Wiltshire | Archive | 2002 | May
MAY 9: LEFT Of Centre Komedy, otherwise known as LOCK, is Bath's newest Comedy Club. more...
REVIEW - Rob Deering, Ustinov Studio, Bath: WITH an encouraging number of new comedy venues currently springing up in the region, The Comedy Zone Week at the Ustinov seemed a sure-fire winner. more...
SHOWTIME (12, 95 mins) Starring Robert De Niro, Eddie Murphy, Rene Russo. Now showing at UGC and Cineworld in Swindon more...
JODIE Foster makes a welcome return to the big screen in Panic Room (15) a psychological thriller from director David Fincher. more...
A HOMELESS one-eyed alcoholic probably tripped in the dark and tumbled into the canal at Avoncliff where he drowned. more...
THE parents of Natalie Williams have spoken of their deep love for their talented, beloved daughter. more...
A FOURTH person has been arrested by police investigating claims of cheating on the television quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? more...
ON MARCH 8 the Wiltshire Times published a report on the inquest into the death of a 92-year-old woman from the Firlawn Nursing Home, The Street, Holt. more...
FRIDAY was a bittersweet day for Bradford on Avon woman, Myrtle Wilcox. more...
FORWARD-thinking was the name of the game as representatives from industries, businesses and the public sector met in Swindon to discuss the improvements that could be made to encourage employees to train and better themselves. more...
Discount fashion retailer Matalan, which has a shop in West Swindon, posted a surge in profits as shoppers seeking out bargains helped drive up demand. more...
UNDERLINING the message at yesterday's event were four children picked from two Wiltshire primary schools who made a big impression telling the assembled guests what they wanted to do after finishing school. more...
FEW customers buying their weekly shopping in Somerfield, Marlborough, are aware that manager Rob Parnell and his staff pay for the education of 35 children in West Africa. more...
BUSINESS people had the chance to discuss the state of the economy with an expert on Friday. more...
DIANE Gooch, who has been managing residential homes for older people in Devizes for more than 15 years, bid farewell to the town last week as she leaves to run a home in Malmesbury. more...
TRADING Standards officers are concerned that people wanting a career in showbiz were being charged £150 by a management company to have their picture taken at the weekend. more...
CARER Josephine Harte has appeared in court charged with stealing almost £2,000. more...
CHIPPENHAM football stalwart Les Weir is swapping the great game for a riverside pub. more...
A CHIPPENHAM café that has not changed for decades is to be replaced with a £250,000 bistro. more...
THE Vikings are on their way back to Chippenham 1,124 years after their first visit. more...
THE library in Chippenham will be hosting a musical celebration of the wartime generation on Wednesday, called Thanks for the Memory. more...
NEWLY-OPENED nightclub Mad Jacks is bidding to open later, bringing it in line with other venues in Chippenham. more...
A 91-YEAR-old woman in the advanced stages of terminal cancer died after choking on a beef sandwich in hospital. more...
A FORMER BT operator is organising a reunion in Chippenham for past friends and colleagues. more...
PERSISTENT offender David Gascoigne has been warned he faces jail after he and an accomplice stole clothes worth £1,105 from a Chippenham shop. more...
FOUR Wiltshire youngsters have been praised for helping fund-raising make a record start for a new £150,000 school hall at Luckington, near Castle Combe. more...
THE petition urging the Government not to close RAF Lyneham now has more than 11,000 signatures and more are still being added. more...
RUBBISH in north Wiltshire will be collected as usual on Monday despite it being a bank holiday. more...
THE M4 is expected to be especially busy on Saturday May 4 when those travelling to Badminton are joined by football fans heading to Cardiff for the football cup final. more...
JONES TRIAL: THE father of one of the children of convicted killer Jane Jones is considering fighting for custody of the child. more...
JONES TRIAL: DAVID MacKinnon's children will finally be able to put a headstone on their father's grave now that a jury has returned a guilty verdict on his killer. more...
JONES TRIAL: BARMAID Jane Jones will be given time to help her children prepare for the shock of seeing her jailed. more...
JONES TRIAL: FRIENDS of David MacKinnon this week described him as a caring man who would do anything to help anyone. more...
NURSE Mandy Palframan, who jumped into the freezing river in Chippenham, in January to save a suicidal man she spotted in the water while out shopping, received an award for her bravery from police. more...
CHIPPENHAM High Street will be lined with trestle tables for a party to celebrate the Queen's golden jubilee. more...
