THE Town Hall bookings procedure has long been a sore subject for some Craven charities. Not only is the price contentious, the difficulty of making a booking has also raised concerns. The block bookings made on behalf of the NSPCC certainly raise eyebrows
Creating strong, visionary local council leadership is at least as important as the training of professionals such as architects and planners, a government review of skills shortages has concluded. Sir John Egan has put local government at the heart of
A book-keeper is turning the final page of her long career at a Keighley chartered accountant's after totting up 36 years service. Pam Gee, 60, of Wheathead Lane, Keighley, works for chartered accountants Stirk Lambert & Co but will retire today.
With a minimum of one point needed to ensure home advantage in the Conference North play-offs for Park Avenue, they go into their final game of the normal season hosting already-promoted Lancaster City. It will be Avenue's fourth game in eight days but
Pudsey Congs still don't know when their overseas star Naveed Rana ul-Hassan will arrive. Skipper Matthew Doidge said of the Pakistani international: "He is waiting for his passport and his visa, and could arrive today if that is sorted out - or it could
Five years ago, when I first raised in the House of Commons the question of forced marriages, I was accused of "demonising" the Asian community and was met with a wall of denial from some quarters. We now see Government guidelines for police and social
More than sixty windows have been smashed in an orgy of wrecking at a Keighley primary school. It is believed a weapon such as a golf club was used to break the windows, some of which were double-glazed or reinforced with wire mesh. The cost of replacing
Organisers of Haworth in Bloom braved the wet weather on Sunday to raise over £500. More than 20 volunteers manned a wide range of stalls at a spring fair, in Overdale Terrace, and scores more villagers went along to make the event a success. Spokesman
residents in the Showfield area of Keighley are being urged to attend a special neighbourhood forum meeting to settle a car parking wrangle. A Bradford Council traffic officer will attend the May 4 meeting to put forward ideas for solving problems in
A husband and wife kicked up a stink after discovering raw sewage in their street. Michael and Kathleen Woollard, of Cliffe Crescent, Riddlesden, were both preparing for work when they spotted a malfunctioning drain in their street. Michael said: "I noticed
Volunteers are turning the clock back at the Bront Parsonage museum to transform the garden into the plant display the literary family would have known. And the first variety of flowers to make an appearance, and likely to have been recognised by Emily
A 19-year-old girl has been nominated for a prestigious national award. Claire Holmes, of Fir Street, Keighley, received the honour for her achievements in her Modern Apprenticeship in customer services. Along with two other young people from the Skipton
The replacement Barry's Bus has been struck by arsonists, just a month after it was resurrected. The bus, which was revived by Keighley Community Transport to honour local politician Barry Thorne, was set on fire on Tuesday night outside Holmewood Old
A restaurant owner fears a new Channel 4 show will throw up her business in a bad light. For during filming, celebrity hardman chef Gordon Ramsay was shown being sick -- 'poisoned' after eating from a plate of old scallops. The incident as now being used
A parish council is campaigning to overturn a law so it can be represented on the village primary school governing body. Oxenhope Parish Council has been unable to have a seat on the governing body of Oxenhope Primary School for this school year. Last
A massive shake-up of the district's special schools has been set back because of a delay in Government funding of £35 million. School chiefs said they were bitterly disappointed that the scheme to create six new special schools had been set back a year
Two new St George's crosses have been bought to fly from the tower of Keighley Shared Church. Keighley Town Council and St Andrew's Church, which controls the running of the shared church, simultaneously bought the new flags. But because of the style
A labour councillor has spoken of her distress after a leading Tory politician gave a Nazi salute during a debate. Cllr Lynne Joyce said Cllr Simon Cooke also shouted "Sieg heil" during the incident at this week's full meeting of Bradford Council. Cllr
LOCAL charity fundraisers and exhibitors should still be able to hold events at Watershed Mill, in Settle, after refurbishment work is completed this summer. Rumours have been circulating the area that the shop owned by Edinburgh Woollen Mills had been
AS a testament to her fantastic progress following a lifesaving bone marrow transplant last year, 11-year-old Rebecca Harrison will be competing in the 2004 Race for Life. Rebecca officially started last year's five-kilometre race, the first to be held
