Archive

  • Julia Fordham makes Arc return

    AFTER appearing at the Arc in Stockton in one of her first UK shows in 20 years in June of last year, Julia Fordham is back at the venue on Saturday (August 9).Playing a handful of dates in the country, Fordham will be performing tracks from her latest

  • Government again under fire over mesothelioma scheme

    MPs have again launched a stinging attack on the Government following what they described as a “maladroit” review of claims for the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma. A short inquiry by MPs on the Justice Select Committee found the consultation

  • North-East technology company creates data centre

    TECHNOLOGYcompany ITPS is investing £2m to create the North-East’s biggest data centre and combined business recovery space, in a move that will create 25 new jobs.The expansion is being supported by a £242,000 grant under a programme

  • IT firm on track with rail contract

    A NORTH-EAST IT company is creating 15 jobs after it won a multi-million pounds Network Rail contract.Gateshead-based On:trac has developed eTrac an application which maps the landscape to create live diagrams in both 2D and 3D. The software will be used

  • Homing pigeons to be released to mark anniversary of war

    SERVICEMEN and civilians who gave their lives in the First World War will be remembered at a service in Sunderland Minster.Members of the public are invited to join the Lord Lieutenant, the Bishop of Durham and civic leaders at the commemorative service

  • Ben Arfa camp hits back at Newcastle

    HATEM Ben Arfa will not be forced out of Newcastle United despite being made to train with the youth team, according to the midfielder’s agent.Ben Arfa has been left out of Newcastle’s pre-season fixtures so far with speculation mounting that

  • Extra patrols to tackle anti-social behaviour on retail park

    POLICE officers have launched a scheme tackling anti-social behaviour and shoplifting on a popular out-of-town retail park.Bishop Auckland Neighbourhood Police Team will spend the summer holidays patrolling Bishop Auckland Retail Park, in St Helen Auckland

  • Bon appetit! World food market in Durham

    FOODS from across the world are on offer at the heart of Durham. Durham Market Place is hosting a World Village Market, running from today (Thursday, July 31) until Sunday. The fare includes Spanish tapas and paella, German sausages and Moroccan

  • Mayor backs scanner appeal

    MAYOR of Northallerton John Forrest is backing the Friarage Hospital’s £2m MRI scanner appeal with donations from his Mayor’s appeal for the next 12 months. The first event, to kick start the fundraising will be held on Wednesday

  • Campaigners fight on for swimming pool in Seaham

    CAMPAIGNERS have pledged to continue their fight for a new public swimming pool in Seaham after handing a petition to Downing Street. Seaham’s New School, New Pool appeal presented a 6,700-signature petition to Prime Minister David Cameron&rsquo

  • Port helps deliver 700-tonne tower

    A NORTH-EAST port has helped deliver a 700-tonne offshore pipe-laying tower to Rotterdam.The Port of Tyne loaded the 45-metre structure, belonging to IHC Engineering Business, on to a vessel headed for the Netherlands.The tower will be installed on a

  • Sedgefield Residents' Federation wages war on rogue landlords

    COMMUNITY groups are demanding the compulsory registration of private landlords following complaints about noise, mess, drug misuse and anti social behaviour from some tenants. Sedgefield Residents' Federation plans to launch a petition calling on

  • Teens make their mark in Big Bang showdown

    TWO students have seen their design careers take off in style after winning top honours in a prestigious technology competition.Northallerton College students Ruth Chapman and Oli Nixon each won their categories in the Big Bang Engineering Inspiration

  • County Durham farm shop named as one of the best in the UK

    A COUNTY Durham farm shop has been named as one of the top ten destination farm shops in the UK by the BBC’s Good Food magazine. Cross Lanes Organic Farm shop, near Barnard Castle, is the only farm shop in the North of England to make the list.

  • Former airfield given all-clear from contamination

    A FORMER wartime airfield once used by British and Canadian bombers has been given the all-clear after finally being checked for potential land contamination.Lancasters, Wellingtons and Halifaxes were among the aircraft that once flew from the old Second

  • Four hurt in Dales smash

    FOUR people were taken to hospital, three with serious injuries, after a two-vehicle smash on the A684 in the Yorkshire Dales.The smash between a Mini and a VW Passat happened at about 1.40pm today, July 31, at Swinithwaite and fire crews from Hawes and

