TRIBUTES to a popular horseman who died on his way to Appleby Horse Fair flooded in today. David Ward was killed when his horse drawn caravan was involved in an accident on the notoriously dangerous A66, at North Stainmore, in Cumbria, on Wednesday.
GREAT North Run founder Brendan Foster listened as the families of four runners who died during the half-marathon criticised the race organisers. The Olympic 10,000 metre bronze medalist, now 58, who is head of Nova International, which organises the
Viv Hardwick talks to top fashion photographer John Stoddart about his forthcoming exhibition in Newcastle. MAGAZINE photographer John Stoddart is so annoyed about the state of celebrity in Britain today that he's put together an "unapologetically
Football fanatic Matthew Cottle doesn't mind playing a soccer hater in An Evening With Gary Lineker, he tells Viv Hardwick. The actor is also about to be unleashed as a swinger on TV audiences in the autumn. MATTHEW Cottle almost accepts defeat at
Clare Teal talks to Viv Hardwick about singing success and wealth in terms of vacuum cleaners. UNFAZED by fame, Yorkshire jazz singing star Clare Teal jokes about her record-breaking contract with Sony/BMG in 2004 "I don't know about a legendary deal
Pete Postlethwaite isn't sure just how dangerous the number 666 is after his brother died following a joke about him being dealt three sixes in a card game. He talks to Steve Pratt about remaking The Omen and about being a 'lapsed Catholic' playing
Two movies are representing the career of sexy Argentinian actress Mia Maestro at the moment. She talks to Steve Pratt about acting out the survival scenes in Poseidon and independent film Secuestro Express, involving kidnapping. MIA Maestro went to
A TALENTED young rock musician from a former North-East pit village has joined a tiny elite of British stars to be honoured in America at blues music's own Grammys. Pete Shoulder, 22, jointly won the best song award at the 27th Blues Foundation awards
A TEENAGER has been charged with causing an eight-year-old boy's death by reckless driving. The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged on the day the funeral took place of Daniel Lee Conroy Curtin - his alleged victim. Daniel
ENGLAND coach Sven-Goran Eriksson today insisted Wayne Rooney is injury free and now just needs to obtain match fitness before he plays in the World Cup. Eriksson declared the final decision on when the Manchester United striker can play in Germany "
Solutions ACROSS 1 Firedamp. FIRED(A)MP 5 Camber. CA(M)BER 9 Roadsman. RO(ADS)MAN 10 Cantos. (anag.) 12 Abash. A+BASH 13 Sonneteer. S(ONNE)TEER (one+n anag.) 14 Traitors gate. (straight cryptic) 18 In the picture. (two meanings
Viv Hardwick talks to top fashion photographer John Stoddart about his forthcoming exhibition in Newcastle. MAGAZINE photograp-her John Stoddart is so annoyed about the state of celebrity in Britain today that he's put together an "unapologetically sexual
Two movies are representing the career of sexy Argentinian actress Mia Maestro at the moment. She talks to Steve Pratt about acting out the survival scenes in Poseidon and independent film Secuestro Express, involving kidnapping. MIA Maestro went to
Pete Postlethwaite isn't sure just how dangerous the number 666 is after his brother died following a joke about him being dealt three sixes in a card game. He talks to Steve Pratt about remaking The Omen and about being a 'lasped Catholic' playing a
Football fanatic Matthew Cottle doesn't mind playing a soccer hater in An Evening With Gary Lineker, he tells Viv Hardwick. The actor is also about to be unleashed on TV audiences in the autmn as a swinger.MATTHEW Cottle almost accepts defeat at the
ANIMATED antiques expert Eric Knowles claims he dumped his moustache and bow-tie after suffering a mid-life crisis where he wanted to avoid becoming a caricature of himself.As he prepares to inspect the best pots that Bishop Auckland can offer he says
AFTER 29 years, with an audience still half-expecting to see long-dead expert Arthur Negus come strolling out in front of the cameras, BBC1's biggest and most popular outdoor broadcast, the Antiques Roadshow, trundles sedately onto Auckland Castle's beautiful
Middlesex v Yorkshire (County Championship) : Day One England captain Michael Vaughan reluctantly joined an exclusive club yesterday which he has for 13 years been trying to avoid.Continuing his comeback to full fitness with Yorkshire, Vaughan was out
Warwickshire v Durham (County Championship : Day One AFTERNOON euphoria turned to evening despair for Durham yesterday as they followed Warwickshire's slump with one of their own.The pitch was far from the Birmingham belter on which John Morris' double
ANOTHER week, another departure from Soapland. This time it's Grunt Mitchell. Again. This man can't stay in one place for two minutes. And he doesn't leave quietly in EastEnders (BBC1). The Mitchell brother has an action-packed week full of the things
WEEKLY sessions are being held to help people get in trim and stay healthy. Shapes and Sizes is being held on Tuesdays, at Rossmere Community Centre, Hartlepool, between 9.30am and 11.30am, and a similar session takes place on Wednesdays at West View