MUM Kay Sarraff is furious after the last evening bus from Chippenham to Calne drove off, leaving her teenage daughter stranded in the town late at night. more...
CHIPPENHAM is bracing itself for a Viking invasion, more than a thousand years after the first Nordic hordes descended on the town. more...
KEEP-FIT enthusiast Matthew Sperring collapsed and died in a Chippenham gym. more...
CARNIVAL sounds filled Corsham Primary School on Wednesday with fun-filled workshops and performances. more...
PLANS for a £150,000 multi-sports pavilion in Box should be put on hold until a parish referendum is held, say villagers. more...
A JUDGE has decreed that a supermarket seasoned pork product can be called Parma ham even though it comes from Corsham rather than Italy. more...
DEVIZES fire chief Julian Beinhorn has won the town council by-election, caused by the death of Jean Owen, for the Conservative Part. more...
DIANE Gooch, who has been managing residential homes for older people in Devizes for more than 15 years, bid farewell to the town last week as she leaves to run a home in Malmesbury. more...
DEVIZES is to open the Queen's jubilee celebrations on Monday June 3 with a royal walkabout. more...
BUTCHER Steve Cook will be reviving Victorian memories at Devizes' golden jubilee celebrations. more...
People all over Wiltshire will be taking a step back in time to discover the county's rich and fascinating past during Local History Week. more...
UNTIL now, this car has been kept closely under wraps. more...
SOME marques are celebrated for their safety, such as the Volvos which feature in the picture above. more...
BARGAIN hunters seeking their next car may like to know about a `showroom' with a difference . . . more...
THE name Cecil Kimber probably means nothing to most of today's drivers. more...
I think it's fair to say that this category of motorcycle, the big trailie, although hugely popular in Europe has never really caught on here in Britain. more...
Vauxhall, part of General Motors, the world's largest vehicle manufacturers, has a long and proud history in Britain. more...
Audi begins the countdown for a successful defence of its Le Mans 24 Hour motor race title by contesting important warm-up trials in France on Sunday. more...
The combined performance and composure of Audi's flagship S8 quattro has blasted its way in to the world record books a feat accomplished with the driver wearing a blindfold! more...
Team Bentley has revealed details of the 2002-specification EXP Speed 8 Le Mans GT Prototype with which it will contest the 24-hours of Le Mans on 15/16 and June 15/16. more...
ANIMAL expert Terry Hooper believes a family of big cats could be thriving in the countryside near Highworth after a spate of sightings. more...
Badminton organisers are hoping this year's event will be the best ever as the highlight of many horse lovers' calendar returns after a two-year enforced break caused by foot and mouth disease. more...
DIANE Gooch, who has been managing residential homes for older people in Devizes for more than 15 years, bid farewell to the town last week as she leaves to run a home in Malmesbury. more...
A LADIES' night organised by Helen Pocock-Smith, wife of the worshipful master of the Lodge of Loyalty in Marlborough, raised more than £2,230 for charities, which Swindon firm Innogy is doubling. more...
FEW customers buying their weekly shopping in Somerfield, Marlborough, are aware that manager Rob Parnell and his staff pay for the education of 35 children in West Africa. more...
PLANS for a £150,000 multi-sports pavilion in Box should be put on hold until a parish referendum is held, say villagers. more...
John Wilkes, 54, of Brecon Close, Melksham, appeared before Chippenham magistrates on Monday charged with nine counts of theft, totalling £34,114.25, between February 16 1999 and January 29 2000. more...
DANCING queens will top the bill in a light-hearted look at 1,000 years of royalty this weekend. more...
A WREXHAM-BASED man is looking for a friend last known to live in the Melksham area. more...
A TEENAGER who terrified diners by waving a gun in a café has been sentenced to community service. more...
ON MARCH 8 the Wiltshire Times published a report on the inquest into the death of a 92-year-old woman from the Firlawn Nursing Home, The Street, Holt. more...
THE National Trust is appealing for volunteers to help run several of its admin centres in west Wiltshire. more...
ONE of the oldest structures on the Wilts & Berks Canal is to be restored to its former glory by volunteers. more...
PEWSEY Vale's innovative Wigglybus celebrated the beginning of another three years of life on Saturday. more...
VILLAGERS in Fittleton, in the Pewsey Vale, have been left without any grassroots local government representation after all their parish councillors resigned in protest over new red tape which central Government is bringing in. more...
THE latest production by Pewsey Vale Amateur Dramatic Society, the comedy Out Of Order, has been hailed one of its greatest successes in recent years after playing to packed houses. more...