  • Rumours rife over location of County Durham horse fair

    UNCERTAINTY over the site of an annual horse fair has sparked concern in some communities.Rumours are rife on social media websites that the East Durham horse fair, usually held in Seaham, Blackhall and Horden over the August Bank Holiday weekend, will

  • South Moor police station spruced up by school children

    A POLICE station’s garden has been spruced up with the help of green-fingered school children. Community volunteer Ronnie Allaker teamed up with students from Greenland Primary School and Tanfield School to help transform the garden outside South

  • Proposed changes to ambulance service in Durham Dales

    GP health commissioners have announced plans to change the way ambulance services are delivered in parts of County Durham in a bid to boost 999 response times. The Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group is proposing

  • Five appear in court following Darlington drugs raids

    FIVE people arrested during a series of drugs raids have appeared in court.Sian Blareau, of Lewes Road, and Thomas Durham, of Ampleforth Way, both Darlington, are charged with supplying heroin.Ms Blareau, 33, appeared at Teesside Crown Court via a live

  • Appeal for Lumiere sponsors

    ORGANISERS of a popular light festival are appealing for sponsors.Durham County Council has already pledged £500,000 in cash, plus £100,000 of in-kind support, to help stage a fourth Lumiere in Durham City in November 2015. The Arts Council

  • Womens' RAF relay reaches region to mark anniversary triple

    A NATIONAL relay to mark a trio of military anniversaries and raise money for charity has reached the region.About 1,000 former and serving female members of the Royal Air Force have signed up for the 3,000-mile round-Britain trek which is stopping off

  • Appeal after 'indecent act' in car

    POLICE are investigating a report of a man seen performing an indecent act while sitting in a car. The incident occurred at about 2.20pm on Tuesday, July 29, in the Oakley Green area of West Auckland, near Bishop Auckland. Both the passenger and driver

  • Sounds of St Cuthbert

    AN ARTIST is seeking to transport cathedral visitors 1,300 years back in time.Award-winning wildlife artist Chris Watson has created a soundscape he believes replicates the noises St Cuthbert would have heard while living on Lindisfarne around 700AD.The

  • Teenager shaves her head for charity in memory of big brother

    A DARLINGTON woman is hoping to raise thousands for charity by shaving her head in memory of her big brother.Paige Harker’s brother Liam was 17 when he died from a rare form of cancer in 2008.Since his death, family and friends have raised thousands

  • Father jailed for assaulting baby son

    A MAN who broke the arm and ribs of his young baby – the first injury occurring when the child was just two weeks old – has been jailed for 15 months.The man, from Guisborough, east Cleveland, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was said

  • 'Historic day' for newly accredited college

    A COLLEGE has held its first summer graduation ceremonies since it was allowed to grant its own degrees. New College Durham was granted foundation degree awarding powers in 2011. Previously, its courses were accredited by other universities

  • Your old towels could help orphaned seals

    EVER wondered what to do with all those old and threadbare towels? Helping orphaned seals may well be the answer.The animal care team at Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary wants to get its hands on old laundry to do just that.Working with rescued

  • Stars and newcomers share folk festival stage

    A THREE-day folk festival will take place later this month (August 14-16).The Durham Gathering, presented by Folkworks, will include traditional music, song and dance and be the culmination of the annual Folkworks Summer Schools, which run the same week

  • Laugher targeting a second Commonwealth Games gold

    JACK LAUGHER will be targeting a second Commonwealth Games gold medal when he competes in the final of the 3m springboard competition tonight. Ripon's Laugher was an emphatic winner of the 1m springboard final last night, and looked every bit as

  • Lear with some Bel-Air flair

    IT wouldn’t be too difficult to squish up your eyes, forget the digital age and imagine Shakespeare’s troupe of actors arriving at Richmond’s tiny Georgian theatre to perform King Lear. I’m sure Shakespeare would approve of his play being performed

  • Beyond the fringe

    FOR some, the start of August heralds not the annual sweatathon to a generic foreign destination, but the pilgrimage North, to Edinburgh – where I once had to buy a jumper… in August!. This will be Northern Stage’s third year at the Edinburgh Festival

  • Blooming tasty

    UP the long hill past the golf course out of Barnard Castle, there’s a lovely spot that returns visitors to the golden age of Victorian plant collectors. Framed by the Pennine hills, Eggleston Hall Nursery and Gardens has four acres of gardens and

  • Country by Brian Clough

    Willie Nelson: Band of Brothers (Sony/Legacy Records) THIS is, to my reckoning, Willie Nelson’s 117th album since 1956. Whereas, he has often presented a variety of diverse genres on past albums this one stands out as being new recordings.

