Archive

  • Turning empty spaces into homes

    THERE’S a spirit of optimism running through York’s property market at the moment – with a number of exciting projects springing to life in the city centre and a campaign under way to open up previously empty space for residential use. As we report

  • Mark Ronson, Uptown Special (Columbia/Sony) *****

    HOT on YouTube is a rather cheeky bootleg of Uptown Funk, featuring snippets of Barack Obama’s speeches over the hottest pop song since Pharrell Williams’ Happy. Although the album sadly doesn’t feature the US President, Mr Ronson’s Facebook guest

  • Straight No Chaser, Under The Influence (East West) ***

    ORIGINALLY released in 2013 in the US, a short UK tour week has prompted the release of this little-known but rather precious curiosity. Straight No Chaser are a ten-piece, all-male a capella troupe originally formed from students of Indiana University

  • Gaz Coombes, Matador (Hot Fruit) *****

    IT has been 20 years since Gaz Coombes’ infectious guitar pop, as part of Supergrass, gave Parlophone its fastest-selling debut record since Please Please Me by The Beatles. All right, that wonderful three-minute blast that shot I Should Coco and

  • Funeral For A Friend, Chapter and Verse (Distiller Records) *

    HAVE you ever sat in a launderette? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to clamber into one of those drying drums? Well, this record does that for you. My is this loud, discordant and an all-out aural assault by the Welsh band. The percussion

  • Enter Shikari, The Mindsweep (Ambush Reality) *

    IF Slipknot were ever to make music with Professor Green, the end result would sound something like this. A mash up of the screaming noises put out by the scary American band combined with the Hackney rapper would be the stuff of nightmares.

  • Jazz notes

    THE stereotype of a live jazz venue has long been that of a smokey room in the back of a pub. But in my experience (even before the smoking ban) this isn’t the case. Arts venues, restaurants and independent pubs seem to be most open to jazz. This is

  • Your chance to perform at gala

    THE deadline to get in on the act at the Lord Mayor of York’s Charity Gala is approaching fast. This month The Press launched a competition to select one more talented act to appear as a wild card on the 7pm bill at York Barbican on March 29, joining

  • New drama season at Pocklington Arts Centre

    IDLE Motion Theatre Company’s play about Bletchley Park and the Enigma Code, That Is All You Need To Know, so impressed general manager Janet Farmer and her assistant James Duffy at Pocklington Arts Centre last September, that they promptly booked

  • Student success in exam league tables

    GCSE League tables || A-level League tables SCHOOLS and education chiefs in York are celebrating the exam successes of pupils with the publication of Government league tables today. According to data published by the Department of Education

  • Jodie Prenger to star in Calamity Jane at Grand Opera House

    JODIE Prenger will lead the cast in the title role of Calamity Jane on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from February 10 to 14. She will be joined in North Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster’s cast of actor-musicians by Tom Lister as Wild Bill Hickok

  • Cirque Berserk, Grand Opera House, York, February 4 and 5

    Four motorcyclists will hit speeds of more than 60 miles an hour inside a steel cage only four metres wide at the Grand Opera House, York, on Wednesday and Thursday in “the world’s most dangerous circus act”, alias the Globe Of Death. Among them

  • Dame Judi Dench wants a tattoo to mark her 80th birthday

    YORK-BORN Dame Judi Dench claims she may get a tattoo after turning 80. The actress - who has previously teased Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein by pretending she had his name on her bottom - said her daughter Finty was supportive of the idea.

  • York Light Youth hold auditions for Honk!

    YORK Light Youth are looking for performers aged 11 and over to take part in principal parts in its spring production of Honk!, along with seven to 11 year olds for the junior roles of ducklings. This musical comedy is a re-telling of Hans Christian

  • 30 events planned in York for LGBT History Month

    THIRTY events are being planned in York during February as part of LGBT History Month - from variety nights to discussion panels, talks and walks. The number of groups, organisations and individuals involved in the month which tells of the city's

  • Broke, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, February 4 to 6

    LEEDS company The Paper Birds go for Broke at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from Wednesday to Friday. A verbatim piece about personal and national debt, Broke premiered at last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe with its hard-hitting account of true

  • Chance to get fit with Nordic walks and golf

    NORDIC walking and indoor golf are among the new challenges being offered to people looking to get fit this year. Classes open to York residents in the next month also include one that helps people go from walking to jogging. They are being

  • Three spring projects for Upstage Centre Youth Theatre

    ON the heels of Upstage Centre Youth Theatre’s winter musical, The Snow Queen, the York company is calling for young actors and dancers to join three ambitious spring projects. Upstage’s junior team, aged eight to 13, will be looking at characterisation

  • Bookworms in Giant Wiggle conga

    THE charity Action for Children is encouraging children’s centres and nurseries in York to host a Giant Wiggle to celebrate the children’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Giant Wiggle on March 19 will bring together under-5s to wiggle along