A COMMUNITY group says its has created a fitting tribute to the thousands of North-East miners who lost their lives at work. Quarrington Hill Community Association built the memorial - a specially-made tub and a miner's lamp that is permanently lit -
The Kindness Of Strangers (ITV1): The ITV two-part psychological thriller has become a genre all of its own. First, select several familiar faces from other TV programmes. If they've been in a soap or other hit series all the better. Then write a thriller
IF you remember the sixties, you weren't there, they say. The lad in the recorded interview on the radio had been there, and he remembered them all right. He'd been a teenage regular at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the early sixties, when the Beatles
SCHOOLGIRL Laura Stockton will be one of 12 unusual cyclists taking part in a charity bike ride later this month. The seven-year-old, from Billingham, and her fundraising companions are all unicyclists preparing for Hartlepool's Cycle4Life event. Members
FOOD watchdogs have closed down a dirty takeaway on Teesside. Rat droppings and blocked drains were just some of the findings discovered by environmental officers during a routine visit to the Master Chippy Takeaway, in Middlesbrough Road, South Bank.
A WALKING guide to Darlington is proving so popular it is being reprinted. The second edition of Walk... the Darlington Way is to include four new walks. The free guide, published by the borough council, has already had 5,000 copies distributed. The second
THE reason why a fishing boat mysteriously sank off the North-East coast may never be publicly known, The Northern Echo can reveal. The Department of Transport (DoT) said that the administrative investigation into the accident that claimed the Norwood
Charting a memorable rail trip on a fledgling route from one end of England to the other - while making full use of the time as the miles whizz by. It is not so much in search of a story that we leave Chester-le-Street railway station at 6.31 on Tuesday
BUTTERWICK Hospice will hold its annual vintage and classic vehicle fete in Sedgefield on Tuesday, June 20. Owners are invited to exhibit their vehicles on the village green from 5pm, where there will be craft and plant stalls, refreshments and entertainment
TOWN CRIER: I WAS surprised and delighted to read on the front cover of Darlington Borough Council's publication, the Town Crier, that it was to contain the public's views on the town's Pedestrian Heart scheme. Indeed, the column from the leader of the
GROUPS around the world are following the lead of a team of council workers. Sedgefield Borough Council's sustainability team was nominated as one of the country's first Green Heroes. The award was made by the Green Organisation, an independent international
SYBIL Leneghan danced the afternoon away when she celebrated her 101st birthday surrounded by family and friends. The sprightly pensioner was the life and soul of the party at the celebrations at Redworth House nursing home, in Shildon, this week. Mrs
STAFF at Darlington Citizens Advice Bureau enjoyed a champagne party to celebrate the work done by volunteers over the past three years. The centre has undergone a Quality of Advice inspection by its national body, and the independent assessor gave it
A PROCEDURE to deal with offensive incidents involving residents, visitors and staff has been launched by a Teesside authority. The new procedure at Stockton Borough Council outlines how officers, who are notified of an offensive incident by a resident
WILLINGTON Youth under-nines are holding football trials for the forthcoming season later this month. The Blues, as they are known, are holding the sessions at Parkside School, in Willington. Last season, as an under-eights team, they won the Russell
A GROUP for the deaf and a village partnership are celebrating after getting Lottery Awards for All grants. The Wingate, Station Town and Hutton Henry Partnership has been awarded £3,500 to hold a carnival on June 24 and 25. East Durham Deafened and
A SINGING student from Saltburn is dedicating her year out before heading off to university to helping children in Ethiopia. Sarah Ferry will work with a school scholarship scheme for underprivileged girls, working as a teaching assistant. Her singing
A £30M housing scheme has been opened with the first residents receiving their keys. About 40 people have become the first to benefit from the dramatic changes at Thornaby's Mandale Park. A partnership between Stockton Borough Council, Barratt Homes,
AFTER growing support from the Football Association, Premier League chiefs and the League Managers Association, Middlesbrough paraded Gareth Southgate as their new manager last night. And chief executive Keith Lamb has urged the English game's top brass
IT would be wrong to prejudge the inquiry into the circumstances in which Stephen Whenary was badly beaten by police officers who raided his North-East home. But, on the face of it, it doesn't look good. How did a man who was cleared of any offence end