  • Classical by Gavin Engelbrecht

    WHAT’S ON: Royal Northern Sinfonia Summer Chamber Series, Sage Gateshead, 8pm, tonight. Works by Wolf, Haydn, Martinu and Schubert. Box Office: 0191-443-4661. REVIEWS: Berlioz: Harold en Italie (Naxos 8.573297) Leonard Slatkin and the Orchestre

  • Folk by Jez Lowe

    THE folk club Singers’ Night has always been a vital and popular element of the UK acoustic music scene. It gives local singers and musicians a chance to perform in front of a live audience from a platform more usually occupied by established and full-time

  • Let's go on doing Sir Bobby proud

    Today has been designated by the Football Association as Sir Bobby Robson Day and it is a fitting tribute to one of County Durham's best loved sons. On the day marking the fifth anniversary of his death, The Northern Echo has done its best to do

  • Jazz by Peter Bevan

    WHAT’S ON: Friday, Northern Monkey Brass Band, St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook, 01388 762724; Saturday (12.30pm), Rachel’s Dream, St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. BOOK REVIEW: Jim Godbolt/All This and Slowly Deteriorating Fast (Proper Music

  • Showtime for Stockton

    STOCKTON-ON-TEES boasts the widest high street in the UK and from today until Sunday the Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF) will once again transform the town centre into a huge outdoor theatre set. The festival is in its 27th year and

  • Time to Marvel at the Guardians

    There’s a moment during the European press conference for the new Marvel movie Guardians Of The Galaxy when the proceedings teeter on the brink of spinning out of control. Director James Gunn and star Chris Pratt, who plays the latest addition to the

  • Classic bad guy is animal magic

    IT’S amazing, says actor Michael Lambourne, how many people speak to him about a dog. “It’s one role when all I said was ‘woof ’,” he says of playing Roger the dog, in a stage adaptation of My Family And Other Animals at York Theatre Royal. He’

  • Film releases

    Guardians Of The Galaxy. 121 mins. Certificate 12A. 4/5 stars  JUST as the Marvel cinematic world was becoming a tad predictable – superhero saves the world from destruction – along come the Guardians to pep up the genre with a free-wheeling, rollicking

  • DVD/Blu-ray releases

    Rio 2 (Cert U, 101 mins, Twentieth Century Fox) NEUROTIC blue macaw Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) have settled with owners Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) in Rio. Jewel fears her three children — Carla

  • Golden tribute to Stockton's stolen generation

    A COMMUNITY-led tribute of music, song and lights will conclude Stockton’s 1,245 Sunflowers Project next week to commemorate the outbreak of the First World War.Families, individuals and community groups are invited to bring their cut down sunflowers

  • Rocker brings classic motors

    THE fifth annual Croft Circuit Nostalgia Weekend takes place on Saturday and Sunday, exactly 50 years to the date of the inaugural Daily Mirror Trophy Meeting at Croft Autodrome in 1964. Organised and run by the Historic Sports Car Club, it is

  • Firefighters tackle blaze at Ferrybridge Power Station

    FLAMES and smoke poured from the side of a major power station where a fire broke out today. The emergency services were alerted just before 2pm to the incident at the coal-fired Ferrybridge C Power Station. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

  • Meet today’s class act

    ‘IT doesn’t get more common than five high school kids forming a band and doing it right,” says The Orwells singer Mario Cuomo. To a certain degree, he has a point. Many of music’s best bands have emerged from childhood friendships, spurred on by a

  • Cathedral 'lights out' marks war centenary

    DURHAM Cathedral will be shrouded in darkness on Monday night, recalling the words of British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”The event is part of

  • Celeb round-up

    John Mayall... celebrated his 80th birthday last year with a new album, aptly called A Special Life, which includes a three-year stint of National Service with the Royal Engineers, as an office clerk in the south of England and Korea. His first

  • Peter looks for drink in the clink

    IT’S funny the people you meet in prison (or so I’m told, having never been behind bars, although some jobs are pretty much like serving a jail sentence). In Coronation Street (ITV1) Peter Barlow is languishing in a cell awaiting trial for Tina

  • Bike thieves can't stop charity cycle

    A FATHER and his 13-year-old daughter have completed a 333-mile charity cycle ride despite having their bikes stolen hours before they set off. Simon and Grace Stewart-Piercy pedalled from Durham Cathedral to Buckingham Palace over five days, finishing

