A PRIMARY school near York had to close today - just as children were looking forward to a teddy bear's picnic and sports day. - after 800 properties lost their water supplied because of a burst main. Yorkshire Water said water supplies were affected
THE death of a 21-year-old at York Racecourse was "a tragic end to a very young life", an inquest has heard today. Jack Yates, a HR assistant from Bradford, was at the races on Saturday, May 25, last year with a group of friends just days before
AMID all the entente cordiale pour le Tour de France, the York Shakespeare Project is embracing the spirit of Le Grand Depart by taking to the walls, streets and snickets of York with a selection of Shakespeare sonnets on hour-long walks guided by
UPSTART Theatre Company's trio of one-act comedies opened on the same night that Monty Python's reunited veterans took to London's O2 stage for comedy's answer to Led Zeppelin's 02 comeback. It was a reminder of the benchmark set by Cleese and
WE are out and about, here and there, this week, looking at city centre pads, country homes and village houses.We start with a super penthouse apartment with spectacular panoramic views across York. It is on the riverside-based Rowntreee Wharf, Fossway
HAVING concentrated recently on a few of the bigger developments in and around the York area, this week we are looking at a single home.It’s Kingfisher House, which sits in a tucked away spot in Strensall, a popular village to the north of York.It
POLICE are still urging the public to help them find Shaun Michael Barker, who is wanted for recall to prison. Barker, 36, was sentenced to 12 months in prison last year for possessing an offensive weapon and released on licence on May 2, but has
BE under no illusion, Derren Brown is definitely coming to York next summer for a full week of shows at the Grand Opera House. The Purley illusionist, mentalist, trickster, hypnotist, painter, writer and sceptic will be the first solo act ever
MAXINE GORDON finds salt water is the secret ingredient to a wellbeing spa holiday in the sun WHEN an hotelier in Gran Canaria opened an indoor saltwater spa, islanders thought him mad. But today, this type of spa, known as thalasso, is endemic
THERE is a point, about two minutes into an instrumental called High Ball Stepper on Jack White’s latest solo album, where heavily distorted guitar kicks in after a brief, playful piano riff. It sounds like a mountain falling down around your ears
In May/June 1986, the New Musical Express issued one its regular mail-order cassettes, five years on from the inaugural C81 release, but this one came to define a generation. The C86 generation. Primal Scream. The Pastels. The Mighty Lemon Drops
THOSE who found Mike Rosenberg by accident – helped by the hype surrounding last year’s huge hit Let It Go – may be surprised to learn Whispers is Passenger’s sixth studio record. Undoubtedly, the success of the past 12 months has left a mark.
WHOEVER decided to book Sam Smith in the same time slot as Dolly Parton at Glastonbury last Sunday afternoon must have been going through a meltdown. Thank goodness for catch-up TV. While in direct competition with a true show business veteran,
A WORK of quiet beauty that nevertheless stuns the senses, this is the fourth studio record by this Brooklyn trio, whose gentle waves deserve a wider audience. Gone are some of the synthesisers and a little of the anguish of their previous work
THE Who will celebrate their 50th anniversary by returning to Leeds, the city where they recorded their celebrated1970 live album in the university refectory. "This is the beginning of the long goodbye," said lead singer Roger Daltrey, as he and
HARROGATE International Festivals will be hosting the Big Screen in the new location of the Valley Gardens this weekend to accommodate Yorkshire's Le Grand Départ for the Tour de France. Le Tour enthusiasts can watch the riders live on screen as
FRESH from headlining the Pyramid Stage on Glastonbury Festival's closing night last Sunday, Leicester chart-toppers Kasabian have announced they will play Leeds First Direct Arena in November on their British autumn tour. Kasabian are on a crest
HE used to be such a nice lad, that Ed Sheeran. In reality, between the Prince-Harry features and the acoustic guitar, his music has always had more bite than James Morrison and Newton Faulkner. His second outing – the x standing for Multiply –
MANIC punslinger Tim Vine will fire off the goofing one-liners at the Grand Opera House, York, in his new touring show Tim Timinee Tim Timinee Tim Tim To You on May 22 next year. The Cheam comedian, writer, actor and presenter will combine new
SHAMELESS and Waterloo Road regular Rebecca Ryan has grown to know Jo, the 17-year-old tearaway in Shelagh Delaney's A Taste Of Honey, very well. The Manchester actress first played teenage writer Delaney's defiant, pregnant protagonist last year
SARAH GU?STEN-MARR is like her artwork. A one-off. "I get so much pressure to make prints but I'm not going to do that," says the African-German artist in the sitting room of her rural idyll at Dykelands Farm, Whenby, near York. "That's the whole
THE Flanagan Collective are to mount their most ambitious show to date, an interactive, adventurous stage adaptation of Britain’s greatest detective stories, Sherlock Holmes, in York Guildhall, where the game's afoot from August 11 to September 21.
