Archive

GAZETTE & HERALD: Mother Sarah Campbell has called for drivers to show more consideration to horse riders using local roads after her daughter was knocked off her horse only a year after she suffered a similar accident herself. Nine-year-old Katie

GAZETTE & HERALD: PATIENTS of sacked GP Barney Williams will be travelling to the House of Commons next week with a petition appealing for him to be reinstated. The 1,700-signature petition will be handed over to North Wiltshire MP James Gray, who

GAZETTE & HERALD: A RARE cricket scorebook recording performances by the great W.G. Grace and three members of his family has been unearthed in a garage in Chippenham. The 1862 scorebook, which will be auctioned at the Jubilee Salerooms in Pewsey

APRIL 22: SALES of tickets for this year's Wiltshire Festival rocketed this week after news that Irish soul band The Commitments are to join pop hunks Blue and songbird Jamelia on the bill. The nine-piece band, dubbed the Saviours of Soul, will be flying

Ref: 12805/1GAZETTE & HERALD: FIREFIGHTERS in Chippenham were not stuck for a solution on Monday when they were called out to a glue spillage near Ivy Lane School. They were alerted after a white substance was seen on the pavement at lunchtime. The

Ref: 12790/2GAZETTE & HERALD: SEVERAL thousand model railway enthusiasts queued for tickets to view the latest displays at this year's Trainwest exhibition at the Olympiad in Chippenham at the weekend. More than 3,000 people were rewarded with the

GAZETTE & HERALD: One of the main roads in to Chippenham was blocked for two hours on Tuesday after two lorries collided on the A350. Firefighters spent an hour cutting one of the lorry drivers from the wreckage of his cab, after the impact trapped

GAZETTE & HERALD: PLANS are under way for a glitzy fund-raising May Ball in aid of The Prince's Trust, being held in the ballroom at Hartham Park. The black tie event will begin with a champagne reception in the rose garden, followed by a four-course

GAZETTE & HERALD: THIEVES who walked out of a clothing store in a set of new clothes managed to shake off a former employee who attempted to pursue them. The two men left Wadswick Country Store, in Box, each wearing a shooting coat and carrying a

Norris McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records, died aged 78, whilst playing tennis at his family home in Kington Langley. Mr McWhirter fell ill on Monday evening while enjoying his favourite hobby, and suffered a heart attack. He set up

THE Pewsey Platform skateboard BMX and inline club is promoting its first ever Back 2 Basics Jam on Saturday. Contestants are expected from over a wide area to compete in classes for the under 14s, 14-17 year olds and over 17s. Attractions, say the organisers

AN elderly woman is believed to be the latest victim of a vandal plaguing Pewsey Vale villages with a high powered catapult or similar weapon. The woman in her 70s, who lives in Court Farm Close in Netheravon, found a hole in one of her windows when she

PEWSEY parish councillors are considering making a wall in the village centre available for graffiti. The idea was put forward at Tuesday's parish council meeting by Coun Marilyn Day, chairman of the Pewsey Area Community Trust. The council had written

CHIPPENHAM striker Sam Allison had mixed emotions after being recalled to the first team in the defeat at Hednesford. The former Salisbury and Paulton Rovers player was pleased to be back in the first 11 but admitted he was frustrated by the 4-1 defeat

CHIPPENHAM boss Steve White will be hoping it is a case of third time lucky when Moor Green visit Hardenhuish Park this weekend. The Bluebirds lost twice in the space of three days away to the Moors in February in the league and the league cup fifth round

CAMPAIGNERS battling to save the Devizes and Malmesbury maternity units look set to win their fight for more public consultation on the plans. The consultation period is due to end on Monday but it is expected that on Tuesday the Kennet and North Wiltshire

MINETY residents say their human rights have been trashed by gypsies who have set up camp on the edge of the village. It has been more than a year since 14 caravans were moved onto a field bought by the gypsies on the B4040 Minety to Cricklade Road. But

AMANDA MURDER INQUIRY: KILLER Ian Cortis probably hanged himself on Friday morning after hearing a news bulletins speculating a body thought to be missing nursery assistant Amanda Edwards had been found, police believe. Just hours earlier detectives had

Ref: 12832/2THE Reverend Neill Archer was installed as the new vicar of Malmesbury Abbey on Tuesday night. Lord Lieutenant Sir Maurice Johnston, North Wiltshire MP James Gray and Mayor of Malmesbury Charles Vernon were part of the congregation as the

St George's Day picture competition winners Hannah Kidner, Natalia Fedyszyn, Daniel Clark, Ben Tarrant and Lidia Fedyszyn with landlord and landlady of the Wyndham Arms pub, in Dinton, Duncan and Helen Bendermacher and assistant manageress Tracy West.

