"IT beats sitting at home watching TV and knitting. You have to break away from those things sometimes." That was the opinion of one satisfied audience member as she left the auditorium last night and it perfectly sums up what this play is all about.
IN its first three months, the new Bolton based NHS Direct patient helpline handled more than 20,000 calls. The figures were revealed in Bolton Community Healthcare Trust's annual report. Working with Greater Manchester Ambulance Service, the Trust launched
A DAD who lost his son in a tragic drowning accident has slammed comments made by the chairman of the Fire Authority, Fred Walker. Steve Lomas's son, Gary, 15, perished this summer as he swam in the High Rid Reservoir, a popular sailboarding and water
THE dramatic Westhoughton crash which wrecked six cars was the third in three days on the same stretch of road. Residents are demanding action after the crash - reported in Tuesday night's BEN, when the engine of a car slammed into the wall of a terraced
A FRAIL pensioner was left without her only lifeline for nearly a week after claims that a telephone company stalled over repairs. Shirley Hughes - daughter of the 87-year-old woman who does not want to be named - is furious with Cable and Wireless over
Bolton Wanderers Res 1, Newcastle United Res 1 WANDERERS Reserves almost ended Newcastle United's unbeaten away record in the FA Premier Reserve League last night . . . only to be denied by a 93rd minute Stuart Green equaliser. The league leaders fielded
IT is Bury's smallest school - but Affetside Primary now has plenty of extra space. Thanks to the Government's New Deal for Schools funding, £36,500 has been spent to replace a dilapidated old classroom with a new one which has been specially modified
THIEVES escaped with a large haul of drugs after disabling the security alarm at a Bolton chemists. The burglars smashed the alarm box off the wall outside the premises of Noble and Peacock before forcing their way inside. Their haul included a variety
THE BISHOP of Bolton gave a boost to workers facing a difficult future at a Horwich manufacturers. The Rt Rev David Gillett visited Chortex Mill on Chorley New Road - which has announced 50 job redundancies. The Rev Paul Berry, who organised the visit
A 'GOLDEN Girl' heart transplant swimmer has left the pool behind for a starring role on the catwalk. For Kelly Walmsley, 20, has just taken part in a charity fashion show in aid of Wythenshawe Hospital's New Heart-New Start Appeal. Kelly, from Westhoughton
POLLING in the general election in Botswana, the thinly-populated republic in southern Africa, takes place on Saturday but the first votes have already been cast - in Bolton. Seven Botswana nationals, mainly students, living in Northern and Central England
FIVE young people are planning long careers in Bolton town hall under a pioneering course. The group - Kerry Hibbert, John Bullough, Stephanie Farrimond, Richard Brine and Nicola Timmins - have all started new jobs in the council's environment department
IT appears that the new Bolton-based NHS Direct patient helpline is a success. In its first three months the helpline handled more than 20,000 calls. This clearly illustrates there is a need for this sort of service. And it should mean that as patients
THE manager of a golf course hit by vandals this week believes that the attack was carried out by someone who thinks the company has put in for an extension of the course. But Linda Harrison, who runs the Valynette course off Grimeford Lane, Blackrod,
WE applaud Bolton housing chiefs' get tough policy on rent dodgers. The council is currently owed more than £1 million in back rent. While the council is operating cost-cutting exercises like closing libraries and loos, it is wholly unacceptable that
DON'T mind being inundated with postal appeals from charities requiring funds. But what really gets my back up is the colossal cheek of those charities which actually tell you how much to send! "Please tick the amount you are donating: £5, £10, £25 etc
STAFF at a Bolton store have set a "shining" example to colleagues cross the UK by putting their customer service skills to work in aid of the NSPCC's latest campaign. Workers at key cutters and engravers Timpson in the Crompton Place shopping centre,
HUNDREDS of Bolton schoolboys have turned over a new leaf and started to catch up with the girls in reading skills. This year, 11-year-old Bolton boys have managed to narrow the traditional literacy gap between girls and boys. Last year 15pc more girls
THEATRE, MUSIC AND DANCE BOLTON Autumn Choir require male and female members for choir rehearsals at Age Concern, Ashburner Street from 5.30pm-7pm. For further details tel: 706055 or 01942 819791. JOIN St Paul's (Astley Bridge) Amateur Operatic Society
Crook Town 2, Leigh RMI 1 WHAT a difference a year makes! Less than 12 months ago Leigh RMI were basking in national glory having held Fulham to a draw at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup. This year's campaign came to a sudden halt in the more humbler surroundings