CONSIDERING the motto 'The show must go on', there's something pleasingly refreshing about an artist backing away from it all to simply put their feet up. When Lisa Stansfield released her debut album Affection in 1989, it went on to sell more
NUNNINGTON gallery Beyond Art feared it would not have any paintings to display for its latest exhibition when they kept being sold as soon as they were finished. The gallery in The Barn, in Church Street, had planned an exhibition of Peter Watson
THE York Curiouser arts project ends on Monday, so time is running out to spot the contemporary art in hidden and sometimes surprising parts of the city. Co-artistic directors Lara Goodband and Hazel Colquhoun are thrilled by the response of York
IN this summer of cycling in York, no sooner will Le Grand Depart’s peloton leave the city this weekend for the Tour de France than another bunch of bicycles, rather smaller in number, will be arriving on Tuesday. The HandleBards, a madcap, four-strong
TWO new one-act plays by Calderdale writer and director Alan Stockdill will be performed at the Fauconberg Arms, in Coxwold, near Easingwold, on July 17 to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Staged by Alan's company, Talking Stock Productions
SPRITE Productions began with A Midsummer Night's Dream ten years ago, and now the Ripley company is to call a halt, hopefully saying only au revoir rather than adieu after this summer's return of Shakespeare's most performed, most perfumed comedy.
NORTH Yorkshire artist Sharon Tiernan will hold an exhibition at the Atelier D' Artiste Gallery, Bridlington, during August. "The show will comprise of an eclectic mix of acrylic paintings, from birds to wildlife, flowers to still life," she says
WHENEVER it is summer on Tower Street, York artist Richard Barnes returns like a swallow to take over his regular spot at According To McGee. For eight years, Richard has brought a splash of colour to the York gallery, his cityscapes becoming a
BRITISH rock legend Ian McLagan, keyboard player for The Small Faces and The Faces in the Sixties and Seventies, will play York in the week he releases his first studio album in five years. United States will be issued through Yep Roc Records on
FIVE finalists from this season's Script Factor, run by the York branch of Script Yorkshire, go head to head in the All Winners Final in the York Theatre Royal Studio on Monday night. Each play has the theme of travel in a nod to Le Grand Départ
WITH belting rain over much of Yorkshire, the final day of the Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival enjoyed bright sunshine on Sunday, cue for picnics, suntan lotion and knotted hankies on heads. On the main stage, pianist Rob Law’s Quintet sparkled
ALISTAIR Griffin is experiencing his highest-profile week since competing against Alex Parks in the final of BBC1's talent show in Fame Academy in 2003. This Monday, the 36-year-old York singer-songwriter released the first official anthem for
COMEDIAN Paul Foot will glide into Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on November 1 with his new show Hovercraft Symphony in Gammon # Major. His subversive, insightful, constantly challenging brand of absurdity has been given exposure on BBC1’s Would
PEARL Jam play Leeds First Direct Arena on Tuesday night at 7.30pm as one of only two British shows on their 11-date European tour, the other being at the Milton Keynes Bowl next Friday. Formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington, Eddie Vedder's American
THE York Late Music concert series presents the Late Music Ensemble in a 7.30pm programme entitled Remembering Steve Martland (1959-2013) at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, on Saturday night. James Whittle, from the University of York
ROGER McGuinn, founding member and frontman of The Byrds, will play Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on Sunday, September 28 when he returns to these shores for a string of autumn dates. McGuinn's trademark Rickenbacker 12-string guitar sound has
AGELINK Theatre's young cast have travelled all the way from Perth, Western Australia to perform the poignant wartime romance of Cis And Barbiche at York Theatre Royal to mark the 70th anniversary of the French Air Force's arrival in Yorkshire and
SHARED values among familiar faces helped to persuade defensive sentinel Dave Winfield to sign for York City. The 26-year-old self-confessed “no-nonsense” centre-back disclosed how the capture of several former team-mates during his vacation while