THE organisers of Skipton Gala are warning that this year's event may have to be cancelled. Concerns were raised after it came to light that The Moscow State Circus had booked the town's Aireville Park the week before the gala on June 12, Now the gala
CHANGES are likely to be made to the booking procedure for Skipton's Town Hall after complaints that it was being monopolised by block bookings. The council has admitted that it has not followed its own rules for booking the hall. The Craven Herald can
A scheme to prevent confrontations between motorists and car clampers which was pioneered in Skipton is to go nationwide. It was first set up because wheel clampings had charged motorists up to £80 for immediate release. So North Yorkshire Trading Standards
The Vines - Winning Days Early calls that frontman Craig Nicholls is a genius appear to be unfounded, with The Vines unfortunately named second album Winning Days. After opening with the menacing, grunge single Ride, the follow up to Highly Evolved, runs
Opera North -- Eight Little Greats: Il Tabarro (Puccini) and Love's Luggage Lost (Rossini) -- The Grand Theatre, Leeds What better way to ease an opera first-timer into the world of the genre than to see two of these "little greats". Opera North's collection
Keighley music promoter Trotwood is finalising a date for a long-awaited local concert by Ocean Colour Scene. The well-respected band will perform at the town's Victoria Hall, in July, as a warm-up for concerts across the UK Trotwood, a roadie with the
SIR - A recent edition of the Keighley News showed on the front page how the police plan to move into new premises to allow a state of the art nerve centre for dealing with all the division's area. I'm very confused here. May I point out a few facts of
A police horse which patrolled picket lines during some of the most violent scenes of the miners' strike has died. Saracen, known as Pops, spent most of his working life in Bradford and was a familiar sight at Valley Parade and football grounds across
The son of a Bradford war hero embarks on his own poignant mission tomorrow - to honour his father. David Shorten will join veterans in Belgium to unveil a memorial to airmen who lost their lives 60 years ago. William Shorten, who lived in Wingfield Street
A spelling mistake set in stone on a village landmark is to be re-carved after a dictionary publisher admitted the error was all its fault. A war of words broke out in Eldwick, near Bingley, last year after villagers spotted the word 'millennium' on their
The minister in charge of local government across the country defended plans to introduce a Yorkshire parliament to the region. Nick Raynsford MP was in Bradford to defend plans for a Yorkshire and Humber regional assembly saying it would streamline government
An aid worker taken hostage in Iraq is back home after her dramatic ordeal. Jenny Gaiawyn, 25, told how shots were fired around the group as they were taken captive last week. She had travelled from her Craven home to Iraq to help with humanitarian efforts
A premier team of West Yorkshire police officers is preparing to blow the whistle on soccer thugs who might be planning to disrupt Euro 2004. A police operation is underway to make sure known English hooligans do not make the trip to Portugal for this
With the two teams being on different ends of convincing results in their opening fixtures of the season, a second mauling had been predicted for the Cougars. Instead it was not until midway through the second half that the visitors' superiority settled
REVENGE was sweet for Ian Holmes last week as he put the disappointment of the first Bunny Run behind him to win the second. 37-year-old Keighley athlete Holmes -- five times English and four times British fell running champion -- gained revenge against
SILSDEN Ladies almost stuck a superb blow for Yorkshire on Sunday at a national event in Morecambe. The ladies team were taking part in the final of the British Ladies Bowling Championship at a decidedly chilly Morecambe. The ladies side beat Greater
Congratulations to our Junior Academy who had a superb 22 - 12 away win last Sunday at Leigh Centurions. The young guys have had a couple of heavy defeats so far this season but obviously everything fell into place last weekend. One of the highlights
DOUGIE Lampkin has been getting used to unusual sight this week -- someone else's name at the top of World Outdoor Trials Championship standings. For only the second time in eight seasons, Silsden rider Lampkin fails to top the table and finds himself
KIERAN Clarke will go into the third round of the British Superbikes Championship this weekend with every confidence after a strong showing in round two at Brands Hatch. 19-year-old Kieran -- racing for the Keighley-based Colin Appleyard team -- will
GARY Moorby is expecting a tough away day as he prepares his troops for their cup date in Cumbria. The Cougar Park side meet ex-Keighley coach Peter Roe and his Barrow Raiders team in the quarter final qualifiers of the Arriva Trains Cup this Sunday.
