THROUGH your columns I would like to make contact with any of your readers who are collectors of, or have unwanted books by Capt W E Johns, the author of Biggles, Worrals, Gimlet and Steeley among others. As a keen collector of Johns' titles, and other
I ARRIVED home from work recently and gasped as I entered the living room. Everything looked unfamiliar. "What's the matter?" my wife asked. "I think I'm in the wrong house," I said. "What's more, as you are definitely my wife, I reckon both of us must
CORRECT me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that workers would be having four days' holiday to celebrate the Millennium? Friday New Year's Eve, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Being a shop assistant in the Market Hall, Bolton, I was looking
RESIDENTS in Horwich are campaigning to boot out a weekly car boot sale. They claim the weekly event at Horwich market continually disrupts their Sundays. And some say that since the market opened they have had to endure early morning noise from traders
PHIL Brown went into his third game as caretaker manager today still waiting for a verdict on his Bolton Wanderers future. Two and a half weeks ago Brown gave himself three matches to force the hand of his Bolton Directors as they searched for a successor
MEN envious of women's church circles in Turton have asked for their own group. In response to a parish questionnaire, the blokes have written to say that they would like their own fellowship. The parish church of St Anne's has an active Ladies Group
BOLTON'S Lostock Junction has been named as a high risk rail blackspot with drivers missing SEVEN red signals. Railtrack has now been ordered to make improvements to Lostock Junction which has been listed alongside 21 locations which train drivers have
PHIL Brown went into his third game as caretaker manager today still waiting for a verdict on his Bolton Wanderers future. Two and a half weeks ago Brown gave himself three matches to force the hand of his Bolton Directors as they searched for a successor
A FURIOUS headteacher says he was threatened with arrest after calling 999 to protect his pupils. The Rev Peter Shepherd claims he was told he would be visited by police officers and possibly taken to jail if he used the emergency telephone number to
I would like to try and get in touch with Douglas Pratt (Dougy). We both served in the Royal Engineers 145 Field Park Squadron in the Middle East at El Alamein and at D Day, Normandy. Before the war he was employed at Luton Coop as a butcher. His last
WE can only hope that when the ghouls who have plundered Bolton war memorial are caught the toughest possible action is administered. There is no other way to treat people who shame the memory of our lost heroes. Crimes such as these are becoming common
AN inquest into the deaths of two Bolton teenagers who died trapped in a burning car after a horror collision on a fog-shrouded moorland road has been opened and adjourned. Policeman's son, Joseph Slupski, 17, of Appledore Drive, Harwood, and best pal
RESIDENTS in Horwich want to give a weekly car boot sale the boot because, they claim, it's disrupting their day of rest. They say since the start of the Sunday sale at Horwich market they've had to endure early morning noise from traders setting up stalls
I REFER to the Lifestyle 50 Plus exhibition. Please allow me this opportunity to congratulate and to thank your organisation and partners in arranging such an imaginative and timely exhibition. I am certain that all those who took part as exhibitors and
25 YEARS AGO MR Wilson appears to be sailing to victory in the General Election. The latest Opinion Polls show him with a 10 per cent lead over the Tories, with no change since last week. A SUGGESTION hat Farnworth's Rock Hall should be converted into
SUNDAY MUSIC & DANCE CEILI Dancing with Michael Kierans, St Edmund's Church Hall, off Deansgate, 7.30pm-9.30pm. CLUB 40+, sequence dancing for separated, divorced and widowed people, Rivington Suite, Horwich Leisure Centre, 8pm-11pm. Admission £3,
EIGHTEEN months ago Sandra Scattergood was virtually crippled and couldn't walk more than a few steps without a pair of crutches after a painful injury while she was pregnant. But now the woodwind and music teacher has thrown away the crutches for good
TURTON'S parish priest has compared Star Wars to the bible. The Rev John Daulman called the latest Star Wars block-buster The Phantom Menace an allegory for Jesus's story. He said Anakin was Jesus and Qui-Gon was one of the prophets speaking about the
LOCAL politicians today spoke of their fight to secure a multi-million pound cash boost for Bolton. As reported in later editions of last night's BEN, nine areas of the town are set to share in a £400 million European grants bonanza for the North-west
THE newly-formed Bolton town centre company today vowed to fight for a public inquiry into two multi-million pound out-of-town shopping schemes. Bolton's planning councillors have given the go ahead to a £35 million designer village in the Tonge Valley
A BOLTON man says his dream business is close to being shattered after an amazing run of bad luck. After years of being unemployed, Richard Birchall decided to take the bull by the horns and managed to scrape together the cash to set up his own recovery
PART of a Bolton war memorial has been ripped up and burial sites have been plundered by "grave robbers" in search of valuable stone. St Michael's Church in Great Lever and Kearsley Mount Methodist Church have both been hit by thieves who have dismantled
A BURY-based businessman is offering £5,000 reward after a spate of fires at his scrap yard on the outskirts of the town. Arsonists last night broke into R and M Stansfield on Tile Street, Bury, and started three separate fires which destroyed between
TWO thousand telephone lines have been restored in the Leigh area following a fire which put 20,000 lines out of action. As reported in yesterday's BEN, the lines went down after a fire wrecked British Telecom equipment. The fire, which is being treated
AN elderly woman says she has fallen twice on uneven flags outside her sheltered home, and is now too frightened to step out of doors. Great-grandmother, Edith Hayes, 91, of Market Street, Little Lever, has tripped over twice within 12 months, each time
THE new-look Smithills Hall is causing quite a stir among local people. Weekends have been "extremely busy" since the hall opened its newly refurbished rooms. There are now three new period rooms, some exhibition areas and a shop and tea-room, which serves
THE qualities and working abilities of Lisa Lee have been nationally recognised by her peers as she has won the prestigious title, payroll assistant of the year, 1999. Lisa, who works for the management consultancy EK Williams Ltd in its payroll division
IS anyone still in touch with any refugees who came to stay during the war (1942-1944) - Deane Gate Street pocket area. Mr W Bretherton Windsor Court Holmeswood Road, Bolton Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may