DIRECTOR Dan Hartley will introduce tomorrow evening’s gala screening of Lad: A Yorkshire Story at Curzon Ripon to accompany Le Grand Départ for the Tour de France. He will hold a question-and-answer session after the 6.20pm show too. This multi
YORK has been prone to flooding for centuries. If anything, however, things will only get worse. Climate change will see to that, says York’s new flood risk manager Steve Wragg. “Today’s rare flood events may well be tomorrow’s frequent events,
WHEN we speak of heroes who gave their lives so that others could keep theirs, we are usually referring to wartime soldiers. But Dan Webster’s great grandfather, Frank Dalton, was not a military man, he was a member of the Scarborough lifeboat crew
FREE of prawn damage, Simon Dyson will be hoping to be back in the pink when the French Open starts today. Dyson heads into the European Tour event, which carries a prize fund of three million euros, hoping to have shook off an adverse reaction
SO, Le Grande Debacle is almost upon us. But what will be the legacy? (Apart from a few filled-in pot holes). Perhaps it will encourage more people to cycle – a good thing you might think – or perhaps not. This poem does not of course apply
GILES Smith returned to the Stockton & Hopgrove ranks with devastating effect, smashing 115 against Thixendale in the first division of the HPH York Vale Cricket League. Playing for the first time since mid-May, Smith stroked 19 boundaries
TWO questions come to mind relating to recent correspondence. When the long-awaited cycle bridge is placed over the railway line adjacent to the A1237, where will the riders exit at the east end of the track? Haxby Road is narrow and usually busy
AFTER the Grand Kerfuffle, could our councillors please look into the safety of ordinary York cyclists? Tang Hall would be a good place to start. The road-edge has been destroyed by lorries and the only safe place for cyclists is 5ft from the kerb
NESTLÉ is signing up to the Living Wage, yet doesn’t illustrate if all employees receive what the Joseph Rowntree Foundation openly question is the Minimum Income Standard. In other words, do all UK employees receive enough each week to survive
YORK Inset Scooter Club were delighted to support St Leonard’s Hospice on their Midnight Walk to raise funds for the hospice. The club provided a display of scooters and motorcycles for this 1960s-themed event and acted as mobile marshals for the
WITH regard to the Hurricane now perched on the roof of the Theatre Royal, I think I should, in spite of the danger of being accused of nit-picking, point out that this is not a real aeroplane, but a plastic replica. Mike Usherwood, Mendip Close
YORKSHIRE Vikings failed to overhaul a modest target for the second time in three games after they were dismissed for a lowly 95 to suffer a 28-runs NatWest T20 Blast defeat to Durham Jets. After suffering a 22-runs defeat on Saturday to Nottinghamshire
ON BEHALF of all Holgate residents, I’d like to say a massive thanks to all those who helped organise and run West Bank Park Summer Fair last weekend. This fantastic event was even better than last year and truly brought people of all ages together
WALKING round the city centre on a regular basis I have come to the conclusion that York must have the most filthy, disgusting pavements in the country. What a lovely memory we must give our visitors to take home with them. Everywhere you look
THERE was a programme on BBC Radio York in connection with about doctors’ appointments. I would like to say I have nothing but praise for my husband’s surgery, Gale Farm. From the receptionist, nurses, doctors, to the chemist, Gale Farm in particular
WELL said, Mike Hookem (Letter on grammar schools, July 1). So much stress is put on academic subjects and pass marks (whenever was less than 50 per cent a pass?). Many children I knew during my teaching career suffered because of this. More everyday
YORK Phoenix have been crowned National Rock-it-Ball Knockout champions hot on the heels of clinching the Yorkshire and Humber League title. Coach Carl Alsop was also named Player of the Tournament as Phoenix overcame Ripon Vanquish 278-181 in
IN response to health-hub plans for Burnholme site (The Press, June 25), in the report by City of York Council’s assistant director of property, finance and procurement, Tracey Carter, and head of asset management, Phillip Callow, the report in The
