Archive

  • Legal advice sought on pub calling itself a restaurant

    A FORMER pub which has been converted into a restaurant could face legal action after apparently breaching planning conditions. Darlington Borough Council has confirmed it has taken legal advice over what to do with the Raby Hunt at Summerhouse

  • Church reaches out with a £780,000 plan

    PLANS have been submitted to redevelop a church in Teesdale at a cost of £780,000. Part of the aim is to make the former Wesleyan chapel at Middleton in Teesdale, built in 1870, more user-friendly for the rest of the community. The ambitious

  • One smalls step for men

    MEN wearing smalls will hope to raise a large sum for charity in the spring. The Pants to Testicular and Prostate Cancer 4km event will take place on Sunday, May 9, at Streatlam Farm, near Barnard Castle. Jonathan Saunders, of Staindrop

  • Villages set up speed checkpoints

    TWO more villages on the outskirts of Darlington have adopted the new joint-operation speedwatch scheme which involves volunteers monitoring traffic. High Coniscliffe and Heighington have taken up the idea following complaints voiced at a recent

  • Chance to learn archaeology skills

    FUTURE archaeologists will be able to dig into the past when a new course is launched in the autumn. Prior Pursglove College, in Guisborough, is the only college in the area to offer students the chance to study A-level archaeology from September

  • Councillors call for new bus route to serve hospital

    A BUS company is being urged to improve services to a new hospital in Redcar. Councillors are hoping that Arriva will look at the possibility of creating a new circular route to get people to the Redcar Primary Care Hospital. Concerns

  • How to cook up a treat

    CELEBRITY chef Paul Rankin showed pupils at Yarm School how to make healthy smoothies as he helped to celebrate the official opening of the school’s new cooking and dining facilities. Mr Rankin spent yesterday morning helping the preparatory

  • Residents voice opposition to building school in park

    MORE than 300 residents attended a packed public meeting to show their unity against a proposal to build a school in a popular park. People of all ages struggled to fit inside a crowded Trinity Methodist Church, in Witham Avenue, Egglescliffe,

  • Grant to save rare painting

    A RARE 16th century wall painting in one of North Yorkshire’s most famous ancient houses is to be protected thanks to a £36,000 grant. The rarely-seen picture of a Tudor soldier is in a bedroom at Shandy Hall, Coxwold, the one-time home of

  • Mowden and Blackwell at odds over player moves

    RELATIONS between the Darlington clubs have been strained as they attempt to resolve registration issues surrounding players moving across town. Mowden are attempting to sign Sean McCartney, the Newcastle Falcons academy winger who began the

  • Kirkby ease back to action with 3-0 win

    Harrogate and District League KIRKBY Malzeard returned to action in the Premier Division after a five-week layoff with a tough home match against defending champions and current league leaders Thirsk Falcons. The visitors arrived sitting four

  • Fencing joy for twins

    DANBY twins Victoria and Amelia Hide have enjoyed success at fencing, only a year after starting to play the sport competitively. The 11-year-olds finished first and sixth respectively in the under-11 Leon Paul Junior Epee fencing series, which

  • Fitting birthday celebration for Wilks

    ON HIS first asphalt rally in a Fabia S2000, Skoda UK Motorsport driver Guy Wilks achieved the team’s goal by finishing in a strong points-scoring sixth position on the Rallye Monte Carlo last week. Having celebrated his 29th birthday during

  • Kershaw edges it at Birk Brow tester

    SCARBOROUGH rider Simon Kershaw hung on to a slender one-mark advantage over East Yorkshire Centre Champion Guy Kendrew to snatch the win in Guisborough DMC’s Alan Fothergill Trial at Birk Brow. Alan Fothergill did attend the trial that bears

  • Racing Week: Jackson enjoys biggest win yet

    TINA Jackson, who trains near Saltburn, had the biggest winner of her training career when Boris The Blade was successful in the Tim Molony Handicap Chase at Haydock last Saturday. The eight-year-old grey was given a strong ride by Richie Mc-

  • Pony and riding club dates

    Cleveland PC. – Feb 28, March 28. Contact Catherine Sheret 01642-763338. February 7: Senior rally at Unicorn Centre, inames to Heather Enderwick, 01642-724621/07739-205551. County Durham BHS. – February 25: an evening with Piggy French, 7.30pm

  • Ripon course all set for point-to-pointing

    AFTER two postponed dates, point-to-pointing in Yorkshire finally gets under way this weekend with the West of Yore Steeplechases on Sunday, at Britain’s newest point-to-point course, Whitcliffe Grange, near Ripon. A total of 120 entries have

  • Bespoke bike for champion Richardson

    SKEEBY teenager Jonathan Richardson, has travelled to motorcycle manufacturer Sherco’s factory at Barcelona. It was at Sherco’s suggestion that Richardson travel to the factory and have a new 290cc Sherco machine built by specialist Paxau to

  • Good planning leads to better lambing results

    STRINGENT flock management has led to improved lambing results at Bishop Burton College for the second year running. Scanning of the 650-strong Texel X Lleyn and mule flock has shown a 185pc success rate with an increase in twin-bearing ewes

  • First woodfuel forum is well attended

    THERE are more biomass installations in Yorkshire and the Humber than any other region in England. And it could be in line for a major boost as the Ministry of Defence at Catterick considers converting 40 boilers to woodfuel and RAF Leeming also

  • Get back to basics of growing fruit ’n’ veg

    SO, BBC Gardeners’ World is going back to basics this year, replacing its trendy 60-minute format with the old 30-minute slots aimed at its core audience. And judging by some recent research, it’s about time we did go back to basics as far as

  • A different voice – or two – on the shelves

    Debut author Claire Moss talks to Viv Hardwick about life, love and a Northern take on romance. DARLINGTON-BORN Claire Moss always intended to write a thriller but instead came up with a newly-released contemporary romance, Northern Soul Revival