A VERSE for the golden jubilee sparked jubilation for a Durrington poet Christina Watkinson. more...
HUNDREDS of people descended on Tidworth leisure centre last week in the hope of having their prized family possessions valued by experts from the BBC Antiques Roadshow. more...
HIGH winds over the weekend made fishing very difficult and weights were below their best. more...
WILTSHIRE play their second warm up match of this season against Hampshire 2nd XI at Southampton today and on Sunday play their first match in the 38 County Cup against the Somerset Cricket Board X1 at Chippenham (11am start). more...
FORMER Gloucestershire professional Nick Trainor blasted Chippenham out of the National Knockout Cup on Sunday 28 April. more...
CORSHAM'S first venture in the National Knockout Cup ended in an 84-run defeat in the first round. more...
CORSHAM Cricket Club will be holding a registration and enrolment evening for all youth section members and their parents on Tuesday, May 7 starting at 6.15pm. more...
SWINDON, with pre-season preparations complete, begin life in Gloucester & Wiltshire Division 1 when they entertain Apperley at the County Ground tomorrow. more...
Steve Twine's Wootton Bassett 1st XI will be confident of competing well in the first league match of the season, at home to Colwall, following their emphatic cup win over Keynsham last Sunday. more...
OPENING day's fixtures in the Wiltshire Cricket League are: more...
SKURRAYS WILTSHIRE LEAGUE more...
WILTSHIRE under 18s will be looking to reap revenge on behalf of their more senior counterparts on Wednesday night when they take on Hampshire in the final of the Southern Counties Championship. more...
SCREWFIX DIRECT LEAGUE: WESTBURY United manager Derek Graham was a happy man after his side recorded their biggest win of the season on Saturday with a 4-0 trouncing of Yeovil Town Reserves. more...
MELKSHAM Town's hopes of a top ten Premier Division finish are still very much alive after they extended their unbeaten run to five matches on Tuesday night with victory over eighth placed visitors Backwell United. more...
SCREWFIX DIRECT LEAGUE: WARMINSTER Town boss Andy Crabtree is hoping his side's encouraging display in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Bath City Reserves will not prove to be their Screwfix League swansong. more...
WARMINSTER almost caused Bath huge embarrassment in this game . more...
SKURRAY'S WILTSHIRE LEAGUE: NEIGHBOURS Pewsey Vale Reserves and Devizes Town Reserves shared the points in a 2-2 draw in the Premier Division. more...
TROWBRIDGE 2nds closed their season with an emphatic victory. more...
Henry Paul has been recalled to the Gloucester side for tomorrow's West Country derby against Bath at Kingsholm as full-back. more...
IT is very easy for me to comment when I'm not involved at the moment, but the manner of our defeat at Newcastle was extremely disappointing. more...
Another away loss and sub-standard performance following the previous week is unfortunately all too familiar for us this season. more...
ANDY GURNEY will miss the first three matches of next season after being banned by the Football Association. more...
BOB Holt insists the need to increase revenue while reducing costs will mean an end to the `freebie' culture at the County Ground. more...
Town director Bob Holt has admitted that early season ticket sales are beyond the club's expetations. more...
I WRITE regarding the letter about traffic turning right out of Drove Road into Cumberland Road. more...
I was delighted to read John Short's comments regarding the vigilance of his staff in recognising the sub-standard materials being used by the contractor responsible for laying the new Lawn cycle path. more...
AFTER the increase in local tax last year (2000-2001) and the increase this year (2001-2002) of 15 per cent, it seems the council is now already looking for an extra three per cent. more...
I READ a letter from Mr K Austin in the Evening Advertiser on Friday, April 26. more...
I SAW your few lines in the Advertiser (April 21) in relation to the pub in Essex which was refused extra time for St George's Day but the O'Neill's pub around the corner which was granted an extension for St Patrick's Day. more...
I have not been to the new Swindon nightclub Soda, but from the letters I have seen from people who were refused entry simply because they were old Vadims customers, or because they were not trendy enough, or over a certain age, I don't think I'll bother. more...
I am a smartly-dressed, respectable,well-mannered,thirty-something female. more...
I HAVE been following the debate on the nightclub Soda. The comments from Steven Reid about Swindon needing a superclub like Soda seems very rich to me. more...
I agree wholeheartedly with E Vertannes letter. I have lived in Penhill for the past two years and have found nothing but friendliness and good neighbours. more...