THE North Wilts Junior Cricket League gets under way this Sunday, with a number of new teams. Shrivenham have joined the league with a team in the under 11 division, while Swindon, who fielded an under 13 team last season, have now also entered under

YOUTH cricket in Devizes gets up and running again this weekend with the first junior coaching sessions being held. This season's Devizes Cricket Club Under 11 and Under 13 coaching programmes will be held on Sundays from 10am to noon starting this weekend

Swindon unions are backing a campaign to stop the British National Party winning election seats this summer. Yesterday we told how the TUC has put together a special booklet which they say will explode the lies and misconceptions on asylum seekers and

A STAFF development manager at local opticians Haine & Smith has celebrated her 10th anniversary at the firm. Angela Davey, who in January won the Employee of the Year award, joined the team in the spring of 1994. She joined as a trainee dispensing

MOTOROLA the world's second largest producer of mobile phones has seen its profits triple in the first quarter of this year. The company, which has its Global Telecom Solutions Segment at Groundwell in North Swindon, has said that higher sales of mobile

DEVIZES Bowls Clubs are hoping to entice first-timers along to their annual open day next weekend and at the same time boost their membership. Men, women, boys and girls of all ages are being invited to visit the club in Long Street between 10.30am and

DEVIZES Town Youth stepped up their bid for honours in the under 15s Blue Division of the Wiltshire Times and Chippenham News Mid-Wilts Youth and Minor League with an 8-1 win over Chippenham Town Youth. Devizes went in 3-1 up at the break and increased

LOCAL footballers are being asked to come forward and take part in a once in a life-time fundraising tour. Lenton Griffins Football Club, skippered by Martin Dale, are attempting to set a world record this summer for the longest ever football tour. In

PEWSEY Vale Youth are looking to steal a march on their opponents next season by getting in some expert football coaching this weekend. Half of the club's age group teams, which span from the U7s to the U15s, are being treated to a day with Southampton

A NEW bus prefect scheme has been introduced to tackle problems of rowdy behaviour on Wiltshire's school buses. Children will be trained by Wiltshire County Council's passenger transport unit to report any incidents of bad behaviour on the buses and help

A HAT-TRICK each from Hannah Way and Becky Watson saw Chippenham completely overwhelm Westbury. Way scored her first with a drive down the centre. Jenny Hankinson then slotted home Chippenham's second. Watson she drove home her first after the ball rebounded

VOLUNTEERS from Wiltshire could be involved in manning a national telephone pregnancy crisis helpline. The co-ordinator of Careline Confidential, the national helpline, is visiting the Swindon Pregnancy Crisis Centre on Saturday and volunteers will also

SHERSTON Town celebrated winning the Premier Division title in the Vanitec-Computers-sponsored Chippenham Sunday League with a comfortable away win over Terry's FC. The 7-3 victory extended the new champions' 100 per cent away record this season. Andy

WILTSHIRE people are being urged to vote for gold Stonehenge artefacts as the country's finest treasure in an upcoming TV series. Channel Five, now renamed Five, is currently preparing Britain's Finest, a series celebrating everything that is great about

THE inaugural North Wilts and District League cup finals weekend proved a tremendous success until the heavens opened. A superb succession of showpiece games took place at Swindon Town's County Ground on Saturday, but Sunday's programme was a total washout

WILTSHIRE'S Euro MP Dr Caroline Jackson has warned that sub-standard meat could be sold in British shops after former Soviet bloc countries enter the EU in May. She believes that there is a very real danger that food from slaughterhouses and other plants

PUPILS at schools across Wiltshire are being invited to dig up the county's past in an online treasure hunt. The competition is being run by Sense of the South West in partnership with Window on Wiltshire's Heritage and other online partners. Children

A STIRRING second half performance from Calne saw almost them come back to beat high-flying Hallen. Kelvin Highmore's side got off to the worst possible start when they fell behind after two minutes. But they battled back to earn a point with a late equaliser

PEWSEY were dealt a cruel blow on Tuesday night when Carterton struck two late goals to steal victory. Vale manager Steve Wootton was forced to field a weaken side due to players being unavailable but his team led from a 38th minute Andy Brien penalty

PEWSEY recorded one of their best results of the season as they put last year's champions North Leigh to the sword. Steve Wootton's side have had a tough season struggling at the wrong end of the table. But they managed to produce an all-round excellent

FOUR players, including Corsham's Dave Hopkins, were sent off as this derby game ended in controversy. Larkhall's Jim McLay, Terry Wade and Simon Gilbert were all sent off along with Hopkins were all red carded after a scuffle late in the game. The referee