A SALES manager was not paying attention when her car ploughed into another vehicle, killing a young motorist, a court in Scotland found. Jillian Anderson, 36, of Gayles, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, claimed she could not slow down to avoid hitting
A SEXUAL predator who admitted raping and blackmailing young girls was yesterday starting a 14-year jail sentence. Eric Coates, 51, formerly of Huby, near York, pleaded guilty to 15 sex charges against girls aged from 11 to 14 and a single mother of three
TWO County Durham community groups have picked up awards for unsung heroes. Gateway Wheelers, in Chester-le-Street, and Firthmoor and District Community Association, in Darlington, have both been given the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. The voluntary
GARETH SOUTHGATE was on a family holiday in Florida when the call came. Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson had contacted the club's skipper to inform him of the latest developments in the search for a new manager. "We're not talking to anyone else was
NIALL QUINN has been encouraged not to give up on making Martin O'Neill the next Sunderland manager. O'Neill, out of work since quitting Celtic a year ago to care for wife Geraldine, who has cancer, has revealed he is back in the hunt for a new job. The
A MOONLIGHTING doctor who was paid more than £125,000 by Durham Police while signed off sick told the General Medical Ccouncil (GMC) his secretary may have made paperwork errors. Nabil Awadalla Naroz made large sums of cash from three separate jobs -
A HEALTH watchdog is likely to try to block plans to close in-patient facilities at a hospital leukaemia unit. Yesterday, it was confirmed that an independent review into the future of haematology services in County Durham had come down in favour of closing
A PROJECT to help community groups get maximum use of a church centre has received a £650 boost. Bondgate Methodist Church, which is used by Alcoholics Anonymous, disabled young adults, children's clubs and elderly people, was given the money by North
A NURSERY school has been hailed as one of the best in the country in an outstanding report by Government inspectors. Education watchdog Ofsted rated children's progress at George Dent Nursery School, in Darlington, as second to none. The school, in Elms
GARETH SOUTHGATE may have only been installed into the Middlesbrough manager's chair officially yesterday but he has already had his say on transfer matters. And the Boro skipper, who is calling time on his playing career although he is retaining his
A TRAVELLER was killed and his teenage son injured after a crash involving their horsedrawn gipsy caravan and a car. Last night, police named the dead man as 40-year-old David Ward, from the Coxhoe area of County Durham. Mr Ward was in one of two caravans
A PENSIONER who suffered a suspected stroke at the wheel of his car before colliding with another vehicle has died. William Hall, from Iveson Terrace, Sacriston, died on Sunday afternoon in North Durham University Hospital. A post-mortem examination
A MOBILE phone content specialist is cashing in on the World Cup with an exclusive deal to provide "Footy Badger" ringtones and wallpapers. Newcastle-based Funkimobiles has worldwide exclusive rights to distribute the animated images and ringtones, originally
SWEETS and drinks maker Cadbury Schweppes said it had made a good start to the year yesterday, despite a tough UK market and the impact of rising oil prices. Cadbury, which is based at Bournville, said that revenues growth in 2006 was running at near
A TELEVISION showdown has taken place between a sex slave master and the father of his apprentice. Following the revelation in The Northern Echo that Lee Thompson, from Darlington, is a master in the Kaotians sect, he has been inundated with TV offers
FATHER and son combination Bob and Kenny Johnson took the honours at Sedgefield yesterday when Moyne Pleasure produced a whirlwind flourish to take the final of the John Wade Selling Handicap Hurdle series, writes COLIN WOODS. Bob, based alongside the
YOUNGSTERS have turned Durham Cathedral into a sea of sunflowers to promote the work of the city's hospice. About 17,000 small sunflowers were made by more than 1,000 pupils at 16 nursery and primary schools across the region. They are on display next
A STUDENT from the North-East is preparing to play for England in an alternative World Cup tournament later this month. Vigan Qehaja, 22, is in training to represent the country's non-professional six-a-side team in an international competition, also
HIGHER household water bills saw Northumbrian Water post a 35 per cent increase in annual pre-tax profits yesterday. But the supplier insisted that customers across the North-East were getting better value for money than any other region as millions of
HAMILTON has, generally speaking, been a happy hunting ground for Nevada Desert, fancied to improve an already good course record in today's DM Hall Handicap. Richard Whitaker's chestnut regularly travels up to the Scottish venue from his base at Scarcroft
