Cup kings East Bierley are determined to make a strong league challenge this season. Bierley have won the Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup three times in a row, but they haven't won the Secure Trust Bank Bradford League Division One title since 1996
Birmingham boss Trevor Francis has abandoned his bid to sign Bradford City defender Peter Atherton. Jim Jefferies had heard reports that the St Andrew's club were still interested in signing the right back, despite crashing out to Preston in the promotion
Bradford Bulls have re-vamped their match-day operation following fears that excessive red tape was hitting attendances. Figures show that gates for the five corresponding Super League fixtures at Odsal last season are around 14 per cent down following
The Calderdale office of the new region-wide Business Link is up-and-running in Halifax. The Business Link for West Yorkshire local base is run by a team of advisers aiming to help small to medium enterprises with everything from training requirements
A Burley-in-Wharfedale-based home shopping firm has enjoyed a highly successful trading year. Findel plc has announced a 20 per cent leap in turnover, from £201.7 to £241.3 million, along with a 25 per cent jump in operating profits, from £20.4 to £25.5
PROTESTERS from Craven's farming community lined the streets of Settle yesterday to complain to Agriculture minister Nick Brown about the Government's handling of the foot and mouth crisis. Bearing anti-Government placards, the protesters complained party
VANDALS have struck again in one of Skipton's playgrounds, damaging over £2,000 worth of new equipment. Skipton Town Council, which has paid for repairs time and time again at Middletown Playground, has said it might not get any more new equipment unless
POLICE are hunting masked raiders who threatened police officers with crowbars and rammed their squad car. The three men, suspected of an attempted burglary at Gargrave Co-op, in the early hours of Monday, are described as dangerous. They escaped after
John Sheard casts his eye over the General Election candidates for the Skipton and Ripon constituency. HIS childhood was spent in a society gripped with fear. Local industry was closing down, hundreds of men were losing their livelihoods and being driven
John Sheard casts his eye over the General Election candidates for the Skipton and Ripon Constituency HE'S a big fellow, as you would expect from the rugby player he once was. His tight curled hair is pure white and he speaks quickly, with authority.
A campaign group has branded a decision by a Mirfield school to sell off part of its ground for housing so it can improve its sports facilities as 'scandalous.' Governors of Castle Hall School and Miller Homes have applied to Kirklees Council for planning
Pace Micro Technology has unveiled a new gadget which could revolutionise the way cable TV is watched. The Saltaire-based company's French division, Xcom Communications, has produced a low-cost Digital Television Adapter (DTVA) which enables analogue
Pensioners duped into buying tickets for a bogus pantomime have called in police to investigate. At least 50 members of the Denholme Elders Network were approached to buy tickets at £1.50 each for a production of Cinderella which the con artists said
A group of Bradford kick-boxers selected to represent England in a major international tournament is desperately struggling to find cash to fund the trip. Six fighters from The Fight Club kick-boxing group in Sunbridge Road, Bradford, are travelling to
Swimmers angry at the closure of their village baths say schoolchildren are foregoing lessons rather than travel to other pools. Thornton residents have been without a pool since October when the baths were closed for health and safety reasons. But at
A Bradford man has been threatened with arrest if he attempts to visit his daughter in the United States. John Brooke, 55, who has lived and worked in the US for 20 years, was deported in February for violating immigration laws. US officials told him
Bradford burst into life to the sound of hypnotic drum beats and a splash of dazzling colour for the start of the BBC Music Live Festival. The five-day festival was officially launched last night with a carnival-style concert in Bradford's Centenary Square
Police today unveiled a campaign to cut the rising number of robberies and muggings in Bradford. Operation Eagle will be in force throughout the summer, placing high-visibility patrols in crime hot-spots supported by undercover officers and video surveillance
Volatile Bradford West is the least predictable of the five constituencies in Britain's fourth biggest metropolitan district. Family and religious loyalties rather than politics often play a large part in votes from the Asian population. And that can
The domes of Bradford's historic Odeon cinema could disappear under an £8.5m development plan unveiled today. Developers want to demolish the existing building, and its characteristic contribution to Bradford's city centre skyline in favour of a more
WHILE the top team performance from the local sides in the Airedale and Wharfedale League last weekend came from Steeton, two-wicket winners against defending Division A champions Guiseley, the outstanding individual display came from the second team
RIBBLESDALE Cricket League officials are keeping their fingers tightly crossed that the deadly tentacles of the foot and mouth outbreak do not extend any further into their patch. So far, only one of their clubs, Settle, has been closed by the crisis,
SIR - I originally lived in Pakistan. It is a Third World country and a poor one as well. I am worried about the expanding abuse of drugs all over the world as well as the UK. Countries like Pakistan can't prevent drug abuse because of lack of resources
THE first outbreak of foot and mouth was confirmed late on the evening of Thursday May 10. One question which all of Settle and Malhamdale was asking was why was the outbreak virtually ignored by the national media? It was nearly two weeks later, Tuesday