THE dark side of Devizes' Jekyll and Hyde nature turned up on Saturday as they were well beaten by a rejuvenated Dawlish. Devizes hammered Dawlish 5-1 in the cup back in November but a change of manager and a wholesale change of players meant the visitors

THE battle to stop proposed wind turbines being put up on a hill overlooking Ramsbury took a step forward on Friday. More than 120 people crowded into a public meeting called by the newly-formed village group opposing the scheme, called NOWT (No Wind

Ref. 30024-15SWINDON U3A's Dance Orchestra has spread the organisation's reputation beyond the borough boundaries. It was asked to perform at a conference attended by several Government ministers at Westminster on the emotive subject of the needs and

Ref. 29964-03SHIRLEY MATHIAS discovers how retirement can be a time to learn fresh skills and make new friends IF you join a course run by the University of the Third Age do not ask your fellow students how old they are. You can be certain they are all

Ref. 30053-90After 10 years campaigning, youngsters in Swindon are thrilled that at last work has started on their new skatepark Skateboarders are thrilled that the first park for them to practise their sport in Swindon is finally being built after a

GAZETTE & HERALD: THE planning has started for the Calne in Bloom gardening competition this summer. Keen gardeners from the Calne Civic Society and St Mary's Gardening Club have come together to plan the event in the town in June, with support from

GAZETTE & HERALD: JAZZ enthusiasts gathered at a musical evening to help raise hundreds of pounds for local charities last weekend. The Jazz Night at Calne Town Hall on Friday was organised by the Rotary Club, and featured recently formed jazz group

GAZETTE & HERALD: A SEMINAR which will discuss all aspects of urban regeneration, will be held in Calne Library next Wednesday. The interactive seminar will be hosted by Aaron Evans Architects who designed the award winning library, supported by landscape

GAZETTE & HERALD: KILLER Ian Cortis was sacked from a part-time job as a bouncer at Buds nightclub in Chippenham after an incident with a young girl, the Gazette understands. Police have declined to give any information on whether or not Cortis was

FAR from turning up a Bronze Age burial or golden breastplate, archaeologists found little more than a few broken bottles in an exploratory dig in the car park behind the One Stop shop in Snuff Street, Devizes this week. But they are far from disconsolate

FREELANCE tutor Cherry Nixon was so astonished at the naivety of some students on her antiques courses about using the Internet that she has planned a seminar on buying and selling on the Ebay auction site. Ms Nixon regularly takes antiques courses at

LITTLETON Panell motorist Bridget Green has failed in her attempt to get compensation from Wiltshire County Council after her car was damaged when she drove over a pothole near Potterne. Miss Green, a former teacher at Dauntsey's School, claimed £200

FOUR trees in Snails Lane, Devizes, are at the centre of a dispute after a conservationist stopped Kennet District council contractors from felling them on Monday. Mark Wickham, who lives in nearby Castle Lane, Devizes, was furious when he saw the men

THE problem of finding a permanent site for a skateboard park in Devizes could be overcome by investing in a mobile facility which would tour the district. Council officers believe that residents who would object to a permanent skatepark close to their

BUSINESSMAN Bill Montgomery who ran Billy's Gym and Tonic in Devizes Market Place, said he is still committed to re-opening the gym elsewhere in the town. The gym, above the One-Stop Shop, closed suddenly in February following the expiry of the lease

Ref: 12814/3RESIDENTS of Marina Meadows in Devizes were celebrating a partial victory this week after Wessex Water performed a U-turn over diverting traffic along their narrow residential roads. The utility company is about to embark on a major exercise

AT least two motorists have fallen victim to clampers in Marlborough this week and had to pay £99 to get their cars released. County councillor Margaret Boulton said it was disgusting that developer, Village Green, which built the Kelham Gardens estate

PLANS to put a dove cote in the Priory Gardens in Marlborough to woo pigeons away from the town centre's listed buildings have run up against a grans' army. The council's plans have ruffled the feathers of pensioners living in The Priory, a sheltered

Ref: 12835/1CASHPOINT users have had thousands of pounds drained from their bank accounts thanks to a small device crooks fixed to the front of an automated cash dispenser in Marlborough. Two of the other bank cashpoints in the High Street were stuffed

THE little fished Moulden Hill Fishery sprang into life last weekend for Moulden Hill Angling club's first match of the season. There was a good variety of fish caught with the match winner Mike Hawkes taking 12lb 4oz of 1lb plus perch and tench to 3-

Ref. 30029-23YOUNG pianist Jemima Palfreyman may be just 14 but she is hitting the right note with regulars at a Swindon pub. The teenager from Green Lane, Upper Stratton, is fast becoming centre of attention at The Rat Trap pub after landlord Mark Richardson

