Archive

  • How to cut stress when selling your property

    SELLING a property can be a stressful task, and making a decision about which estate agent to use is never easy so you may wish to consider the following advice when choosing an agent. Always shop around for an agent. Ask for recommendations from friends

  • Don't fall for a scam on your doorstep

    MOST doorstep salespeople are reputable and professional and you may find their service useful. However, some are rogues who can bring misery if you do not know how to spot their tactics. City of York Trading Standards is familiar with many of the

  • Sounds too good to be true? It usually is

    At York Citizens Advice Bureau, we sometimes have inquiries from our clients about offers that sound too good to be true. They are! People rarely give away large sums of money or expensive gifts to strangers without intending to get something back.

  • It's the final round-up for cowboys

    "WE'LL be back" was the warning from police and trading standards officers after targeting cowboy tradesmen in a joint operation. The clampdown saw officers carrying out patrols and roadside checks on vehicles in Hambleton along the A19 and at major

  • The Excel factor

    There was much brow mopping at the first day of the London International Wine And Spirit Fair on Tuesday. Had someone forgotten to bring the corkscrews do you think? Had some irresponsible worker, with a responsibility for the sampling glasses, forgotten

  • Tackle your debts before they get out of control

    "It's very urgent!" Each morning at the Citizens Advice Bureau in York, we listen to the recorded messages on the reception voicemail and note the details of clients wanting to make appointments. It is a bit depressing to hear so many voices saying

  • All white for those summer nights

    All this good weather has driven me to sit outside in the evenings. It reminds me of all things good and English, such as Test matches, Shakespeare and moods linked directly to the climatic conditions. In such circumstances I feel the need for something

  • Home truths

    In Tipping's Tipples, Mike Tipping asks if the wines he loved in Chile will taste as good back in Britain? Ever the research scientist, I was keen to put the above to the test. If you had read Tipping's Tipples a few weeks back, you would know that

  • Students with wow factor

    YORK'S teenage tycoons have "wowed" the business world again. The team of entrepreneurs from Huntington School had already won the city final of the Young Enterprise competition, in which pupils set up and run their own business. Now they have taken

  • Half term fun

    Half-term is almost upon us and parents everywhere will be busy racking their brains trying to find things to occupy their young charges during their week off. Education reporter Haydn Lewis takes a look at what's on offer in and around York. TRYING

  • Fabulous wines to quaff for under a fiver

    Quaffing wine, what's that then? My concise definition would be an easy drinking, flavoursome wine that costs less than £5 but perhaps isn't of the highest quality. We should all have a few quaffing wines set aside in our racks, just in case of emergencies

  • Union strikes back

    ANGRY student leaders claim a pay dispute between lecturers and universities is putting the futures of thousands at risk. University of York student union president Micky Armstrong said the protracted pay dispute is jeopardising the future of the university's

  • How to reduce the risk when buying a second-hand car

    CITY OF YORK COUNCIL Trading Standards regularly deals with complaints from residents who have bought second-hand cars from private sellers, only to find the mileage has been reduced (clocked), or it has suffered serious accident damage, is incorrectly

  • The spell of wines from Oz

    I can't remember the last time I recommended a whole batch of Australian wines. I think it was most probably directly after Michael Vaughan and the boys gave the Australian cricketers a good thrashing in this green and pleasant land last summer. I

  • Recycling proficiency

    How to encourage people to recycle more of their rubbish is a conundrum that councils and governments have spent years puzzling over, but in York these days they are starting them young. Education reporter HAYDN LEWIS went to the city's Lakeside Primary

  • `Don't keep mum, know your rights before Mother's Day'

    EVERY year consumers across the UK splash out their hard-earned cash on cards, flowers and special gifts to give to their mothers on Mother's Day. Consumer Direct is encouraging people to understand what their rights are if things don't go as planned

  • Actually, they were all white

    In Tipping's Tipples this week, Mike Tipping faces up to his least favourite grape varieties - and has a pleasant surprise. An open mind is essential for the appreciation of fine wine. There are some grape varieties (mostly white) about which I struggle