A WOMAN admitted falsely obtaining benefit by failing to declare she was living with a partner who was working. Jill Cassidy, 39, is said to have been overpaid about £21,000 in income support and housing benefit, over a period of more than four years
THREE people seen acting suspiciously near a store's cashpoint machine appeared in court yesterday. Two men and a woman, all from Romania, were arrested outside the Tesco store in Dragonville, Durham, on Wednesday, May 24. They are accused of trying to
FOUR football hooligans from the region barred from travelling to the World Cup finals have still not been found by police - a day before the tournament starts. They failed to comply with banning orders and hand over their passports by the deadline last
MINISTERS were last night accused of "incredible mismanagement" after it was revealed that hospitals and other NHS bodies overspent by almost £1.3bn last year. The full scale of deficits run up by health trusts - which have so far claimed 12,450 redundancies
ENOUGH medical cover was in place at the Great North Run on the day four runners died, the doctor in charge of the event told an inquest yesterday. Hospital consultant Dr Chris Vallis said the half-marathon provided better levels of cover than recommended
PEOPLE living in North Yorkshire are being urged to prove they are the most environmentally-conscious households in the UK. The Big Recycle is designed to encourage everyone to recycle more household waste, from cans and bottles to newspapers, cardboard
A REPLICA Iron Age roundhouse built by volunteers has been burnt out. It is not yet clear if the damage to the structure in Raincliffe Woods, Scarborough, was accidental or not. Members of the parks and countryside services at Scarborough Borough Council
A MASTER craftsman has received an award for his outstanding work as a teacher. Stonemason Kevin Calpin, of York College, has won the City & Guild's President's Award. The award is a personal gift from City & Guilds' president, The Duke of Edinburgh.
YOUNGSTERS who created a garden design will see their plans become reality. Pupils at St Mary's RC Primary, in Richmond, have been helping the local council's grounds staff with the layout for a flowerbed in the town's Friary Gardens. On Tuesday, 28 year
ONE of the oldest musical instrument retailers in the UK is expanding its activities. The Williams Music Group, based in Darlington, employs more than 150 staff - including many specialist musicians - and has an annual turnover of more than £10m. Following
PLANS to change the way firefighters respond to automatic alarms could save up to £145,000. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue receives about 3,500 calls to automatic alarms every year. For some stations, 50 per cent of all calls are to falsely activated
A COUNCIL highways depot near Scarborough is to be redeveloped. A planning brief has been prepared for between 15 and 30 houses, which will be sold on the open market, to be built on the site of the depot at West Ayton, areas of which are inside and outside
EMERGENCY repairs will be carried out this week to an underground sewer in Knaresborough. Finkle Street will be closed as contractors MMB arrive on site today. The work, on a 40-metre section from the junction with Kirkgate, is expected to take up to
A TEAM of scientists from the North-East believe they have found the key to making biofuels viable as an energy resources. The news comes amid growing urgency to find alternative sources of sustainable and carbon-neutral energy as petrol prices continue
PLANS to merge revenues and benefits services at two councils could move a step closer next week. Hambleton councillors will be asked to approve a new joint committee to administer the services for both Hambleton and Ryedale. They will also be asked to
FIVE new easy-access buses are taking to the road on routes in the Durham area. Go North-East has spent £625,000 on the vehicles, which will run on the X50 route from Durham to South Shields, and the X20 service between the city and Sunderland. The company
A COLLEGE is helping construction students build careers for the future, with a newly-awarded accolade heralding the fact. New College Durham is celebrating the award of its third Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) accreditation, this time in construction
A KILLER driver who sparked an international manhunt after escaping from prison is to have extra time added to his sentence. Dominic Huggett, from Thornaby, near Stockton, absconded in September 2004, after he was jailed for killing 86-year-old great-grandmother
THERE are certain things that no World Cup should be without. When you're settling down in front of the television tomorrow afternoon to watch Germany take on Costa Rica, you can take comfort from the fact that much of what is about to unfold has been
POLICE are taking on 32 extra communication centre staff to handle phone calls at peak times. The Durham force will spend an extra £800,000 on wages in a move that has been backed by the county's police authority. The 160 staff currently working in the