SELF-employed painter and decorator Stephen Hobbs parks his seven-litre Rolls Royce Silver Shadow on the drive of his Swindon council house and retires for the evening with a smile on his face. more...
A FAMILY of council tenants were left with an outdoor pool they did not want after a drainage pipe running underneath their Penhill home ruptured. more...
THE landlords of Sherston's Rattlebone Inn have turned the tables on the furore surrounding allegations of Prince Harry's drug taking at the pub. more...
Swindon: Police investigating the theft of a £30,000 ultrasound scanner from Princess Margaret Hospital are liaising with their colleagues in Gloucestershire to see if a theft of similar equipment can be linked. more...
AN exhibition by mental health service users in Swindon is underway at the Wyvern Theatre. more...
A PRESSURE group has accused Swindon Council of promoting underage pregnancy. more...
MORE disabled people in Wiltshire will have access to the world of IT thanks to a Co-op community dividend grant to help refurbish old computers donated by businesses. more...
LANDLADY Liz McGregor will be raising an extra large glass for the Golden Jubilee because she too is celebrating her Big Five 0. more...
PUPILS were today praised by their headteacher and the police for the way they reacted after their school bus was involved in a crash with a van. more...
POLICE have assembled a special unit with the specific brief of catching Swindon's bag snatcher as quickly as possible. more...
A COMMUNITY policeman who set up a residents' crime prevention scheme has been recognised for work in the town. more...
WOULD-be part-time firefighters are being sought in Wootton Bassett. more...
Swindon's National Monuments Record Centre in Swindon is displaying an exhibition of photographs with a difference. more...
ERLESTOKE Prison has denied that the number of inmates is set to soar. more...
YOUNG footballers aiming for the big time can now follow their dream without giving up their education. more...
CHARLIE Wilson became one of the first recognised victims of the so-called Swindon Disease when he died 27 years ago. more...
A POLICE operation to try to curb the speed of hundreds of bikers who converge on Avebury every Wednesday has had some surprise results. more...
RED tape could delay the arrival of the first group of overseas nurses to Princess Margaret Hospital. more...
THE EVENING Advertiser's parent company has made two local charities' day by handing over a total of £4,000 in grants. more...
KEBAB van owner Zeynel Caner has been fined £800 for street trading without the consent of Swindon Council. more...
SCHOOLS chief Garry Perkins paid the ultimate price last night for Swindon's failing education authority. more...
THE man in charge of Swindon's failing education system was the major casualty at last night's local elections. more...
ABBEY MEADS WARD more...
Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith today discovered the scale of the task he faces in returning the Tories to national power, as local election results showed them far short of the kind of breakthrough they need to boot Tony Blair out of Downing Street. more...
SWINDON Council was one of 30 across England to trial pioneering new ways of voting this year. more...
FORMER cabinet minister Mo Mowlam says legalisation could be the only way to cure Swindon's drug epidemic. more...
THE husband of Natalie Williams has appeared in court charged with murdering her. more...
VANDALS urinated on PE equipment and defecated inside the old Filands site of Malmesbury School in a £10,000 rampage. more...
THE NUMBER of teachers and support staff in South West schools is going up. more...
NOW that Coun Wendy Johnson and Ian Rees (head of transport) have eventually got the road built through the Lawns, I asked Coun Johnson if something could be done about the footpaths, which have been left in a disgusting state. more...
YOU have to have some sympathy for Garry Perkins. more...
MANY people will probably disagree with Mo Mowlam's belief that all drugs should be decriminalised. more...
A JUDGE branded brothers Jason Lee and Timothy Seviour as savage and brutal murderers for their horrific slaying of a young Trowbridge mother. more...
MURDER TRIAL: A POLICE manhunt to find Lizzie Cooper's killers sparked one of the biggest ever murder inquiries in Trowbridge. more...
MURDER TRIAL: NATIONAL childcare organisation has launched an investigation into how brothers Jason Lee and Timothy Seviour turned from young offenders into savage murderers. more...
MURDER TRIAL: KILLER brothers Jason Lee and Timothy Seviour spent most of their young lives in care. more...
MURDER TRIAL: A YEAR of torture for the Trowbridge family of tragic Lizzie Cooper has come to an end as her "sadistic killers" were jailed for life this week. more...
NURSES at Bath's Royal United Hospital special baby care unit have said a special thank you to Wiltshire Times readers. more...
A VILLAGE school near Trowbridge has been celebrating its 150th anniversary with a week of special events. more...