  • Animal shelter tackles black cats' selfie-image

    AN ANIMAL charity is proving black cats do have photogenic qualities, following reports dark felines are being abandoned because they do not look good in selfies.The RSPCA reported this week that 70 per cent of more than 1,000 cats in care in Britain

  • Five minutes with Susan Calman

    Death row – that’s a big deal, can you tell us about it? We had an opportunity to travel to America to work with lawyers to try to get the sentences of those convicted of capital crimes commuted to life without parole. I was inspired by Sister

  • From Darlington to Glasgow to cheer on Commonwealth athletes

    SCHOOLCHILDREN from Darlington cheered on England’s hopes in the Commonwealth Games with a special trip to Glasgow.The 50 children from years five and six of Corporation Road Primary School spent two days watching the games and took in netball and

  • Sky-high attendance for region's annual feast of flying

    THIS year’s Sunderland International Airshow has been hailed the biggest crowd-puller yet. An estimated 950,000 people flocked to the city’s seafront at Roker and Seaburn last Friday, Saturday and Sunday (July 25, 26 and 26) to watch the action

  • Council apology over Labour children's centres briefings

    COUNCIL chiefs have apologised after only Labour councillors were briefed on controversial plans to axe children’s centres before they were made public. Rachael Shimmin, Durham County Council’s corporate director for children and adults services

  • Profits rise at Lloyds Bank

    LLOYDS Banking Group has posted a half-year profits of £863m, despite setting aside another £600m to cover mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).The group, which is 25 per cent owned by the taxpayer, said it improved its financial performance

  • BT claims advances in football duel

    BT says its Premier League offering is helping it win its battle with Sky as it grew broadband and TV revenues by a quarter.The telecoms firm said it added a net 104,000 broadband customers in the three months to the end of June.The figures marked a fourth

  • Balfour ends Carillion merger talks

    PLANS for a new construction firm have collapsed after Balfour Beatty pulled out of a potential £3bn deal with Carillion.Bosses blamed Carillion's "wholly unexpected decision" to insist Balfour's US business Parsons Brinckerhoff

  • Builders' merchant delivers summer fun

    A BUILDERS’ merchant has helped turned a town square into a British seaside resort. Jewson, in Darlington, supplied 40 tonnes of sand for the Darlington by the Sea event. Organised by business improvement district, Distinct Darlington, the

  • Cable maker aims to double workforce

    A CABLE maker aims to double its workforce and turnover with a six-figure investment.Atag Cable Solutions, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has received support from NEL Fund Managers as it targets larger contracts.The firm designs, makes, tests and

  • Stoute enjoys an eighth win

    SNOW SKY gave trainer Sir Michael Stoute his eighth Neptune Investment Management Gordon Stakes as the first of the significant Ladbrokes St Leger trials took place at Goodwood. Only one of those, Conduit in 2008, went on to success in the Doncaster

  • Relieved Root eager to praise angry Anderson

    ENGLAND are on the verge of a first Test win for almost a year, but at close of play on his birthday James Anderson still seemed unable to resist a party-piece contretemps with the opposition. Even tomorrow’s looming International Cricket Council

  • Yorkshire axe young bowler Robinson

    YORKSHIRE have sacked bowling all-rounder Oliver Robinson for what they describe as “a number of unprofessional actions”. Kent-born Robinson’s contract as a junior pro at Headingley has been terminated with immediate effect, although there has

  • Durham under pressure

    DURHAM desperately need their outground gamble to succeed today, otherwise they will face the danger of having nothing at stake in their three other home matches in the Royal London Cup. After hosting Warwickshire at South Northumberland CC they

  • Walsh tipped to win

    NICOLA ADAMS may be blazing a trail as the world’s leading women’s flyweight, but the inspiration she provided to others could be about to come back to haunt her. Adams eased into the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as she outclassed

  • Taylor’s shock bronze

    YORK heptathlete Jess Taylor was so convinced she would not be competing at the Commonwealths that she bought tickets for the event at the start of the year. Last night, her cousin joined the rest of her family in what should have been her seat

  • Young wants to go further

    FOR Newcastle Falcons’ young star Glen Young rugby 7s is a game that runs in the family. His cousins Lewis and Gregor Young have both been involved in the Scotland 7s fold and Glen has experience playing in the world’s oldest rugby sevens tournament