  • Don't get caught up in the web of fraud

    It is estimated about 24 million people in the UK used the internet from home during December 2005. People use the internet for various reasons - to buy goods such as books, clothes and electrical items, to download music, for banking, to send emails

  • Let's talk about money matters

    "You give advice on money, don't you? Well ...." Debt is always in the news, and at the CAB we have people trained to advise on how to deal with debts. We'll make phone calls and negotiate repayments and even talk through what it means to apply for

  • Trading Standards - we're here to give consumers advice

    Trading Standards services are responsible for enforcing more than 80 Acts of Parliament. These include the Weights and Measures Act 1985, The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and enforcement provisions under Part 8 of the

  • Campus parking worry

    CAMPAIGNERS against the University of York's expansion plans are calling for conditions to be imposed on campus chiefs to prevent students parking in their village. Heslington Village Trust has joined forces with Heslington Parish Council in opposing

  • Chile season

    In Tipping's Tipples this week, Mike Tipping reports on a wine-tasting visit to Chile. I sat on rocks below a cross on the highest point of a hill. The cross had had a previous fracture repaired most solidly, but still, non-believer though I am,

  • Wow! Pupils head for top

    Today they are still at school - tomorrow they could be rivals to Richard Branson. Education reporter Haydn Lewis caught up with some young entrepreneurs from Huntington School, who have given York's business leaders some real food for thought. STUDENTS

  • Top marks for town school

    A SECONDARY school in Selby district has been given top marks in its latest report - less than a year after winning specialist arts status. Selby High School was praised in its Ofsted report, published this week, and judged as "outstanding" in the

  • Launch of £7.5m schools flagship

    THE new flagship £7.5 million Hob Moor Children's Centre, in York, is now open. The centre, in Acomb, is believed to be the first in the country to house a special needs school and a mainstream primary school under one roof. It brings together both

  • A barking mad idea?

    YOU might have walked the walk, but can you talk the talk? Dog talk, that is. Is it one woof for no, two woofs for yes? Does a yap-yappity-yap mean "let me out, I'm dying for a pee"? And is "oh dear, too late" a bark, whimper and a yelp or a bark,

  • Schools merger go-ahead

    PLANS to build a brand new "super school" for the west of York have been given the go-ahead. Members of City of York Council's ruling executive agreed to proposals to create a new £10 million secondary school on the existing Oaklands School site for

  • I'm a total Tube novice

    THE Tube scares me. It's not the terrorists that terrify me or the mad people who may or may not stab, maim or push me on to the tracks at any moment. It's not even the notion that a vicious, salivating half-man, half-beast might be just around the

  • The worse for Wear!

    IF Trinny and Susannah ever jumped out of my wardrobe and started twanging my bra strap, I'd knock their horsy teeth out. I have often wondered while watching their What Not To Wear show if the director has had to cut and re-shoot the bit where the

  • Right little scrubber

    IT was when I found myself rubbing the oven with baby oil that I realised there had been a fundamental shift in my attitude to cleaning. In case you now have a frighteningly vivid image of me in some fetishistic rubber outfit caressing household implements

  • Are you a dummy mummy?

    DUMMIES pacify parents just as much as children. We might pretend that we only allow our kids to suck away on revolting bits of rubber and plastic to make them feel better, but our motivations are rarely entirely altruistic. I was mooching down Coney

  • Becks' peculiar habit

    IF I really want to mess with my beloved's already frazzled head I ask him if he's locked the front door. I know that he knows he has locked it, but I also know that he won't actually believe it until he has undone his seatbelt, opened the car door

  • Happiness? It's a lottery

    KEN Southwell ran the gamut of luck. As a joint winner in the first National Lottery draw, he picked up a cheque for £839,254, becoming the envy of many. That was as lucky as you can get - well, not as fortunate as winning the full prize, but Ken's

  • Teen there, done that

    TEENAGE girls have always been self-obsessed. When they are not thinking about themselves, which takes up approximately 23 hours and 57 minutes of their day, they are thinking about what other people think about them. Are they too fat; are their boobs