CHILDREN being treated at the Royal United Hospital will find their stays less painful with the help of 10 TV and video sets donated by Virgin Mobile staff. more...
ON MARCH 8 the Wiltshire Times published a report on the inquest into the death of a 92-year-old woman from the Firlawn Nursing Home, The Street, Holt. more...
PEOPLE at Paxcroft Mead were invited to give their views on the future of Hilperton on Sunday. more...
THREE university students who spent four days on the run from Dartmoor prison during a charity jailbreak have raised nearly £900 for good causes. more...
THE National Trust is appealing for volunteers to help run several of its admin centres in west Wiltshire. more...
The ASDA store in Trowbridge is running a midwife of the year competition and is asking people to nominate the midwife or health visitor they think deserves recognition. more...
CHILDREN from three village primary schools took to the netball court and football pitch on Wednesday to show their talent. more...
PEOPLE in west Wiltshire have been told a cinema is still a possibility in the district. more...
A COUNCIL offering higher pay to recruit more staff has taken on 30 new workers. more...
A NEW league table designed to give a true picture of councils' performances has put Wiltshire County Council at the top. more...
BOGUS workmen, rogue salesmen and doorstep traders are being targeted by trading standards officers in an attempt to stop pensioners being duped out of their savings. more...
BUSINESSES across Wiltshire have been warned to watch out for companies using unethical sales techniques. more...
BUSINESS people had the chance to discuss the state of the economy with an expert on Friday. more...
PUPILS at a west Wiltshire primary school laid flowers on war graves of Australian and New Zealand soldiers maintaining a tradition going back more than 80 years. more...
A HOMELESS one-eyed alcoholic probably tripped in the dark and tumbled into the canal at Avoncliff where he drowned. more...
THERE have been yet more warnings this week about conmen who are targeting vulnerable elderly people. more...
I thought I would jot a few lines regarding public meetings organised by the council. more...
MAY I, on behalf of the management committee, staff, parents and children here at Stepping Stones say a very belated thank you for raising money for our group through the sale of the winning Christmas card in your competition. more...
THE proposed one-way system for Bradford on Avon (Wiltshire Times, March 29) is a depressing re-hash of a scheme that has been rejected once already. more...
ONCE AGAIN the county council has failed in bringing forward suitable plans for Melksham Town Bridge traffic calming scheme. more...
YOUR report (April 26) concerning planning approval given by west Wiltshire councillors for five houses to be built at Long's Yard, St Margaret's Street, Bradford on Avon, failed to mention that their previous refusal for a virtually identical development on this site was upheld, not on appeal, but at a very costly public inquiry. more...
THANK goodness journalism is not dead (Star Letter printed in last week's Wiltshire Times). more...
ANY of your readers hoping for a respite in the hunting debate may well be disappointed. more...
I REFER to the letters published in last week's edition of the Wiltshire Times regarding the subject of irresponsible dog owners. more...
I am writing to urge readers NOT to give Dad chocolates or cake on Father's Day (June 16). more...
I have wondered why some streets in Trowbridge have front gardens that are an eyesore. more...
THE council has seen fit to raise council taxes by a staggering 11.2 per cent to £1,030.19 for Band D houses. more...
Two weeks ago you published a letter of mine written in response to one from Mr CA Varnam, who was criticising the increase in council tax along with payment of allowances to councillors. more...
A WARMINSTER school could soon be producing the Tim Henmans and David Beckhams of the future thanks to a successful £640,000 national lottery bid for new sports facilities. more...
A MAN with military connections has been arrested in connection with the rape of a teenage girl in Warminster. more...
PLANS for a £10m national archaeological centre in Warminster have received an enthusiastic welcome from regional businesses. more...
ORGANISERS of a major open-air charity show have had to move the venue and scrap a planned air display after authorities raised safety concerns. more...
A CHARITY that gives children affected by the Chernobyl disaster a chance to breathe clean air is holding a fundraising auction. more...
THE National Trust is appealing for volunteers to help run several of its admin centres in west Wiltshire. more...
A CHARITY based in Westbury is looking for sponsors who can change a child's life for just £10 a month. more...
PEOPLE came from all around the country to Westbury's transport extravaganza last Sunday. more...
A JUDGE branded brothers Jason Lee and Timothy Seviour as savage and brutal murderers for their horrific slaying of a young Trowbridge mother. more...
ANDY GURNEY will miss the first three matches of next season after being banned by the Football Association. more...
ACTRESS Marion Aspell knew the show had to go on evn though she was dripping blood all over the stage after a freak accident. more...
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