  • Pooling talents

    DESPITE being 24, 22, 20 and 17, the kids still come on holiday with us — and, for as long as it lasts, we like it that way. This year, it was a week in a villa with a pool in Portugal and, in line with tradition, games of “keepyuppy” featured

  • Innings closed

    AN icy February evening in February 2013. I’m hoofing past the Daleside pub at Croxdale, between Durham and Spennymoor, when assailed from outside it by the shirt-sleeved Sam Stoker, then 76. A customer’s car had conked out. Sam and friends

  • My moment of utter privilege

    MICHELLE Obama and Bellamy Young had a lot to talk about when they met earlier this year. Young, who's played Scandal's strong-willed and eloquent First Lady Mellie Grant since the show began in 2012, found herself being confronted by the real First

  • Rock of Ages, Sunderland Empire

    Rock of Ages, Sunderland Empire WE are in the LA in the Bourbon Room, the "Temple of Rock n Roll Kick-Assery". The Dress Code appears to be: Dudes – Denim and Hair, Chicks – Very Little. The story is the standard boy, Drew, meets girl, Sherrie.

  • The 39 Steps Re-climbed

    The 39 Steps Reclimbed BARNARD Castle’s favourite am-dram group, The Castle Players, is recruiting for its forthcoming winter tour of villages in Teesdale. This year, resident director Simon Pell has come up with with an adaptation of John Buchan

  • Out of the deep end

    WE meet at Newtonle- Willows railway station, if not a blind date then perforce a pretty myopic one. “I’ll be the one standing there smiling, as per,” promises Cathy White-as-was. She was Cathy White in the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane,

  • Lib Dem success

    G HARRIS (HAS, July 21) writes a typically biased letter and he obviously has not looked hard to find any Lib Dem successes in the Coalition. Yes, the promise not to raise university fees was a disaster. The mistake was in not explaining we could

  • Close the abattoir

    I WOULD like to commend the Boosbeck residents group and their spokesman Nev Brown for their resolve and commitment to getting justice for their cause. Their cause is, of course, the closure of the Boosbeck abattoir which is blighting their lives

  • Nobody believes Israel’s justification for violence

    THE Reverend Peter Mullen (Echo, July 29) has clearly swallowed the whole rhetoric of the Israeli Government. Far fewer people do these days. The Israeli arguments, that it is going after terrorists to protect itself and has nothing against

  • Is this truancy?

    THE story about parents who are prepared to pay a fine for taking their children on holiday (Echo, July 28) reminded me of an earlier incident. An “old fashioned” head teacher told me of this man who accompanied his son to school and asked to see

  • Remploy’s goals

    I WANT to allay any concerns Ken Stubbs has about Remploy’s move from public ownership to become a social business operating in the private sector by March 2015 (Echo, 28 July). In the past five years Remploy has found more than 80,000 jobs for

  • Where are the ‘bold’ politicians?

    BOLDNESS is a quality our politicians are desperate to claim as their guiding light, judging from so many of their speeches. Ed Miliband says Labour has “big ideas to change things”, David Cameron boasts of being “bold and decisive” and Nick Clegg

  • Yes or no? The key question

    IT IS the question that cannot be directly discussed at the Commonwealth Games, yet it is impossible to go anywhere in Glasgow without sensing its presence. Yes or no? An independent Scotland or a retention of the current British Isles? On September

  • Forcing the issue

    PLANS to build a new headquarters for North Yorkshire police have been a long-running source of controversy – especially for those living in the village of South Kilvington and its surrounding communities. North Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner

  • Northern Masters champion plans to crack America

    NEWLY-CROWNED Northern Golf Masters champion Sam Donald has put everything else on hold in a bid to ensure he can fulfil his true potential and make the grade in professional golf.Donald added the title to three other success stories in 2014 - including

  • Paramedics used out-of-date morphine to give pain relief

    THE North East Ambulance Service has reported itself to the Care Quality Commission after discovering its paramedics had given patients 75 doses of out-of-date drugs, including morphine. Bosses at the NEAS said the problem was discovered during

  • Timeline: Sir Bobby Robson

    • Robert William Robson was born in Sacriston, February 1933, as the fourth of five sons. He grew up in Langley Park on the outskirts of Durham. • He signed his first professional contract with Fulham in May 1950, turning down an offer from local

  • Bobby Robson's top 12 gaffes

    Sir Bobby Robson had a way with words. When he spoke, people listened. However, there are times when he wished they hadn't  1. We didn't underestimate them, they were a lot better than we thought. 2. I do want to play the short ball and I do