  • Garden centre staff raise more than £25k for charity

    A YORK garden centre has raised more than £25,000 for charity. Dean’s Garden Centre staff in York and Scarborough chose to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society and York Blind & Partially Sighted Society last year, and held several fundraisers

  • Labour candidate search nears its end

    LABOUR members in York were last night drawing up a long list of candidates fighting to replace MP Sir Hugh Bayley. Eight women are understood to have applied for Labour's nomination in York Central, and last night party members were due to draw

  • Councillor renews call for safer A19 crossing

    A LEADING parish and city councillor has renewed calls to improve a crossing over a stretch of the A19 after two neighbouring developments for more than 100 homes and caravans were proposed. Cllr Joe Watt, chairman of Skelton Parish Council, says

  • Search is on for York's best building

    PRESS readers with a keen eye for what makes a good building are being invited to the launch of this year's York Design Awards. Each year, the awards aim to recognise the very best building design in a city famed for its architecture. Winners

  • Figures show diabetics in danger of premature death

    THERE were hundreds of premature deaths due to diabetes in North Yorkshire and the East Riding, figures published today show. One in five people admitted to hospital for angina, stroke, heart attack and heart failure in England and Wales have diabetes

  • Tree Fu Tom, Scarborough Spa, August 8

    A CBEEBIES star is heading to Scarborough Spa this summer as part of a nationwide tour. Tree Fu Tom, the UK’s favourite pre-school superhero, will bring his mix of Big World magic, movement, action and adventure to The Spa’s Grand Hall on Saturday

  • Elkie Brooks, Grand Opera House, York, July 9

    ELKIE Brooks is celebrating her 70th birthday with a British tour that will visit the Grand Opera House, York, on July 9. The Salford soul singer, who will turn 70 on February 25, is in the fifth decade of her career that has encompassed hit singles

  • Winter Folk Day, Black Swan, York, February 1

    THE Black Swan Folk Club presents York’s Winter Folk Day on Sunday as part of York Residents’ Festival 2015 on Sunday from 2pm to 5.30pm and 7.30pm to10.30pm. Half-hour spots by 13 different soloists, duos and bands take place at the Black Swan

  • Bach Family Motets, St Michael le Belfrey, York, February 7

    YORKSHIRE Bach Choir presents Bach Family Motets at St Michael le Belfrey, York, on February 7 in a 7.30pm programme selected by conductor Peter Seymour. “It’s ‘Back to Bach’ for our first concert of 2015 with the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists,” he

  • The Basil Brush Show, Grand Opera House, York, August 26

    BOOM! Boom! The Basil Brush Show is heading to the Grand Opera House, York, on August 26 as part of The Full On Fox Tour 2015. Basil Brush remains as cheeky, irreverent, charming, naughty, quick witted, scheming and foxy as ever, but at the same

  • Political uncertainty ‘may be deterrent to investors'

    YORK'S low land values and high house prices make it a hugely attractive prospect to investors, but political fluctuations can have an immediate affect on their plans, a council committee heard yesterday. The Economic and City Development Overview

  • Climbers were buried under Alps avalanche, inquest told

    TWO climbers suffocated when a huge avalanche buried them as they neared the summit of a treacherous mountain. An inquest into the deaths of neighbours John Taylor, 48, and Stephen Barber, 47, from Pear Tree Avenue, Upper Poppleton, York, saw an

  • A wallaby in love

    WESLEY the wallaby seems to have landed on his feet. The runaway marsupial, who sparked a massive police hunt last year after being spotted on the loose near the York outer ring road, was captured and rehomed at Askham Bryan College. Now he

  • Lay-by litterers are blighting our roads

    THE photographs we print today showing rubbish littering the verges of the A64 near York are thoroughly depressing. This is the main road route into a city known around the world for its beauty and heritage. Yet those arriving by car from Tadcaster

  • Lay-by litterers are blighting our roads

    THE photographs we print today showing rubbish littering the verges of the A64 near York are thoroughly depressing. This is the main road route into a city known around the world for its beauty and heritage. Yet those arriving by car from Tadcaster

  • Wild comments missed my point

    WELL, they say all publicity is good publicity but did I really deserve THAT much (The Press, January 26)? Stephen Lewis did a brilliant article on my book, but the rest left me somewhat bemused. Before the lynch mob comes looking for me, can

  • Millions of male chicks are gassed

    THANK you for printing my letter in The Press of January 19, but you made an error. You printed that we kill every year 945 million chickens, 18 million turkeys, 14 million ducks, which is correct. Then you printed “because we don’t need them

  • Retirement question is worth asking

    HAZEL WARD misrepresents what she and myself actually said (Letters, January 24). Hazel asked The Press to give her a break from my letters – in other words to silence me, contrary to her weak riposte that she doesn’t wish to do so. Why demand

  • Sunday night family baths were a ritual

    MAUREEN Robinson recalls her childhood experience of sharing a bath with her sister and then being dried in front of the living room fire (Letters, January 26). I also shared a bath with siblings. A tin bath from the backyard put in front of the