  • Betting on Mr Motson

    PUNTERS were hanging on John Motson's every word during his commentary for the thrilling FA Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham. In particular, they were listening out for phrases like: "The magic of the Cup"; "Winner takes all" and "It's a little

  • Scared of having kids

    THE tragic story of Fluffy the guinea pig has all but extinguished my desire to have children. Listening to my traumatised friend, a mother-of-two, recount this terrible tale concluded a revealing week of children-related incidents and encounters that

  • New pulling power

    GNER, the York-based East Coast rail operator, has signed a £15 million contract for new diesel engines and modifications. The result, says GNER, should be that from this autumn, it will deliver a more reliable, greener and safer ride for millions

  • Change at top at commercial law firm

    TWO key senior appointments, including a new managing partner, have been made by commercial law firm Denison Till of York. A major switch at the top has been triggered by the early retirement from law of Chris Barton, 50, who has decided to step down

  • Woody pushes his luck

    In his column last week, Matthew Woodcock described what it was like living with his in-laws. Today the in-laws have their say. "I THINK we'll sell and find somewhere bigger," our daughter said. And we said, in a mad moment, "and while you're between

  • Living with the in-laws

    IN a straw poll of friends, family members and colleagues, the longest I was given before a major bust-up with my wife's parents was three weeks. Someone of very little faith gave me three days - thanks grandma. In fact, barring an outbreak of hostilities

  • Giving up TV for Lent

    DID you watch EastEnders last night? What about The Bill, Footballers' Wives or How Not To Decorate? The chances are that most of you saw something, however fleetingly, while you ate your tea, got ready to go out or rang your mum. You probably can't

  • I've seen the ftr

    FORGIVE me for being so literal-minded. Being the sort of person who texts in complete sentences, including, occasionally, semi-colons, it has taken me a while to work out this ftr thing. Naively, I thought that the letters 'ftr' were an acronym -

  • A spot of lawn moaning

    I HEARD the first one about ten days ago in Janet's garden across the road. Early Saturday morning, I heard another one, this time coming from Lindsey's next door. On Sunday morning, I spotted one two doors up and by mid-afternoon its distinctive sound

  • Going mad for St George

    THE fun never stops in this house. Last Saturday at 11pm - a time when, if you're young, you're heading off to Tofts, and if you're not, you're heading off to bed - saw us making dragon eggs. Forty of them. All we had to work with was a clutch of imitation

  • Happy to be a `style slob'

    I AM not a Sudoku person. I don't have the patience for puzzles or the application to construct a phrase out of a pyramid of letters. You either like that kind of thing or you don't. This aversion was reinforced when the husband tried to distract me

  • Rock of ages

    Entertaining this Easter? Been there, done that already. Our guests have gone home and I've been left with a fridge full of stale pork pies, a mountain of laundry and a recycling box full of empties. Worse, I have had a glimpse into the future, and

  • Trials of being a soccer mom

    I HAVE become a soccer mom. This is in addition to being a ballet-and-tap mum on Tuesdays, a drama mum on Saturdays, choir mum on Mondays and a French madame after tea on a Friday (perhaps that should be maman; my French is a little rusty and I wouldn't

  • Schooled in protest

    WHAT'S the link between a Muslim teenager in Luton who took her grievance to the House of Lords and a schoolgirl in York banned from school for wearing a stud? We'll come to that in a minute. Shabina Begum, 17, claimed her human rights were violated

  • British to the core?

    WHAT does it take to be British? You'd think I should know by now, after 40 plus years living in this country, especially with the milometer due to make a dreaded turn later this year. Pushing 50 I may be, but I'm still not sure how to answer that question

  • Hood vibrations

    THE more I get to know the Archbishop, the more I like him. It is true that we have yet to meet, but we are getting on famously. This is strange in a way, because I'm not much of a one for religion, tending towards the agnostic, although not the atheist

  • What a wonderful world

    Yesterday was heaven; we got the last major jobs done in the garden to show it at its best. The birds were singing their hearts out and our thrush sang the last few notes as the sun sank. He was up at the crack of dawn to continue the symphony and was