THIRTY four per cent of the York workforce are part-time workers (The Press, June 23). I wonder if research has been done into whether such part-time work is through choice or is a forced on people by circumstance, and also sanctions being threatened
ANOTHER unhappy customer regarding post arriving late again. A birthday card was sent to me on May 29, to arrive for June 1. It didn’t arrive so I made inquiries. Then I received a card from GPO Leeman Road, telling me there were insufficient
YOU get many negative letters regarding patient care at hospitals, so I feel I must write about my recent experience. I attended, with some trepidation, the endoscopy clinic at York Hospitals for two procedures to be carried out, a colonoscopy
HOLGATE beat Hull Road Park 7-1 to stretch their lead at the top of division one in the York Amateur Bowling Association League. Holgate took advantage of second-placed Holgate WMC having no game to move 15.5 points clear. Selby moved into
WIGGINTON Bowls Club's annual two-wood pairs and strawberry tea competition for the Kilgour Trophy was won by Doreen Kilgour and Barrie Shipley. The pair beat captain Michael Wadsworth and Ken Magson in the six-end final and the trophy was presented
THE comments of letter writers Mr Mitchell and David Wilde about York’s geese are misguided, to say the least. It is a pity such narrow-minded people have nothing better in their lives to complain about. Would they not be better off trying
As the 12 groups begin their final preparations for the York Mystery Plays, another very special community group is preparing to make a 2,600 mile round trip to take part in the celebrations. The Associazione Culturale from Orsogna, a small town
YORK Acorn ARLC boss Scott Rhodes admits he is still seething at York & District Amateur Rugby League chiefs for slapping Daryl North with a "ridiculous" six-game ban. North was sent off for punching during Acorn's York Community Cup final
TIGER LILLY, a winner at Thirsk on her racecourse debut and a creditable fourth at York last month, crosses the Pennines for her third career outing this afternoon and has every chance of gaining her second success. Although the Ritec Clearshield
100 years ago Councillor John E Gibbs wrote: “I notice an extract of the Streets and Buildings Committee’s minutes, to which I have called the attention of the Markets and Streets and Buildings Committee which concerns the excreta of the cattle
There is a new man in charge of protecting York against floods. STEPHEN LEWIS spoke to Steve Wragg IN November 2000, as the flood waters rose higher and higher in York, a young Environment Agency engineer named Steve Wragg was among those working
A father-of-one who kept nearly a million pounds worth of drugs in his home and an industrial unit has been jailed. Police stopped Sam Andrew Barnes, 27, at the wheel of a silver BMW containing a “substantial amount” of amphetamine on the westbound
YORK composer John Barry, who scored a number of films, including 11 Bond movies, has been honoured by a major film company.Pinewood Studios, where the Bond films were shot, has renamed its Theatre Seven to The John Barry Theatre, in memory of the composer.Mr
A FURIOUS resident who said he has endured "weeks of hell" at the hands of the Poppleton Road Park and Ride roadworks is considering legal action against City of York Council. George Morrison lives on Station Road Upper Poppleton, just 50 yards
POTASH mined in North Yorkshire could be used to boost agricultural industry in Tanzania thanks to a new agreement. Sirius Minerals, the parent company of York Potash, which is planning to build a billion pound mine near Whitby, has entered into
YORK housebuilder Persimmon is reporting a "strong" start to the year as turnover surpasses the billion pound mark. A trade update from the Fulford-based firm showed revenues for the first half of the year hit £1.2 billion, up 33 per cent on the
A YORK woman who puts her long life down to a love of dancing is today celebrating her 100th birthday. Liz Simpson is marking her centenary at home at Willow Court care home, near Walmgate, surrounded by family and friends. Mrs Simpson was
THE team behind the campaign to promote the arrival of the Mallard at the National Railway Museum has scooped a national award. The museum's communications team won the Low Budget Campaign award at the CIPR Excellence Awards for its work on Mallard
Two canoeists escaped unhurt when their vessels got stuck beneath the railway bridge on the River Derwent in Malton. One canoe capsized but the other paddler made it to the bank and both were rescued unharmed by the fire service, police said.