  • Car park ‘go-slow’ stretches to council

    WITH regards to the on-going works on the replacement of Scarborough Bridge, and the closure of Marygate car park, the car park has only had limited spaces since December, as the contractors have taken over nearly half to prepare for the bridge works

  • Broadening talent hunt is good for all

    IN RESPONSE to Trevor D Scott’s letter of January 24, we had good reason to advertise jobs in the Yorkshire Post. We have exclusively focused on York recruitment over the past year, using The Press and holding open days at Guildhall in the city

  • Legal advice states council is wrong

    IT IS disingenuous of City of York Council to say that criticisms of its proposals to reserve swathes of green-belt land for future housing development only emerged at recent public meetings (The Press, January 23). A legal opinion from leading

  • We need first-class cycle-safe routes

    I WAS pleased that the planning committee supported my concerns and deferred approval of the 60-home development for the Del Monte site because of the absence of proposals for a signalised crossing of the busy A19 to reach Skelton village. Without

  • Debate support was very welcome

    I WOULD like to thank the many people in York who supported the successful campaign for the Green Party to be included in the leaders’ debates for the General Election. Green Party support nationally and in York has been growing at a tremendous

  • Building at fault not the hospital staff

    I AGREE with Mary Simpson (Letters, January 22). Bootham Park Hospital is an old and outdated building. I have had cause to visit a relative there on numerous occasions over the past 30 years. The care given to the patients and the support to the

  • Yorspace project is a housing winner

    I SUPPORT Yorspace’s plans to convert Oliver House into a development of affordable homes and shared community space. As York faces ever-increasing house prices and rents that are already out of the reach of so many, we need to come up with a blend

  • Three new friends for Wesley the wallaby

    A WALLABY who hit the headlines and sparked a massive police hunt after being spotted on the loose has three new pals. Wesley wreaked havoc in Strensall last October, causing a stretch of York’s outer ring road to be closed before he was captured

  • Jay Chou wedding provides tourism boost for Selby Abbey

    AN ABBEY which hosted the fairytale wedding of a huge Asian pop star has been inundated with tourists since the ceremony took place. In the ten days since Jay Chou - dubbed the “New King of Asian Pop” - married Australian model Hannah Quinlivan

  • January 29

    100 years ago One curious effect of the war had been to stop entirely the supply of European leeches, which at one time had been the doctor’s staple remedy, and currently were still used to some extent by the profession. At one time leeches

  • Fibbers celebrates Independent Music Week with special event

    THIS is Independent Music Week, the week when venues such as the long-established Fibbers in York highlights the need to be heard. Manager Tim Fibbers fires a word of warning at a time when outside forces are making it more difficult to thrive.

  • Benefit cheat couple fined £1,400

    AN EASINGWOLD couple have been fined after they wrongly claimed almost £3,500 in housing and council tax benefits. David Hodgson, 62, and Ann Hodgson, 51, of Thormanby, failed to tell Hambleton District Council about an increase in their household

  • Cookery school set to stir up excitement with Michelin chef

    AN award winning cookery school belonging to one of North Yorkshire's most iconic brands has agreed an exclusivity deal with one of the UK's few female Michelin-starred chefs. Bettys Cookery School is working with Frances Atkins, chef at The Yorke

  • Brewery's growth highlighted in national competition

    A YEAR of award success is being followed with yet more accolades for a North Yorkshire brewery. Named Business of the Year at The Press Business Awards in November, Hunmanby-based Wold Top Brewery is now in the running to win £30,000 worth of

  • Training support programme boosts business

    A PROGRAMME offering businesses the chance to boost the skills and productivity of their workforce has been taken up by more than 300 firms in the region. Through the Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) Yorkshire, colleges and training providers

  • It’s no way to treat a theatre

    WHAT would be a suitable punishment for the thieving idiots who threw a paving slab through a plate-glass window at York Theatre Royal and smashed their way into a donations box, stealing around £1,000 left by theatre-goers? With luck the police

  • £1m lottery court case ends in win for waiter

    A WAITER who “dreamt” of winning the Lottery and scooped a £1 million jackpot the next day has fought off a legal bid by his boss for all the winnings from their jointly-purchased ticket. Fatih Ozcan, who worked at York’s Kapadokya Turkish restaurant

  • Village pays tribute to river death pensioner

    STUNNED villagers have paid tribute to a pensioner whose body was found in a York river. Florence Vokes, 66, of Stillingfleet, was discovered in the Foss near Foss Bank last Wednesday evening. North Yorkshire Police said yesterday that officers

  • 13 fantastic old Fulford photos: 1956-1996

    HERE are 13 images of Fulford from The Press archives, dating back to the 1970s. This is the fourth in a new weekly series of galleries featuring archive photographs from areas around York which featured in The Press over the years. Do you remember

  • Glory tilt for York Acorn and New Earswick All Blacks

    IT could be a big weekend on the amateur rugby league scene in York with York Acorn ARLC in Ladbrokes Challenge Cup action and New Earswick All Blacks facing arguably the biggest four-pointer of their Pennine League campaign. Acorn go to National