  • Green as they come

    ONCE upon a time, the only thing green about the Tories was the wellies they put on when in the countryside. But nowadays, the Tories are green as green can be. This development must fall hard on the really green politicians, the ones who are entitled

  • It pays (a lot) to talk

    DO YOU go for One, Two, Three, Four or Five? I'm a Four man myself, although I like a bit of Two on the side. There are countless other permutations, but anything with adverts is too much for me. Perhaps it is the intimacy of radio that does it. One

  • A tale of two guitars

    HERE are two school concerts, separated by more years than I care to remember. How does it happen, that time thing? One minute you are a long-haired teenager playing in a school concert; the next - give or take a decade or three - and you are a middle-aged

  • Why they don't call me Lady Luck

    SOME people are just born lucky. Alas, I am not one of them. Several of my friends, for example, were obviously at the front of the queue for great skin, hair, and nails. They never put on weight, possess a sunny disposition and have an uncanny knack

  • What a dry spell it is...

    HAVE you noticed how dry is it outside? Fields parched, crops failing, the Ouse down to a trickle? Me neither - in fact, I'm still drying off after last week's city centre downpour, and Barnitts probably remains a bit damp round the edges, too.

  • Anna's gone and left us a clone

    FOR someone who's meant to work in the news industry, I'm sometimes woefully out of touch. Take Anna Ford, for example. I'd been blithely going about minding my own business when someone casually mentioned to me that she had packed in the newsreading

  • Putting his foot in it

    FROM a nation's grieving womanhood, an anguished cry rings out: "Why, oh why, Wayne, why?" It's not that most of us could care less about Rooney's metatarsal. It's the fact that he's been daft enough to snap it, which in turn means that the dreaded

  • Hull before the storm

    TO ANYONE out there who lives in Hull: I'm really, really sorry. Don't get me wrong, I'm not commiserating with you about your home town - I wouldn't dare, because when all's said and done, I come from Bradford. No, Hull is a city with many virtues

  • Exercised by the gym

    THE time has come. A fact's a fact. Not my cue to break into Beds Are Burning, by Midnight Oil, but to realise that I'm getting neither younger nor smaller, and I ought to make use of something that came in to being almost as long ago as that 1980s

  • Mum's the word...

    So Tom Cruise has bought his fiance Katie Holmes a massive "adult pacifier" to stop her from screaming as she gives birth to their child. And, just to make it interesting, Katie mustn't take painkillers, either. Apparently, that's another female-friendly

  • Thy will be done...

    My wife keeps saying we should get round to making wills. I don't know what sinister plot she's hatching, but I nod and go back to studying form in the Racing Post (which she hides under a carefully-placed Investors' Weekly). I'm hopeless with planning

  • It's funny, this age thing

    THIS isn't mine, but I wanted to share it with you. It's the wise and witty words of George Carlin. His views on ageing. Who on earth is George Carlin, you ask? Well, he's a 69-year-old award-winning, but controversial, American comedian and actor.

  • What a selfish mum

    WE ALL have our selfish little moments. Come on, admit it. I am as guilty as the rest. I wouldn't own up to it in public, but I'll tell you: I buy new shirts when I don't need them; I eat the glutton's share of a bar of chocolate; I sometimes forget

  • It's not how it looks

    APPEARANCES can be deceptive. Oh boy. The York pub landlord who has banned all headwear to keep trouble out of the place may have a shock coming. Not every kid who wears a chav cap will kick your head in and steal your mobile phone. Not every man in

  • Whistle down the wind

    Nobody whistles any more, have you noticed? My late dad was a whistler and he drove the family crazy. From the moment he got up, while he was washing and shaving, he'd be whistling while the rest of us moped about in a dopey daze. He'd whistle while

  • It's an ironing rule...