I REFER to a letter published in the Bolton Evening News on Thursday September 23, headed: Waste of cash to pay for this. If the author of this letter would like to speak to Commercial Services about this then we would be pleased to meet them. We are
I WOULD like to thank the Bolton Evening News and its reporter, Beverley Greenberg, for the article she wrote highlighting the sad state of "The Quiet Walk" in Farnworth. After many complaints to the Council about the state of this tree-lined, rubbish-strewn
TWO local schools facing a controversial merger remain bitterly divided about their future. Governors at Fourgates CP and St John (Wingates) in Westhoughton are set to clash over how the merger will be handled. Fourgates Chairman Gordon Firth has launched
BACKSTAGE bickering and fan fury . . . they are the factors that could tip the scales in Saturday's 'Clash of the Wanderers' at Molineux. When the Wolves directors refused to let Colin Lee sign Bradford striker Dean Windass this week because they considered
FLOODING in a motorway subway is so severe that youngsters on their way to school are choosing to "risk life and limb" by crossing the hazardous roads to avoid being soaked. Water seeping through overflowing drains in the subways at the Kearsley roundabout
A PUBLIC inquiry began yesterday into an application to build 37 more homes on a controversial Westhoughton housing development. Builders Redrow Homes want to put extra houses on the Edges Farm development, off Leigh Road, Daisy Hill. They already have
THE family of a Bolton teenager found hanged in his prison cell today demanded a top level national review of the care of vulnerable young inmates. The call for a major Home Office review came after an inquest jury recorded a verdict of accidental death
A YOUNG couple have told of their despair after the house they rented out was stripped bare. Anthony Myler and Susan Smallshaw jetted home from a teaching trip in Turkey to find their Bolton home had been systematically plundered by the tenant they trusted
BACKSTAGE bickering and fan fury . . . they are the factors that could tip the scales in Saturday's 'Clash of the Wanderers' at Molineux. When the Wolves directors refused to let Colin Lee sign Bradford striker Dean Windass this week because they considered
IT WAS a case of "many happy returns" for a host of familiar faces invited to celebrate Farnworth's 60th "birthday". When Farnworth signed the charter to gain borough status on September 30, 1939, celebrations had to be cut short due to the outbreak of
BOLTON and Bury Chamber is celebrating its first birthday. The organisation was set up a year ago when the former Chamber of Commerce merged with the Training and Enterprise Council and its Business Link division. Since then a large number of local businesses
A PLANNING application has been put in for a development of flats on part of the former Bolton Royal Infirmary site. Newton-le-Willows based developers Bryant Homes (North West Ltd) want to build 94 flats on the site off Chorley New Road. The development
A TEENAGER rescued unconscious from his burning home was still seriously ill in hospital today. David Thomasson, aged 16, was carried out of his blazing home by firefighters who discovered him unconscious in a back bedroom. David, of Longfellow Avenue
BLACKROD butchers Norman and Christine Heaton are the envy of the whippet racing fraternity after discovering one of the fastest dogs in the business. Trouble at Mill - their 15-month-old bitch - has just beaten the nation's best to become one of the
TORY front benchers are being asked to deal with the problems of moving medical and emergency services to Fairfield Hospital. The decision to merge has been made despite the hospital's approach roads being littered with traffic calming measures. Local
BOLTON'S housing chiefs have vowed to crack down firmly on rent dodgers. The council is summoning more than 40 tenants a month to court following a tougher stance against tenants who persistently refuse to pay their way. And the council is stepping up
PLANS have been submitted to upgrade facilities on Bolton's Hulton Hospital site and take the care of the elderly mentally ill into the new Millennium. Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust has submitted two separate applications to "test the water" and find out
HYGIENE standards have improved in Bolton's food premises over the last 12 months, environmental health chiefs have revealed. No restaurants, pubs or shops were taken to court but 633 proprietors were sent warning letters. A report presented to Bolton
25 YEARS AGO A LOCAL clergyman has won his fight to get a church in his parish demolished. Canon Colin Craston, Rural Dean of Bolton, revealed today that the Saviour's Church, Deane Road, will soon be dust and rubble. And the reason for his battle against
THIS month marks the centenary of Bolton Socialist Hall - an Industrial and Provident Society which owns 16, Wood Street. How the birthplace of Lord Leverhulme, Bolton's most famous capitalist, came to be owned by Socialists is an intriguing story. The