WORLD food restaurant chain COSMO has opened its £1 million eatery in York. The Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Ian Gillies, was invited for a tour of the 248-seater restaurant and to try his hand a hot-plate cooking. The new Bridge Street restaurant
YORK credit card insurer CPP Group has said it is looking at the possibility of future funding and stock market status. Ahead of releasing its six month results to June 30, the Holgate-based company issued a pre close announcement confirming how
A MALTON based manufacturer of telecommunications cabinets has been acquired by an American company as it looks to expand its operations in Europe. Alifabs Cabinets & Ancillaries, based in York Road Industrial Estate, is one of two businesses
REAL ale meets wheel ale on Saturday, when a bike and beer festival is held in York. The Golden Ball on the corner of Cromwell Road and Victor Street is holding the Bishophill Velocipede Festival to coincide with the Grand Depart, with weird and
POLICE have found a woman missing from a care home in York. Rowena Sylvester, 79, was seen in Dunnington, York at 3pm yesterday before disappearing. Police had become concerned for her wellbeing. It is understood a bus driver from First
A MAN suffered a serious head injury in a car park crash near York. The 43-year-old man came off his Suzuki off road motorbike and suffered a serious head injury in the car park of the Dean’s Garden Centre, Stockton Lane, Stockton-on-the-Forest
PROTESTORS demonstrated outside York College in support of a union branch chair embroiled in controversy. David McNorton, secretary of the college branch of the University and College Union (UCU), claimed that for over a year, its chair John Westmoreland
THE public have viewed plans for the second phase of the development of the former Terry's chocolate factory site. Work has already started on building 85 new homes at the site and yesterday developers David Wilson Homes sought local views on the
DROP-IN information and advice sessions are to start at a growing community hub in Acomb, City of York Council officers are to start the sessions at Lidgett Grove Methodist Church every Wednesday from 9.30-11.30am, to give advice on housing issues
LAURA Ashley could be forced out of York if a proposal put forward by its landlord and supported by City of York Council planners get the go ahead, the shop chain has warned. The shopping chain has written to the authority's planning department
WE’VE done this before, the old car and me. Six or seven years ago each of us had fewer miles on the clock. On that occasion the Volvo estate was packed to the ceiling with the belongings of number one son on his return from university. Now car
A THEATRE production of Grease has raised £500 for Applefields School in Burnholme. Flying Ducks Youth Theatre staged the musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York in April with a collection for the school for pupils with special educational
GREEN-FINGERED youngsters have showed off their blossoming gardening talents by designing planting beds for shoppers. Pupils from six York primary schools showed they were bursting with design talent by creating the displays at Monks Cross.