THE final line-up in the Craven & District FA Cup competitions is now complete, with finalists and venues now resolved. The premier competition, the Slater Marchant Challenge Cup, will reach its finale at Barnoldswick Town's West Close ground on Friday
The perfect place for motorcycles SIR - I am surprised by the lack of letters to the T&A regarding the intention of closing the off-road facility at The Flappit (T&A, April 16). I would have thought the Reverend Chris Andrews would have received
100 years ago CHEERED on by a special train excursion of 350 supporters, Skipton won rugby union's Yorkshire Cup, thus righting an injustice from the previous year when they had drawn with Castleford in the final, but their opponents had refused to replay
This weekend will see a spectacle never before seen on the streets of Keighley -- a celebration of England's national day. Three days of fun and internationalism are planned with the overall aim and objective of raising money to support Keighley's new
A house building firm was praised for its development of brownfield sites at the official opening of its new offices. Skipton Properties last month moved to a new £750,000 headquarters at Crossings Business Park, Cross Hills, after it outgrew its original
Being the man who makes the vital tackles for the Bulls doesn't earn Lee Radford too many headlines. Not that he cares. Radford seldom reads the papers, especially in his home town of Hull. But defence wins rugby league games and Radford, along with fellow
Ben Muirhead, the player paid for by the fans, has been shown the door by Bryan Robson. Michael Standing and Clint Davies have also been axed as the City boss continues his weeding-out process at Valley Parade. City's supporters trust raised the cash
Soccer thugs are a disgrace: to the sport they purport to follow, to their country and to the cities from which they come. Although no country is free of ugly louts who follow "the beautiful game" and use it as an excuse to create mayhem, English soccer
Keighley Mencap and Gateway Friday Club has accepted a donation of £2,500. Raised over 12 months by Ilkley Soroptimists, the cheque was handed over at Keighley Resource Centre. Mencap secretary Susan Munro said: "The donation will go towards the running
Tribute has been paid to former Keighley News reporter Peter Cooke, who has died aged 74. Peter retired in July 1991, after 18 years with the newspaper. Before joining the Keighley News he had spent nearly three decades with the Yorkshire Post and Evening
Plans to convert an old church and turn part of its graveyard into a garden left councillors shocked. St Paul's Anglican Church, at Denholme Gate, is the subject of a planning application to change its use into a single home and use a fifth of the graveyard
Organisers of a new social group in Keighley are appealing for pensioners to sign up. The 60+ group will meet at Whinfield Community Centre, on Braithwaite Avenue, each week from May 11. The sessions have been organised by Keighley Healthy Living Network
Community access to policing is to be increased across the Worth Valley. Following the success of the Worth Valley Police and Community Contact Point in Haworth, satellite offices could be set up in Oxenhope and Oakworth. A Worth Valley Watch Committee
Friends Danny Walsh and Jack Clough completed the London Marathon on Sunday to boost a charity's funds. They hope their sponsored efforts will raise £1,400 each for Sense, an organisation supporting people who suffer from both hearing and sight impairments
Work has been carried out to improve access to Keighley's centre for the disabled after one user tripped on a loose paving stone. For more than four months staff at Keighley Disabled People's Centre, in Temple Row, have complained to Bradford Council
One of the few powers bestowed upon Keighley Town Council will be used to prevent the building of a house on a piece of common ground. An application to build a house on land between Low Bank and Far Low Bank, Oakworth, was approved by Bradford Council
Witnesses are being sought to an indecent assault at Keighley Railway Station. The incident happened as a 20-year-old local woman was waiting for the 7.31pm train to Leeds, on April 3. A man followed her into the railway station at 7.15pm and after making
Haworth Village Trust will write to the planning office with its opinion of the development of the former village first school. The trust held a public meeting on Monday to discuss the redevelopment of the old school and the adjoining community centre
A seven-point plan to tackle town centre traffic snarl-ups will be put before politicians next week. Keighley Area Committee will decide whether to adopt £200,000 of proposed measures put forward by its Transport Forum. The committee, Bradford Council's