    I've been excommunicated for bringing the male gender into disrepute. Ooh, it is painful, I can tell you. I'm a big disgrace to the chauvinist race. I'm not fit to wear trousers. That's the verdict of the Six Just Men who every Sunday sit in judgement

  • Obsessed by ironing

    Sorry I missed you last week. I was off gallivanting again, indulging my wife's obsessions. We all have our little idiosyncracies, you know, if only we'll admit them, even to ourselves. Some are pesky little habits that drive those around us insane

  • It's an alien concept

    SO you're walking down the street minding your own business and a spaceship lands silently in front of you. A slimy, unearthly creature slithers out of a hatch in a whoosh of green smoke and heads straight for you. Now here's the dilemma. What to

  • Biting into my wallet

    Despite decades of neglect and abuse - plus a passion for liquorice torpedoes and Mrs Hearld's cooking - I still have my own teeth. Which has its advantages. For one thing, I can safely drink from that glass of water at my bedside in the middle of

  • Oh no, we've gone over the top again

    I'm not looking forward to summer. I thought I would try to struggle through the coming season with my head inside a paper bag, but a trip to my local Asda at the weekend convinced me that you can run but you cannot hide. There it all was, laid out

  • Adults have a lot to learn

    Crying, gurgling and squealing are just three of the goals that define the Government's National Curriculum for babies. Smiling with pleasure at toys, anticipating meal times, responding to words and being aware some actions can harm others are also

  • Causing a spectacle

    I have now been wearing glasses for a month. Well, I say 'wearing'. If I'm honest, I've probably had them on for no more than two or three hours each day - and the bulk of that while watching television. I must admit, despite every spec-wearing

  • I couldn't possibly have a perm, could I?

    MY friend had a perm at the weekend. When she told me she was booked in at the hairdresser's for one, I thought she was joking. But no, she went ahead. I went round to see her expecting to see her beautiful brown locks looking more like Bison wool.

  • Your bum will look big in this...

    Health warnings are everywhere. Now there is a call for information about the dangers of excessive drinking to be displayed on bottles and cans, as well as in pubs, supermarkets and off-licences. A good idea. But let's not stop there. I don't think

  • Let's have a GCSE in decorating instead

    THE National Curriculum, GCSEs, A-levels. Geography, history, English, maths. What a waste of time. The many subjects that generations of children are familiar with are all well and good if you fancy a spot on University Challenge. But are any of them

  • Neil Young, Living With War (Reprise) *****

    Neil Young's greatest albums have been fuelled by anger. Tonight's The Night, a cruelly neglected classic, was inspired by the drug-induced deaths of friends Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry; On The Beach, Young's finest hour, was a searing, despairing

  • The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers (XL Recordings) ****

    IF only all rock albums were this much fun. Unlike so many side projects by successful artists, The Raconteurs are one to treasure. The seed was sown after an impromptu songwriting session one hot summer between The Whites Stripes' Jack White and old

  • Ron Sexsmith, Time Being (V2) ****

    You should always give Ron Sexsmith time, even more so when he pointedly calls a record Time Being. Hands Of Time begins the quiet Canadian's eighth album with the resignation that he cannot control the ticking clock; Snow Angel gently craves making

  • Jon Boden, Painted Lady (Sound Post) *****

    JON Boden takes time out from establishing himself as one of the pioneering interpreters of traditional English song (with award-winning acts Spiers & Boden and Bellowhead) to make this eloquent album of distorted love songs. Fusing his acoustic sensibilities

  • Pet Shop Boys, Fundamental (Parlophone) ****

    Politics and dance music are not the best of companions. No one would doubt that Neil Tennant is an intelligent, witty and informed man. However, Tennant would retain more credibility if he criticised Cherie Blair's curtains, rather than attacking

  • Push comes to shove in the taxi queue

    SURELY the most embarrassing scenario a taxi driver could face is having to be push-started to pick up a fare. Exactly that fate befell a hapless cabbie at York Railway Station on Tuesday night, just as the busy 10pm GNER service from King's Cross was

  • Happiness? It's a lottery

    KEN Southwell ran the gamut of luck. As a joint winner in the first National Lottery draw, he picked up a cheque for £839,254, becoming the envy of many. That was as lucky as you can get - well, not as fortunate as winning the full prize, but Ken's six-way

  • Mid point for Vaughan

    Yorkshire's consultant physiotherapist Wayne Morton has refuted reports that England captain Michael Vaughan's career might be in jeopardy because of the knee injury which has kept him out of action for several months. Morton revealed that Vaughan was