THE remaining member of a gang of heroin dealers has been sentenced to four years in prison. Michael Purnell, 47, of Melbourne Road, York, should have learnt his punishment when Brian Smith, 37, of James Street Caravan Site, and the rest of the
ALMOST a thousand police officers will be working as the Grand Depart passes through West and North Yorkshire this weekend. Assistant Chief Constable Mark Milsom, of West Yorkshire Police who is coordinating Tour de France plans across the region
A CARER who helped identify a gang of fraudsters has been given an award. Wendy Sonley cares for an elderly Parkinson's sufferer in the Malton area, and in October 2012 discovered he had repeatedly made payments totalling £250,000 in eight years
It was all eyes front for Voice star Beth McCarthy when she gave a spell-binding performance for York primary pupils - as a lesson in the powers of persuasion. Beth, 16, of Rawcliffe, York, was busking on the streets of the city when she shot to
A CHARITY shop is celebrating 21 years of raising vital funds for a York hospice. St Leonard’s Hospice Shop on Waterloo Lane, Pocklington, opened on July 4, 1993, and has attracted strong support from the community ever since, selling donated goods
PLANS for major repairs to Selby swing bridge will be on display today. The £14m repairs to the bridge will start on Friday, July 26, and will be the biggest improvements since the bridge was built in 1889, with steelwork repairs, replacement and
THREE sections of the River Ouse are featured on a website that promotes safe swimming in open water. Wildswim, run by the Outdoor Swimming Society, encourages people to recommend places in rivers and lakes to swim, and features three points on
TWO heroes of York's public sector have been recognised for the dedication and personality they bring to their work. Joyce Donkin and Gavin Watson work in very different areas of City of York Council, but they share a commitment to their jobs and
CHILDREN at Dunnington Primary School have got into the spirit of the imminent arrival of the world's biggest annual sports event by creating a Tour De France-themed welcome for visitors.The eye-catching display at the entrance to the school features
A HARROGATE businessman is getting ready to ride the Tour de France route ahead of the pro teams, to raise money for Marie Curie. Will Roberts is part of the Power Peloton, and will ride the 120-mile route from Leeds to Harrogate on Saturday and
JUST a few days after the Tour takes over Harrogate, French and Yorkshire cheesemakers will go head to head in a special class at the 156th Great Yorkshire Show. The show has added a special class in honour of Le Grand Depart’s visit to Yorkshire
York Hospital is bracing itself for the Tour de France amid fears it could be swamped with emergency admissions during the event. It has called in extra nursing staff and put surgeons on stand-by to cope with any casualties among the crowds over
YELLOW jerseys and rail bikes will be out in force at the National Railway Museum as part of the attraction's Tour de France celebrations. Staff have been getting ready for the event, including curator of museum collectionsJohn McGoldrick who is
York is well supplied with cycle shops, with two actually on the Tour de France route - Cycle Heaven on Bishopthorpe Road and Shannon's on Boroughbridge Road. But what should the first-time cyclist look for in a new bicycle - and the clothes to wear
NORTH Yorkshire MP Julian Smith has welcomed businesses from across Yorkshire to the first UK Trade and Investment Regional Export Fair. Organised by the Government agency responsible for promoting overseas trade for British companies, the Export
ENGINEERING apprentices have built a soapbox racer for fundraising volunteers to race. The volunteers for East Yorkshire Lifeboat will take part in this weekend’s Humber Bridge Soapbox Derby to raise money for Humber Rescue. The racer was built
The heroic sacrifice of a lifeboat volunteer who gave his life to save others has inspired his great grandson from York to run the Great North Run - ten times. Frank Dalton was serving at Scarborough Lifeboat Station when he joined the crew that
ROADWORKS that will last eight weeks have begun in Tang Hall. Workmen were due to move in on Alcuin Avenue on Monday, to resurface the road in two phases in ten metre long stretches. The work will mean that, at times, residents will not being
THE leader of City of York Council has dropped six-and-a-half stones in six months as part of a weight loss challenge. Since January 1, Cllr James Alexander has been in competition with finance chief, Cllr Dafydd Williams, to lose weight and to
A COUPLE from York who have raised thousands of pounds for charity are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary today. Lawrence and Mabel King will toast the milestone today but have had to postpone their celebrations at the Wigginton Recreational