  • Actors make a head start to the new season

    NORTH Country Theatre has been commissioned to dramatise a Yorkshire episode from an Icelandic saga for this year’s Jorvik Viking Festival. It will tell of a Viking marauder who, after many adventures, is washed up the Humber by a storm and falls

  • Anton Stadler Trio, Stokesley Methodist Church

    Anton Stadler Trio Stokesley Methodist Church THE second of Teesside Music Society’s 4pm concerts at Stokesley Methodist Church this season welcomed the distinguished Anton Stadler Trio – Janet Hilton, clarinet; Robin Ireland, viola; and Sarah

  • Silence should tot up a princely sum

    THE Prince of Wales has donated two items for a silent auction which starts at The Station in Richmond on Monday. The aim of the Wall to Wall auction throughout February is to raise money for the upkeep of the building. There are more than 110 pieces

  • A beautiful sight heralds bad luck

    TOMORROW witnesses a full moon. With the snows of recent weeks still in mind, there used to be a strong belief among country people that a full moon on a Saturday, even if it happens only once every seven years, is far too soon. Known as the

  • No cows – the deceptive origins of Cowpen Bewley

    WHAT devilish liars place-names can be. Take, for example, Cowpen Bewley, a village on the edge of Stockton. The reader will not be surprised to learn that, as with most placenames in the north, this dates back to the seventh or eighth century

  • Scientists research how to produce fuels from waste

    SCIENTISTS at Teesside University are investigating how to produce biofuels from waste. Dr Komang Ralebitso-Senior, senior lecturer in molecular biology, and a team of six researchers are examining if biofuels can be produced from domestic refuse

  • Mother hopes to pitch craft business in front of Dragons

    A MOTHER-OF-TWO who set up her own business last year hopes to take part in Dragons’ Den to help it expand in the region. Vicky Lloyd, of Darlington, plans to open new franchises of NE Day Crafts less than a year after founding the children’s craft

  • Darlington’s invisible man finally breaks cover

    UNTIL this week, we had begun to think Darlington’s Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate Edward Legard was the invisible man. He introduced himself to Spectator the best part of six months ago, but since then we have seen neither

  • Export advisers retire after serving a total of 85 years

    TWO stalwarts of North-East exports have retired after a combined 85 years of service. Ron Seymour and Joyce Rawlings of UK Trade & Investment have helped many companies set up business and sort through the rules and regulations involved with

  • New turbine brings wind of change

    A NORTH-EAST company has erected the first demonstration vertical axis wind turbine on a farm in Devon. Vertical Wind Energy of Newcastle erected the 6kW 12m tall turbine on George and Anne Douglas’ farm near Exmoor. Tony Gordon, chief

  • Great work

    Sir, – During the recent bitter weather, we have been amazed at all the people who have been providing services to our local community in a cheerful manner in spite of the formidable challenges in simply getting around safely. The waste collecting

  • Making it through

    Sir, – It was heart warming to read (D&S, Jan 15) of the milk tankers battling the conditions to reach the dairy farmers in Wensleydale, not missing a pickup or delivery. On the letters page, the public in North Yorkshire showed their appreciation

  • Sign madness

    Sir, – Last week I had occasion over two days to travel several times between Thirsk and Sutton Bank. On each journey I passed signs warning of Ice (which there wasn’t), Flood (which there wasn’t), Men at Work (which there weren’t), Mobile

  • How much?

    Sir, – I am in favour of two-hour disc parking in Leyburn. But I cannot agree with the costing of such a project. We already have a traffic warden who I am aware is not a seven-day warden. The system, however, would self-police at no extra cost

  • How many?

    Sir, – Northallerton Town Council has failed to respond to several letters published in your columns about the proposal to create a town square in Northallerton High Street. I have been told by the clerk that the council has “no intention of

  • Town’s burden

    Sir, – Last week the D&S Times reported that Hambleton Council income from parking charges has passed £100,000 in just eight weeks. In fact, it is much more interesting to drill down into these figures. According to its own web site, Hambleton

  • January 29, 2010

    From this newspaper 100 years ago. Richmondshire returned to its old political faith last weekend, but the majority was not expected even by the most sanguine to turn the thousand. Few constituencies had a Liberal candidate of such remarkable ability

  • In the leaves

    Sir, – I refer to Nicholas Rhea’s Countryman’s Diary last week (D&S, Jan 22). I remember my mother (a Bradford woman) sprinkling tea leaves on the carpet before brushing it, when I was a child in the 1950s. Always damp tea leaves, out of the

  • County gritting

    Sir, – Chickens have come home to roost good and proper for North Yorkshire County Council, and certainly Mike Roberts and his band of pen pushers. Didn’t they realise that sooner or later we might have a proper winter and stock grit-salt in

  • What waste

    Sir, – T E Forth thinks that weekly refuse collections should be reinstated because the receptacles provided are too small (D&S, Jan 8). While I am no apologist for the Richmondshire refuse collection services, I do wonder what on earth he/she

  • Yes we can

    Sir, – Surely any restrictions on alcohol promotions imposed on pubs and clubs, as has been recently proposed, should also apply to supermarkets. Penalising landlords for having customers who become a public nuisance won’t stop revellers “pre-drinking

  • Stores’ watchdog

    Sir, – Earlier this month the D&S Times reported an interesting proposal from the Conservative Agriculture spokesman to create a supermarket ombudsman. Community-based rural businesses like The Wensleydale Creamery will find this idea really

  • In praise of wool

    THE site of Masham auction mart was placed on the market this week. It is likely to be sold for housing – a sad end for a mart once considered one of the best in Yorkshire for sheep sales. Also this week, the Prince of Wales launched an initiative