  • Another post office to close

    VILLAGERS near York have been dealt a body blow after it was revealed another rural post office could be set to close. The sub-postmaster at Elvington has resigned, placing the branch's future in jeopardy. The Royal Mail has pledged to try to protect

  • Flagging down a taxi

    TAXIS and cabs WILL be flying the flag for England during the World Cup after York council bosses gave them the go ahead to unfurl the Cross of St George on their vehicles. City of York Council has confirmed it will not prevent hackney carriages and private

  • Land Registry to close its York office over next ten years

    THE Land Registry is to close its York office over the next ten years, it was revealed today. The body said that, following a full review, there would be a "planned reduction" in the number of local offices it operated - with York one of those to shut

  • Mast stand-off

    A TENSE stand-off between protesters and engineers shattered the peace of a quiet North Yorkshire village. Police were called in to maintain order as angry protesters held a round-the-clock vigil to stop workmen switching on a mobile phone mast. Residents

  • Then and now cycle of success

    In 1906 the Tour de France was only in its fourth edition, ridden on unmade roads on bikes with a single gear. Closer to home members of Clifton Cycling Club, which had been founded in 1895, posed for a group photograph outside St Peter's School, Bootham

  • Police car smash sparks city gridlock

    TRAFFIC gridlock hit York's outer ring road as a police car was involved in a smash on the outskirts of the city. The accident happened at about 1.30pm yesterday when a police car responding to an emergency call collided with a wagon close to the Wyevale

  • Mid point for Vaughan

    Yorkshire's consultant physiotherapist Wayne Morton has refuted reports that England captain Michael Vaughan's career might be in jeopardy because of the knee injury which has kept him out of action for several months. Morton revealed that Vaughan was

  • City Trust board newcomer set to change tack

    NEWLY-APPOINTED York City Supporters' Trust board member Matthew Flint is reconsidering his position after just two weeks in the role. Flint believes the Trust board have not "thoroughly investigated" other potential income streams as the club look for

  • Put a block on bed levy

    TO tourists visiting York, it is somewhere to fall asleep at night. To owners of hotels and B&Bs in the city, it is a big part of how they earn their keep. But to the Government, it could be just another source of taxation. With most things being

  • Flying the flag for taxi drivers

    DRIVERS of taxis and cabs will be able to fly the flag for England during the World Cup. Quite right too. It would have been ridiculous to follow the example of Cheltenham Council, which has banned such flags. There will be great excitement for however

  • Way we were

    Thursday, May 25, 2006 100 years ago To mark a significant anniversary, a deeply interesting chapter in the Educational History of York would be told by Mr W W Hargrove in the following day's Yorkshire Weekly Herald. It was the history of the Friends'

  • It's not too late for the Odeon

    I READ with interest the piece about the future use of the Odeon building (Picture This, May 22). It is good that people are already thinking about what will happen after the cinema's closure at the end of August. However, although the spirited campaign

  • Mess in the NHS

    "IT is time to start getting seriously angry". These words from your editorial (May 19), about the ever-worsening crisis in the health service, will touch many hearts. But, in the long-term, we shall never get out of this mess until we and our representatives

  • Final reckoning for Villagers

    THE improvements made by Heworth ARLC's 'A' team will be underlined tonight when they play in a cup final - and they reckon they can pull off a shock triumph. The club considered giving up on a second string two years ago after encountering trouble raising

  • North Yorks learn lesson from losses

    THE North Yorkshire Service Area representative rugby league teams drew a blank in their latest matches against Calderdale. The under-15s took a deserved lead in the first half and looked to be in control but some determined defence kept them out thereafter

  • Lifestyle praise

    IN their response (Excellent value, readers' letters, May 17) to my references to Hartrigg Oaks, Janet and Tony Dale seem to be under the impression I begrudge their good fortune in being able to afford the lifestyle they enjoy at Hartrigg Oaks. This

  • Evening racing

    I HAVE read in the paper and heard on television from a York Racecourse representative that the evening meeting at York is the first that they have had. I believe this is not the case. I am sure that at the beginning of the 1970s they staged an evening