Ref. 30052-17BORED teenagers in a rural village say their parish council is spending £27,000 on play equipment for younger children but is ignoring their own pleas for a skateboard ramp. James Tutt, 13, and his friends, who live in Liddington near Swindon

Ref. 30040-30A WARTIME dance at the Mechanics Institute sent Cupid's arrows flying between soldier Ron Warne from London and a pretty Swindon girl Gertrude Jenner, Trudy for short. From then on they glided over the floor together every time Ron had permission

Ref. 29901-4TAXI drivers are being urged by Swindon Council and the police to use designated taxi ranks in the town centre. Letters have been sent out to taxi companies asking them to stop picking up passengers in John Street, which is awash with people

Ref. 30049-10NEW British citizens were formally welcomed at a special ceremony at Swindon's Civic Offices yesterday. The ceremony, which was the first of its kind in the town, saw three applicants take an oath of allegiance to the Queen and a pledge of

Ref. 29955-48HAVING to leave the RAF in the 1950s when he developed insulin dependent diabetes influenced Hugh Rees when he joined the U3A eight years ago. The 70-year-old former pilot, who worked as a draughtsman until he retired, promptly signed up

MORE nonsense from Whitehall. Will our country soon be ruled by schoolchildren? When two thirds of children left school at 14 years they had two years in the adult world at work. Now every child has to be at school until 16. It would have made more sense

NOW that the Prime Minister has conceded, against all his previous statements saying that it was not necessary, that we will have a referendum on the new EU constitution, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who signed the Conservative

I really do despair of our MPs! We have an announced referendum on Europe coming up, we have problems in the NHS, the transport system, the education system, council taxes are through the roof and a large number of lads are in the firing line in Iraq.

I read with interest one of your reader's letters printed last week, which queried the financial arrangements pertaining to the proposed new sports village and football stadium at Peatmoor. From what I've read so far it would seem that the whole deal

I wonder whether someone could enlighten me as to when my children become adults? They can have sexual relationships at 16, drink at 18, all-inclusive holiday say adults at 12 and now Party in the Park organisers think they are adults at 10! I recently

MOTORISTS who suffered damage to vehicles in Wiltshire potholes in December/January may be interested to know how I got on when I challenged the Highways Authority, claiming for the damage done to my car. It appears that the Highways Authority holds all

AS town councillors we are well aware of the traffic problems in Devizes and that a bypass route has been an ongoing issue for decades (Gazette letters from Frank Giles and Sarah Padwick, April 15). The county council is responsible for traffic management

CHIPPENHAM'S season ended on a high with an emphatic away win. A penalty converted by Ceri Morris made the score 0-3 to Chippenham at half time. In the second half prop Chris Murrow had to leave the field with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by Sean

AN injury-hit Chippenham fielded a team of former players but still triumphed. Whitehall put the first points on the board with a try from an interception but Chippenham regrouped and equalised with a try through centre Dave Burrows. The conversion was

DESPITE the difference in their league positions it was Bassett who took the game to their second-placed opponents. The visitors mounted a sustained series of assaults on the Bassett line, and eventually the pressure told Bassett conceded a penalty, which

CHIPPENHAM kept their hands firmly on the Dorset & Wilts Vase with a comprehensive victory over Wimborne at North Dorset RFC on Sunday. This win gave Chippenham a third consecutive win another unique achievement for the players and the club. Playing

CORSHAM concluded their Dorset and Wilts Division One campaign with a hard-earned victory over their Melksham neighbours. With Supermarine defeating Blandford on the final Saturday of the season, the Lacock Road outfit climbed two places into a healthier

CONGRATULATIONS to the two girls for achieving their black belts at the judo club last week. In your paper it stated that they are the first girls ever in the history of the club to achieve this. To put the record straight, in 1984 Annette Giles, a Devizes

In reply to the letter concerning unnecessary publications (Gazette, April 15), in April we are in the first of two seasons when we all complain about the size of the council tax. The question on everybody's lips is what on earth is done with all that

The developers of the Roundway Mill site, for 30 to 60 houses (sic), are engaged in a public consultation exercise on the proposal, and I thought it could be of interest to readers to know the response of the Trust for Devizes, making two points: The

GAZETTE & HERALD: A grateful customer who injured her neck in a freak swimming accident in Chippenham Olympiad's pool gave attentive staff flowers to thank them for their care. The woman was hurt last Wednesday afternoon when a boy, who failed to

My comments come as a newcomer to the area, and as a midwife. The Wiltshire midwife-led units have long been held in high esteem and are the envy of many other parts of the country. It was with sadness, therefore, that I learned that two of them Devizes