The good work achieved across Keighley to cement relationships between different faiths should be continued and extended to other areas. That was the view taken away from a meeting of religious leaders -- at the Sangat Centre last Thursday -- arranged
Two swords stolen from a Haworth woman known as The Baroness have been returned. The antique weapons were handed to village shopkeeper Andrew Snowden after the Keighley News highlighted their disappearance. Baroness Marie-Therese Josephine de Bertouch
Consumer Minister and Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe has launched a bitter attack on credit companies which exploit vulnerable borrowers. Speaking at the British Bankers' Association's annual conference, Mr Sutcliffe said there was no room in the credit
After all the rigmarole and arguments, Keighley folk finally have the chance to celebrate St George's Day this weekend. Events in Keighley will take on a whole new outlook this year as a complement to the usual Scout parade. Each year members of the Scout
A zebra crossing on busy West Lane, Keighley, could finally get the go-ahead from councillors next week. They will be asked to choose one of four ideas for improving safety on a stretch between Braithwaite and Highfield. Parents of pupils at Our Lady
More than 100 ten-pin bowlers from across the county were looking to strike gold when they came to Keighley. The Special Olympian bowlers were at the AMF Bowl on Saturday for the Yorkshire and Humberside annual ten-pin bowling competition. Among the athletes
Budding young entrepreneurs are battling it out to be crowned best UK Young Enterprise Company. Groups of ten students from South Craven School, Cross Hills, and Keighley College came up with an idea for a product or service and developed a business plan
Firefighters spent two hours battling a fierce blaze which gutted a three-storey Keighley mill on Wednesday morning. Police and fire officers are probing the outbreak at Grove Mills, off Halifax Road, which they suspect was started deliberately. The unoccupied
A Silsden nurse will put her best foot forward to raise money for Airedale Hospital next month. Staff nurse Gillian Troth will run in the Leeds half marathon to raise much-needed funds to buy special beds for patients on ward 24. She said: "We currently
Dozens of mourners with memorials at a Keighley crematorium have been ordered to remove them from the garden of remembrance. Bradford Council's Bereavement Service, which owns Oakworth Crematorium, in Wide Lane, has fixed letters to numerous plaques and
Three senior members of staff have been suspended from duty in connection with a number of suspicious deaths at Airedale Hospital. It is understood that the members of nursing staff have been suspended from their posts as part of a police inquiry into
SKATEBOARDERS grabbing on to the back of moving buses are dicing with death. Their actions have prompted a warning by Barnoldswick police who said not only are they putting their lives at risk, they are actually committing an offence. In the latest craze
AN emergency meeting will be held on Monday to determine whether a £100,000 mobile phone mast should be built on farmland in Silsden. Keighley Area Planning Panel will discuss the proposed nine feet tall mast for Vodafone, which would be built on Raikes
A Visible Darkness -- Jonathon King Max Freeman, ex-cop, has retired from the force following a shoot-out in which he was injured and he accidentally injured a juvenile. Recuperating both physically and mentally in an isolated shack, he gets a call from
Jethro -- St George's Hall, Bradford Dubbed Cornwall's Minister of Culture, Jethro had the audience rocking with laughter on Saturday. The politically uncorrect comedian pulled no punches with his street-wise style. He rubbished the Germans, the French
A writer is rescued by his greatest fan after crashing his car in the remote Colorado mountains. Annie Wilkes decides to nurse Paul Sheldon back to health -- until she discovers he is killing off his heroine. In the latest production from Keighley Playhouse
SOMETIME back in the 1970s, an acquaintance of mine announced he was closing down his wholesale watch and jewellery business and asked if I would like to buy a rather posh Swiss watch at cost. Even then, it was pretty expensive, but I succumbed. A few
IT sticks in my throat to admit this, but our latest offcumdens Dr Spot and his consort Des (short for Desdemona) the Boiler Suit have got some guts. For Southerners, that is. And that meant an extra turn of the screw in the Battle of the Church Chimes