Bulls coach Brian Noble has expressed his surprise at the failure of Paul Deacon to land a place in the Lancashire side for next month's Origin clash at Headingley. The talented Wigan-born scrum-half was expected to win a place in the red rose squad following
The design of the proposed replacement for the Odeon cinema might not be the look that everyone wanted. However, the planned development of four bars, a night club, casino and 86-bedroom hotel throws up some even more fundamental questions. Chief among
In 1885, Wibsey Park, Bradford, was opened. In 1961, the Ku Klux Klan fought with civil rights marchers in Montgomery, USA. In 1969, Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and a crew of seven set sail to cross the Atlantic in a reed boat named "Ra". From
SELDOM was an award more thoroughly deserved than the one presented to George Christofides . He has just received Barnoldswick Town Council's annual Rosebowl Award, presented in recognition of outstanding service to the local community. In that department
A MESSAGE is going out loud and clear to the troublemakers who spoil Barnoldswick's night life - "We don't want you and we won't tolerate you!" Local pubs and clubs are putting up a united front, working with the police and council to root out the unruly
JOHN Vickers, headmaster of North Yorkshire's largest secondary school, is to leave after the summer term. Mr Vickers has been at South Craven School, Cross Hills, since January 1995 and is moving to Coventry to teach at Coundon Court School and Community
LOCAL people have battled en masse in order to fly the flag for Settle. On Sunday, the flag festival team achieved their goal with over 100 flags being flown around the town outside shops, businesses and houses. Gill O'Donnell, a member of the Community
TAXI driver Mick Kirlew has taken out some extra special insurance, courtesy of Rev Adrian Botwright. He had his cab blessed this week to help keep his passengers safe on their travels. Mr Kirlew has been a retained firefighter in Skipton for 14 years
SIR - Some years ago, a farmer expressed an interest in buying our business (Castleberg Sports - outdoor pursuits and sports retailers in Settle), saying that "a coat can't die on you, like a beast can". I've got news for him: he was wrong then, and he's
Enjoy the Bank Holiday - but don't put the farmers at risk! That's the message from Bradford Council as thousands prepare to take advantage of the warmer weather. Shipley Glen, Ilkley Moor, Baildon Moor and Bronte Moor are still out of bounds to walkers
A planned concert by music legend Van Morrison has been called off. The gig, advertised at Pennington's Club on June 26, was today shrouded in mystery. Harry Lee, Pennington's booker and production director, apologised to Morrison fans who had rung the
Peace campaigners in Bradford have received the surprise gift of a World Peace Flame Candle - and now want to spread the message to others. Workers at the Commonweal Collection peace library, based at Bradford University, were astonished to receive the
Transport chiefs have pledged to investigate a campaigning pensioner's plea for train station to be re-opened. Hundreds of people have signed Pool-in-Wharfedale resident Ken Shaw's petition calling for Arthington Station to be used again. And his call
The founder of a remote Kashmiri school has spelled out the reasons for its success to a group of Bradford education leaders. Retired Lieutenant General Rahim Khan, chairman of the Kashmiri Education Foundation (KEF), spoke to a meeting of school and
Bradford library has spawned another success story - its popular readers' events are being copied throughout the region. Its Reader2Reader project has held two Readers' Days - this year with top author Sue Townsend, creator of Adrian Mole, and the first
Flying paramedics are preparing themselves for the golf season in Bradford. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance crew are on standby to rescue players who fall seriously ill or are injured in remote parts of courses. And they are expecting a busy summer as the
Farmers from Bradford and the surrounding areas met the shadow agriculture minister to highlight fears that foot and mouth could spread to the Aire Valley. Around a dozen farmers who are living on the doorstep of the outbreak at Settle told Conservative
Protesters from Craven's farming community lined the streets in Settle yesterday to complain to agriculture minister Nick Brown about the way the Government was handling the foot and mouth crisis. Bearing anti-Government placards, the protesters complained
Youngsters in Bradford are being given the chance to be pampered like royalty for a day. The Lord Mayor Councillor Ghazanfer Khaliq is urging children to write in and say what they would do if they were prince or princess of the district. And the winner
The death of a five-year-old boy who was killed when he ran into the road has been recorded as a tragic accident. Halifax Coroner's Court heard yesterday how Joshua Hall was holding on to his younger sister Catherine's hand when they set out with their
Edith Storey can still remember playground games during dinner time as a pupil more than 90 years ago. The 96-year-old, pictured, made an emotional return to Greengates Primary School yesterday as the oldest surviving pupil. Mrs Storey (nee Hawkins) helped
WHAT a difference 12 months can make. Cowling, who would have been relegated if the first division had not been extended to 14 teams, now sit proudly at the top of the table after another day when the bowlers reasserted their influence on proceedings
DESPITE at one stage looking across a flooded Aire Valley at a massive 200-plus backlog of games in the Craven & District Football League, strong co-operation between officials and clubs has brought the season to a satisfactory conclusion. All promotion
100 years ago A ROUSING welcome greeted members of the Skipton Volunteer Battalion on their return from the war in South Africa. Thousands of people lined the streets to greet the volunteers, who had served under the command of Captain Edgar Dewhurst.