I was amazed when I read your front page article (Gazette, April 15) about the plan to divert traffic through Marina Meadows, Devizes. This was not just because of the inconvenience and chaos it is going to cause. Nor was it because it is unacceptable

GAZETTE & HERALD: CHIPPENHAM'S sole traffic warden, Duncan Wostenholme who two years ago brought the town's traffic to a standstill by the unorthodox measure of turning off traffic lights at a major traffic junction is set to quit at the end of the

REGARDING the letter from Peter Thorpe on new postal services (Gazette, April 15). Yes, his post and everybody else's mail is getting to them nearly three hours later than usual. Those who must be obeyed, bosses at Royal Mail, have cut the hours, made

GAZETTE & HERALD: TWO former taxi drivers with a grudge against their ex-boss disabled half his fleet of cars on a tyre-slashing rampage, a court was told. Six Home James Taxis, parked outside separate addresses in Chippenham, were put out of action

GAZETTE & HERALD: BLUEBIRDS' drummer Tony Keen was back with a bang at the Wiltshire Premier Shield final on Monday after being told he was not banned from the beat at matches. The 55-year-old, of Park Lane, Chippenham, claimed he had been told he

GAZETTE & HERALD: WEST Wiltshire Primary Care Trust said this week there was nothing unusual about the resignations of four midwives from Chippenham Maternity Unit. Fears have been expressed that the midwives will not be replaced immediately. The

GAZETTE & HERALD: Optical engineer Geoffrey Smith, 60, was killed in a triple vehicle collision on the A4 at Pewsham, near Chippenham, after a car in front veered across the path of an oncoming lorry, an inquest heard. Coroner Richard van Oppen recorded

Kewal Singh RamaGAZETTE & HERALD: Pines Hotel owner Kewal Singh Rama will have to pay out more than £8,000 for breaking key fire regulations that could have cost the lives of his clients, after a blaze at the hotel in 2002. Rama, of the Pines Hotel

GAZETTE & HERALD: KILLER Ian Cortis was sacked from a part-time job as a bouncer at Buds nightclub in Chippenham after an incident with a young girl, the Gazette understands. Police have declined to give any information on whether or not Cortis was

The digger which ended up in the village pond at GrittletonGAZETTE & HERALD: A 38-year-old year old businessman from Grittleton, near Chippenham, has been charged with two counts of criminal damage after a line of trees were destroyed by a mechanical

TOMMY MOONEY wants to stay at the County Ground and admits he would be 'very disappointed' if he found himself anywhere else for the 2004-5 campaign. The 32-year-old is focused on helping Town complete a successful promotion push but has had an informal

GAZETTE & HERALD: POLICE are trying to trace a car involved in an accident, which left 13-year-old schoolboy Danny Stiles with serious internal injuries. Danny, a pupil at The Corsham School, is in a stable condition at Bath's Royal United Hospital

GAZETTE & HERALD: FALKLANDS veteran Timothy Harker, who embezzled hundreds of pounds from people's credit cards, has been jailed for nine months. Harker, of Pockeredge Road, Corsham, rummaged through bins at Buckley Barracks, where he worked as a

GAZETTE & HERALD: A marauding moggie with a taste for travel has hit the high road again. Jack, a mischievous Blue Burmese, from Box, who has hitched lifts to tourist hot spots across the southwest, has been missing for a fortnight. His owner Beverley

The far-right British National Party has no chance of success in the upcoming Euro and local elections, North Wiltshire MP James Gray said this week. The BNP met in Malmesbury on Saturday to select candidates and said support for the party was up. But

POLICE want to identify a young man who exposed himself on a bus in front of a nine-year-old girl. The three men were also abusive to the bus driver who felt so threatened that he defended himself with a screwdriver. The incident happened on the 55a Stagecoach

NORTH Wiltshire MP James Gray has strongly attacked proposals that spell the virtual shutdown of Malmesbury Hospital. Mr Gray said he was deeply concerned at Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust's bid to cut the number of outpatient services

CAMPAIGNERS battling to save the Devizes and Malmesbury maternity units look set to win their fight for more public consultation on the plans. The consultation period is due to end on Monday but it is expected that on Tuesday the Kennet and North Wiltshire

EXCLUSIVE: THE best friend of nursery assistant Amanda Edwards, whose body was found buried on a building site a week after she disappeared, has told of her heartache. Ellen Wilkinson worked with Miss Edwards from Purton, at the Little Foxes nursery in

KILLER Ian Cortis was sacked from a part-time job as a bouncer at Buds nightclub in Chippenham after an incident with a young girl, the Gazette understands. Police have declined to give any information on whether or not Cortis was arrested for any offence