SIR - The perils of contracting out essential services were graphically illustrated to us the other week when we noticed that the sewage drain cover just behind our house was rising ominously. A blockage with dire consequences was evidently in the making
Health bosses are to visit a Bingley school to give youngsters a say on the future of health services in the town. Airedale Primary Care Trust has launched a consultation exercise so the public can give their views on proposals to modernise Bingley Hospital
Bradford's Macmillan nurses are urging walkers to take a dose of fresh air by taking part in this year's Shipley Stride charity walk. The nurses, who provide specialist care for cancer patients, are walking in the event backed by the Telegraph & Argus
A community worker who ran an education project helping more than 600 Bradford youngsters and their families has been named as the first director of an organisation aiming to help meet the needs of black and ethnic minorities. For three years dad-of-three
Allotment holders are seeing red after burglaries and raids by vandals left their gardens in a mess. Wreckers struck four times in a fortnight and today furious tenants demanded Bradford Council put up perimeter fences around the premises. Four break-ins
Darts champion John "Boy" Walton's dad has hit double top by scooping a Best Neighbour award for the second year running. Generous Jack Walton spent the £50 he won last year on paint to spruce up the Bierley cul-de-sac where he lives. That and other good
A multi-million pound project which aims to give a village a new heart looks set to be given the royal seal of approval. Architects are drawing up final plans for the Cottingley Cornerstone Centre which will help regenerate the village by providing state-of-the-art
The Bradford man who won tickets for the clubbing night out where student David Plunkett vanished told today of the last time he saw his best friend. Michael Vittis, said: "We were dancing one minute, the next it all went fuzzy. I don't know what happened
Deputy Bradford Council leader Simon Cooke today urged people to forgive him for making a Nazi salute during a City Hall debate. Demands have been made for his resignation after he made the gesture and called out "Sieg Heil" at the end of a speech by
The long awaited start to the 2004 Craven and District Cricket League was blighted by the weather with approximately half of the games washed out following the heavy overnight rain. However there was some excellent cricket played in those that survived
Silsden claimed the West Riding Premier Division for the second consecutive season at the weekend with a stunning 4-1 victory over nearest rivals Brighouse Town. Although in essence it was a team performance, Dale Hoyle's four goals made his the outstanding
Leigh Centurions 12 Keighley Cougars Academy 22 REVENGE was sweet for the Cougars Academy side in the return match against Leigh after slipping to a 41-28 defeat a fortnight ago. There was no slip-up this time however as Keighley recorded a 22-12 win
Cowling Harlequins 14 Thornton A 22 Cowling played this home fixture on Silsden Park Rangers pitch due to a lack of rugby posts at their South Craven ground. Both teams started off at an electric pace with Cowling coming out on top in the opening exchanges
Local racing fans can look forward to a double-header this weekend, with the Saturday flat fixture at Ripon followed by the jumps meeting at Wetherby on Sunday. The seven-race programme at Ripon, first of the course's five Saturday afternoon meetings
KEIGHLEY Cougars' promotion winning season is celebrated in a new book - Going Up!. Written by former club programme editor, postman David Kirkley (pictured), the book charts the whole of the 2003 season. It includes a short review of the season, statistics
THERE were tears and dejection and frustration and misery and anger for North Ribblesdale last Saturday. But way above all those emotions, there was dignity and grace after the Powergen Vase was handed to Leodiensians on the basis of their scoring two
Veka Ribblesdale League Senior Division: Barnoldswick v Blackburn Northern, Baxenden v Earby, Clitheroe v Settle. Airedale & Wharfedale Cricket League Division B: Collingham v Ilkley, Illingworth v Burley, Knaresborough v Skipton, Pool v Thackley,
HEBDEN rower Andrew Hodge (pictured above) has been chosen to represent England in the Athens Olympics after coming through the final trials in Belgium recently with flying colours. While Hodge partnered Alex Partridge to victory in the pairs in Belgium
WHARFEDALE have pulled out a plum in the Yorkshire Cup quarter-finals next week in the shape of a home tie against Halifax (6.45). Victory over Cleckheaton in mid-week was achieved without any serious alarms, but the upwardly mobile Halifax men are sure