  • Wheelie happy

    I ARRIVED home from work to find that, at long last, my new wheelie bin had been delivered. How it went missing I do not know. But after taking all my rubbish to my mothers for five weeks, I was beginning to find it hard going. What a relief to come home

  • Long range bid should pay off - 25/05/06

    Kevin Ryan, who is gaining winners galore at present, sends We'll Confer on the long journey to Lingfield tonight and the hint should be taken. Not only has Ryan identified a tempting winning opportunity for his speedy juvenile, but he has also booked

  • City Trust board newcomer set to change tack

    NEWLY-APPOINTED York City Supporters' Trust board member Matthew Flint is reconsidering his position after just two weeks in the role. Flint believes the Trust board have not "thoroughly investigated" other potential income streams as the club look for

  • New pulling power

    GNER, the York-based East Coast rail operator, has signed a £15 million contract for new diesel engines and modifications. The result, says GNER, should be that from this autumn, it will deliver a more reliable, greener and safer ride for millions of

  • Change at top at commercial law firm

    TWO key senior appointments, including a new managing partner, have been made by commercial law firm Denison Till of York. A major switch at the top has been triggered by the early retirement from law of Chris Barton, 50, who has decided to step down

  • Ian clocks up fifty years

    THE face of one of York's best-known independent retailers is celebrating 50 years at his store. Ian Thompson, 65, managing director of Barnitts hardware store, in Colliergate, was presented with a huge clock to mark the milestone. The clock - designed

  • Trophy brace in memory of Les

    OVINGTON, one of the founder members of the HPH York Vale Cricket League, has donated two trophies in memory of a former club stalwart Les Kirby. He was instrumental in establishing the club in 1928 and held every position at Ovington including captain

  • Hotels fury at 'bed tax'

    YORK hospitality leaders claim a "bed tax" on more than 230 hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and inns in the city could hit the local economy. The York Hoteliers Group warned that the suggested tax of between five and ten per cent could "sound warning bells

  • Gasworks plan gets the go-ahead

    PLANNING chiefs at City of York Council have given the green light to a development on the former York Gasworks site, off Layerthorpe. The scheme includes 97 one-bedroom and 61 two-bedroom flats, in six blocks. It also involves the extension of the James

  • Cheer us on to victory - Cook

    MICK Cook has called on York City Knights fans to inspire his team to victory in what is being labelled the club's most important game this season. The Knights travel to Batley on Sunday in what head coach Cook has described as a "must-win game for both

  • Mum's warning as stranger tries to abduct son, 9

    IT'S EVERY parent's worst nightmare - and it has happened again. A stranger put his arm around a nine-year-old boy, innocently playing in the street, and led him away. Had it not been for sharp-eyed neighbours, young Scott Walker could today have been

  • Trophy brace in memory of Les

    OVINGTON, one of the founder members of the HPH York Vale Cricket League, has donated two trophies in memory of a former club stalwart Les Kirby. He was instrumental in establishing the club in 1928 and held every position at Ovington including captain

  • Cinema sadness

    I THINK it is sad that the old Odeon cinema is to be closed down later this year. It has stood for entertainment in the area for many years and many will mourn its passing. I think it should make a fine leisure centre for York's young (and not-so-young

  • University dispute

    LIZ Edge's comments on the university pay dispute (Students hardest hit by pay protest, Readers' Letters, May 22) assume that the unions concerned have been hijacked by a "few dozen" militants. Given that a well-attended meeting of 'non-activist' members

  • Yobs run streets and the police do nothing

    THIS afternoon (23/05/06) I had a most unpleasant experience in a York playground. I had arranged to meet my partner and her two girls aged six and three to enjoy an hour with the children. When I arrived there was a gang of four "Vicky Pollards", complete

  • Religious disbelief

    I AGREE with Lesley Lickley (Letters, May 18) that religionists try to claim a "moral high ground" and very often regard non-believers with some contempt, at best to be tolerated reluctantly. But as an atheist, I consider myself far superior morally to

  • Nuclear subsidies

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