A CASE of mistaken identity led to an innocent bystander being butted and punched in a Pewsey pub. Kennet Magistrates Court in Devizes heard on Tuesday that the attacker Karl Wyatt, 25, was full of remorse for the assault on James Burchill in The Moonrakers

PAST and present students at Pewsey Vale School can apply for an educational grant in memory of former governor, the late Doreen King. The Doreen King Foundation is a trust fund set up by Mrs King who was a member of the board of governors of Pewsey Vale

Ref: 12767/1MORE than 30 children have been taking part in a safe cycling scheme at Pewsey. The Easter holidays National Cycling Proficiency Test Training undertaken at Pewsey Police Station is understood to be the only one of its kind in Wiltshire and

NEW recruit Rene Regis has only spent less than a month at Hardenhuish Park but believes Chippenham have the players capable of competing in the new Conference Two division. The 30-year-old St Lucian utility player, who signed on transfer deadline day

CHIPPENHAM goalkeeper Mark Hervin believes he has been cursed since winning the Dr Martens League's Safe Hands Award for March. During last month the 31-year-old let in just one goal but since being handed the award a fortnight ago has leaked ten goals

CHARLIE Griffin had a night to remember when he captained Chippenham against his old club Swindon Town and inspired their Wiltshire Premier Shield final victory. The 24-year-old, who scored two goals in eight starts during two years at the County Ground

BLUEBIRDS boss Steve White has vowed he will not walk away from Hardenhuish Park despite the club purse strings being tightened further next season. As the club's play-off bid has faltered White has highlighted the difficulties he has been facing to get

NORTH Wiltshire MP James Gray has strongly attacked proposals that spell the virtual shutdown of Malmesbury Hospital. Mr Gray said he was deeply concerned at Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust's bid to cut the number of outpatient services

MUMS in Swindon and Wootton Bassett told health bosses that they had not been informed they could use Malmesbury's midwife-led maternity unit. Ten mothers, the majority from Swindon and Wootton Bassett and a couple from Malmesbury, voiced their support

THE Malmesbury-based George Veterinary Group has urged pet owners to give their animals annual booster injections, despite claims they are unnecessary. A group of 30 homeopathic vets, in a letter to the Veterinary Times, said many vaccinations lasted

AMANDA MURDER INQUIRY: 10.48am: Amanda leaves her home in Purton to take her boyfriend David Board to his home in Bremhill. She calls into the One Stop convenience store in the village. 11.30am: Amanda drops Mr Board, 19, off at his home in Bremhill.

AMANDA MURDER INQUIRY: DETECTIVE Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett, Wiltshire's head of CID, has lived and breathed the Amanda Edwards case since he was phoned at home on the Sunday afternoon, three days after the 21-year-old nursery assistant went missing

AMANDA MURDER INQUIRY: THE decision to release convicted rapist Ian Cortis from custody, even though he could have been held for another day, was the only one police could have taken, said Det Ch Supt Paul Howlett. Cortis was released from 80 hours of

DRAWINGS of the planned new £10m hospital in Malmesbury with nursing home, GP surgery and sheltered housing, have been revealed. Malmesbury Hospital Project Board chose the hospital's present site at Burton Hill as the location for the new development

EXCLUSIVE: THE best friend of nursery assistant Amanda Edwards, whose body was found buried on a building site a week after she disappeared, has told of her heartache. Ellen Wilkinson worked with Miss Edwards from Purton, at the Little Foxes nursery in

High-fliers. Emily Benham and Alice Butt, who are in Belgium representing Britain in the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships. DA5318P3.RISING orienteering stars Emily Benham and Alice Butt are currently in Belgium representing Britain in the

CHIPPENHAM Sports Club enjoyed one of the most significant days in their history when their new £730,000 clubhouse was officially opened on Saturday. The ribbon cutting at the Bristol Road facility was performed by Barbara Taylor, who has been a club

Last week was the National Mental Health Action week and many businesses will be aware that mental health can become an employment law issue. The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act specifically protects people suffering from a mental illness from discrimination

TEENAGE Calne footballer Steven Dean had a day to remember when he got to train with Premiership stars Jay-Jay Okocha and Ryan Giggs. The 15-year-old, from Tern Close, Calne, won the chance to train at Premiership Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium in a

CROP circle researcher and writer Lucy Pringle believes she has discovered what could be causing some of the annual phenomena that dot the Wiltshire landscape. Scientific experiments that she has been involved in, she said, have shown a noticeable change

WILTSHIRE fire officer Brian Joyce, who has just returned from Iraq, was horrified to see local firemen fight blazes without any proper protective clothing or equipment. Mr Joyce, a 53-year-old father of two from Bradford on Avon, originally went to Iraq

CHIPPENHAM snatched the league title from Wootton Bassett's grasp with an emphatic win. It was the second game had Chippenham played in three days but they shrugged off the fatigue to gain revenge for defeat against the visitors earlier in the season.