POLICE are taking on 32 more call centre staff to handle inquiries at peak times. The Durham force will spend an extra £800,000 on wages in a move that has been backed by the county's police authority. The 160 staff working in the Bishop Auckland and
A COUPLE behind a major travel company have emerged as the sponsors for a new Darlington academy. David and Anne Crossland, who founded the travel company Airtours, are putting £1m into the academy, which will replace struggling Eastbourne Comprehensive
THE Government has approved plans to build three academy schools in Sunderland with the backing of businesses. The Labour-run council's proposals for the institutions at Pennywell, Hylton Red House and Castle View Schools were approved by the Department
A VILLAGE celebrating its centenary is looking for people to carry its new pit banner at the Durham Miners' Gala next month. Bowburn Banner Group plans to march its new emblem, commemorating the village's pit, through the streets of the village and then
There's nothing like the World Cup to stir feelings of patriotism. But why do we feel the need to fly the flag everywhere - even painting our houses red and white? Lindsay Jennings reports. I ONCE had a pair of Union flag sequin slippers, resplendent
FREEMASONS are working on a training course to save lives in the community. The first aid course, devised in partnership with the St John Ambulance Brigade, will train up to 200 masons. Richard Wright, chief executive officer for Humberside St John Ambulance
A TEESSIDE art gallery will be a hive of activity once again as hundreds of schoolchildren take part in print workshops. The workshops, organised by Stockton Museum Service, will be run at Billingham Art Gallery from Monday to Friday, June 16, celebrating
FUNDRAISERS in Barnard Castle are looking for a band to replace one they had arranged to play at a charity event this month. The Charles Dickens Lodge for elderly people is holding a week of events starting on Thursday, June 22, with money going towards
A TWO-DAY clean-up will be launched today on a Bishop Auckland housing estate. Police, officials from Wear Valley District Council and street wardens will take to the streets of Woodhouse Close Estate today and tomorrow. Durham Police's motorcycle unit
WE'RE hooked on Springwatch in our house, at least some of us are. The seven-year-old and I can't wait to catch up with Bill Oddie on the BBC's live weeknight nature programme, with cameras trained on various nests, setts and dens around the Devon farm
POLICE officers who seriously injured an innocent man during a raid on his home are to be investigated by their own force in an "independent" inquiry, it was revealed last night.Stephen Whenary's solicitor reacted with shock after being told that Cleveland
SPECIALIST glass maker Romag said yesterday it is investing £4m to more than double production of its solar glass to meet growing demand.The Consett, County Durham, company said global demand for photovoltaic (PV) glass, which converts the sun's rays
SO here we are then - Germany. A land of forests, frauleins and, for the next four weeks, football.With the World Cup adventure about to begin, Manchester Airport was a sea of red and white as I arrived for my midday flight to Frankfurt yesterday morning.Fans
THE public will next week have the chance to give their views on a £15m factory being built in Spennymoor.A public consultation exercise on plans for a new plant for Thorn Lighting, which employs about 700 people, will begin on Monday and carry on until
A RARE piece of railway memorabilia has been donated to a North-East museum as part of a new exhibit. A long service certificate presented to Matthew Bone in 1908 will now be on display at Darlington Railway Museum. The certificate was presented to Mr
CUCKOO: HEARING the cuckoo (HAS, June 6) would seem to be a case of being in the right place at the right time.My husband and I stayed in our caravan outside Chester in early May and heard it, but what was surprising was that it started at 4am, in the
THE most wanted man in Iraq, terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed, it was announced today. The al Qaida commander blamed for personally beheading British hostage Ken Bigley and for leading the insurgency in Iraq that has seen thousands
AFTER growing support from the Football Association, Premier League chiefs and the League Managers Association, Middlesbrough paraded Gareth Southgate as their new manager last night. And chief executive Keith Lamb has urged the English game's top brass
GARETH SOUTHGATE was on a family holiday in Florida when the call came. Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson had contacted the club's skipper to inform him of the latest developments in the search for a new manager. "We're not talking to anyone else was
GARETH SOUTHGATE may have only been installed into the Middlesbrough manager's chair officially yesterday but he has already had his say on transfer matters. And the Boro skipper, who is calling time on his playing career although he is retaining his
