modified crops. Patrick Holden, Soil Association director, launched an attack on the NFU council's stance on co-existence - growing GM crops near non-GM
TWO girls from Queen Mary's School, Topcliffe were crowned Yorkshire's under-11 tennis champions on Monday. Harriet Makin of Ripon and Chloe Lister of Topcliffe faced fierce competition from eight other teams from all over Yorkshire in the tournament
FOUR farmers are celebrating after taking part in a successful world record breaking attempt. The enthusiasts took part in last weekend's British Tractor Challenge which saw 2,131 tractors, all working a 40-acre site at Hullavington in Wiltshire. Allertonshire
A PARKING meter will prove just the ticket for Harrogate's Royal Hall multi-million pound restoration. Restoring the grade two star-listed building will cost £8m, and the theatre restoration trust aims to raise an extra £1.8m for furnishings and fittings
FOR the past few weeks one of our nesting boxes has been home to a family of blue tits. This is not unusual - ever since I installed that particular box on the north face of our garage several years ago, it has provided accommodation for these most delightful
RETIREMENT is a major life event we can see coming years ahead, unlike all those life-altering crises which sneak up and clobber us from behind, so we can plan for it. At least, that's the theory, but the best-laid plans of mice and men (and women) gang
A PIZZA shop owner's plans to open until 2am have been condemned by police, council officers and residents. Sudad Lahij, who owns Presto Pizza, at Healaugh Park, Yarm, has applied for a licence variation to extend the takeaway's closing time to 1.30am
ANGRY parents clashed with council officers at Bedale on Tuesday over a radical review of the special educational needs service in North Yorkshire. Senior education officers were repeatedly interrupted as they tried to explain proposals which, according
The blame game: Sir - A few points on the current hot topic of "speeding bikers". It's very easy to blame everything on speed and ignore the facts. Do any of the writers of the letters about bikers actually have any first-hand knowledge of motorcycling
JUST how valuable as a form of protest are petitions? The question is pertinent following a comment by Coun Eric Empson, a Redcar and Cleveland Council cabinet member, who said: "People will sign anything stuck in front of them." He was referring to a
WE have some sympathy for the head teacher of Bedale High School who has found his school, and by implication his leadership, at the centre of a long-running debate in this newspaper about standards of pupils' dress and behaviour. That sympathy is derived
KIRKLEATHAM Owl Centre may have to close unless some financial support is forthcoming. Rocketing insurance premiums and high bills are a problem for owner Gill Robson, after nearly 17 years of business. As well as being a haven for birds, the centre is
THE Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit the Great Yorkshire Show on July 13, meeting visitors, exhibitors and staff. Prince Charles is patron of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, which organises the event. He last visited in 1999
A NEWLY-BUILT replica of Stonehenge has got ramblers reaching for the map to learn more about the "ancient" monument. The stone circle was only erected by residents of Barningham three weeks ago but walkers have already been asking why they had never
HEALTH officials have reassured residents of upper Teesdale worried about changes to out-of-hours GP healthcare. From Sunday, patients who use the Middleton in Teesdale surgery will have to travel to the urgent care centre in Bishop Auckland should they
CONSERVATIVES in Darlington will refuse to pay towards the North-East Regional Assembly - if elected to run their authority. In the first in a series of policy statements to be unveiled, the Conservative Group on Labour-run Darlington Council says it
THE Local Government Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint from a former borough solicitor about Darlington Council's controversial Pedestrian Heart scheme. John Antill, who worked as the council's assistant borough solicitor for 18 years, wrote to the
A MAJOR exhibition due to be held in Barnard Castle's Bowes Museum is to be opened by world-famous designer Vivienne Westwood. The iconic fashion designer, who has been at the top of the clothing industry for over three decades, will appear at the museum
BARNARD CASTLE. - Tues of last week. Fwd: 171 cattle. OTM cattle: AA 85p/£676; BB 100p/£613; Lim 99p/ £825; Char 77p/£754; Fries 70p/£525. Cows & calves: BA £920; Lim £890; BB £840; Pied £740; Simm £730. Bulls: Char £730; Lim £535; AA £515; Saler £495
IT was like the return of an old friend. The Arden Arms has long been a favourite of ours - not too far from home, always welcoming for a meal or just a drink and, up to a few years ago, surviving unscathed a few changes of owners. Then disaster. An ambitious