PLAYER-manager Stuart Irons fired in an extra-time penalty to lift the Wiltshire Junior Cup for a fourth time for Broughton Gifford in an action-packed final against Division One title rivals Rudloe. A crowd of around 250 at Corsham Town's Southbank ground

Wiltshire's young music stars of the future will play alongside members of Jools Holland's band at a festival celebrating jazz. The search is on for the county's finest young jazz musicians, who will be performing at the Wiltshire Youth Jazz Festival

A GOAL five minutes from time by Trowbridge substitute Gordon Saunderson scuppered AFC Stratton's Premier Division title hopes and enabled the visitors to snatch a point in a 2-2 draw. Trowbridge boss Neil Kirkpatrick said : "Gordon is the club skipper

MELKSHAM made it four points from six when they picked up a handy draw against Welton on Monday night. Nigel Tripp's side fell behind and then were reduced to ten men but they batted on and picked up a deserved draw. The opening goal went the way of the

NARROWBOAT owners and people running businesses along the Kennet and Avon have got together with the police to re-form the Canal Watch scheme. It's very similar to the Neighbourhood Watch and Farm Watch schemes where people within a community watch out

A BADGER or some other small mammal is thought to have caused a power cut which affected 60,000 homes in central Wiltshire last Wednesday. Power to homes and businesses in Devizes, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Melksham went off just before 7pm as

MALMESBURY picked up their third win in four games with an impressive away triumph in Oxfordshire. A first half goal from Andy Mitchell prove enough to ensured the Vics' continued their recent improved form. The home side who started on the front foot

Spring may be in the air but the evenings are still chilly, and many people are still using electric blankets. Every year fire brigades up and down the country are called out to fires directly attributable to faulty electric blankets, so Trading Standards

The far-right British National Party has no chance of success in the upcoming Euro and local elections, North Wiltshire MP James Gray said this week. The BNP met in Malmesbury on Saturday to select candidates and said support for the party was up. But

WOOTTON Bassett took a giant step towards avoiding relegation from the Premier Division with a 2-1 win at fellow strugglers Almondsbury. The victory sees the two clubs swap positions either side of the drop zone, and with only one or two of the four relegation

CORSHAM'S superb run of form continued with a draw at top of the table Bristol Manor Farm on Tuesday. A defeat for sixth-placed Willand on the same night also helped Nobby Bush's side cement their position in fifth. Having drawn with Manor Farm in the

CORSHAM Town's hopes of complimenting their superb league season by winning the Wiltshire Senior Cup have been rocked by an injury crisis. Colin Bush is going to be down to the bare bones when he takes his side to Chippenham Town's Hardenhuish Park on

EXCLUSIVE: THE best friend of nursery assistant Amanda Edwards, whose body was found buried on a building site a week after she disappeared, has told of her heartache. Ellen Wilkinson worked with Miss Edwards from Purton, at the Little Foxes nursery in

DIANA Ralls, assistant to Kennet chief executive Mark Boden, is urging local people to come to the aid of a rehabilitation unit that has helped her recover from a freak accident in her home. Mrs Ralls, who has worked for Kennet District Council for over

THE Wiltshire Air Ambulance is appealing to the public to hunt through drawers for old foreign coins from long-forgotten holidays. With the help of Swindon-based American Express, all those dollars, euros and rupees can be turned into much-needed funds

Ref. 30051-13 Colin Norman, who works at the Great Western Hospital in SwindonTRIBUTES have been paid to a leading health executive who was killed in a crash on the M4 motorway. Geoffrey Scaife, 55, Chief Executive of Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire

A STUDENT has told a jury how he was left in a pool of blood after a police officer allegedly split his head open with a baton. British Transport Police constable Adrian Naylor, 48, of Saville Court, Wroughton, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court, London

Swindon-based high street retailer WH Smith has confirmed 270 jobs are to be lost at its Swindon and London offices. The company, which is based in Greenbridge, confirmed the losses in its interim results today. The 270 jobs will go as part of an organisational

Ref. 21912-31TRIBUTES to Amanda Edwards are still flooding in, as her friends and family struggle to come to terms with her death. The 21-year-old nursery care assistant, from Purton, adored children and is sorely missed by the staff, parents and children

Ref. 9435-50ROUND the world yachtswoman Tracy Edwards has been banned from the road for 16 months after being caught drink driving. The 41-year-old was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit when her Jeep was seen weaving across the dual carriageway

GAZETTE & HERALD: NINE walkers from Blacklands, near Calne, are preparing for the final leg of their hike from John O'Groats to Lands End. The party originally started the 950-mile walk in May 2001. Now they plan to complete the sixth and final phase

GAZETTE & HERALD: Optical engineer Geoffrey Smith, 60, was killed in a triple vehicle collision on the A4 at Pewsham, near Chippenham, after a car in front veered across the path of an oncoming lorry, an inquest heard. Coroner Richard van Oppen recorded

12820/2GAZETTE & HERALD: CALNE author Keith Hopwood has been promoting his latest book recounting his adventures as a young engineer in Africa. Mr Hopwood, 70, of Alma Terrace, signed copies of the first of his trilogy, Alistair's World, in the library

GAZETTE & HERALD: AMBITIOUS sixth form students at John Bentley School, Calne, aim to take a leaf out of Richard Branson's book. The 13 students are out to prove their business acumen and are taking part in a business project. They are part of the

RUNNERS young and old are invited to take part in a charity half-marathon later this year. Nationwide Building Society has teamed up with Swindon Council and the Evening Advertiser to host the run on October 17. And organisers insist participants don't

GAZETTE & HERALD: Town councillors have rejected plans to sell the Springfield site for housing to raise money for a new special needs school. Developer Persimmon Homes has put forward proposals to build 100 homes on the Springfield School site, which

TEENAGE fund-raiser Michael Clark is continuing his campaign to raise money for the Joshua Foundation with a six-a-side soccer tournament at Devizes Leisure Centre next month. The event is due to coincide with the Euro 2004 soccer tournament and will

MARKET Lavington car owner Jan Pearce has appealed to neighbours in the village to help him catch the vandals that hit his and his wife's cars four times in the last week. Mr Pearce, who lives in White Street, came out on Tuesday morning last week to

DEVIZES Town Trusts, the charity which makes grants to students to help them buy books and equipment, is looking for a new member after Ros Benson retired after 26 years. Clerk to the trusts committee, Julian Macdonald, said: "The trustees would like

Ref: 12803/2 MOTHER-of-two Charlotte Taylor is celebrating after losing six stones in weight. Mrs Taylor, of Easterton, near Devizes, calls herself the incredible shrinking mum after she shed the weight in 18 months. Her old diet consisted of frozen meals

THE Rising Sun has re-opened for a second time in the space of seven days. The pub, in Southbroom Road, Devizes, was forced to close on its opening night on Easter Saturday when water flooded through the ceiling. The problem came as the pub was nearing

THE Duke of Edinburgh will receive a special piece of memorabilia when he visits Wadworth's Northgate brewery on May 4. To commemorate his first visit to the town since he reviewed the troops at Le Marchant Barracks on the bicentenary of the Wiltshire

THOSE affected by seeing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which opens at the Palace Cinema in Devizes tomorrow, have been invited to a coffee morning at St Andrew's Church to discuss it. The Devizes Partnership of Churches is organising the event

MANY music, drama, poetry and dance acts feature in the Devizes Festival 2004 programme, which has just been published. The festival has brought a wide range of first-class professional acts to the town over the last 22 years, and the organising committee

NYTHE Primary School bid for a national title on Saturday. Their football team have enjoyed considerable success this season in the English Schools Football Association (ESFA) Sainsbury's Under 11 Soccer Sixes. They are the Swindon and Wiltshire champions

James Utting took his own life by diving in front of a lorry in Devizes last September, an inquest heard. Mr Utting, 37, who lived with his girlfriend in Thackery Crescent, Melksham, was suffering from depression. Roger William, from Somerset, was driving

Ref: 12906/2IT was a case of the agony and the ecstasy for Wiltshire runners in this year's Flora London Marathon, which took place in miserable conditions last Sunday. Record times were not expected as the rain fell and the wind blew across the Thames

CAMPAIGNERS battling to save the Devizes and Malmesbury maternity units look set to win their fight for more public consultation on the plans. The consultation period is due to end on Monday but it is expected that on Tuesday the Kennet and North Wiltshire

12794/1DEVIZES fundraisers braved soggy weather on Sunday to raise money for local children by taking part in the annual Beating the Bounds sponsored walk. The 14 intrepid participants set off on the seven-mile course from Devizes Sports Centre in overcast

ABOUT 30 attended a meeting in Marlborough Town Hall on Monday called by the UK Independence Party. It was chaired by Kennet district councillor Alan Wood and the guest speaker was a former senior police officer Trevor Coleman. Mr Coleman has been selected

ILLEGAL fly tipping in Savernake Forest is not only an eyesore but is putting the environment of the woods at risk says forester Fraser Bradbury. Lawyer John Moore, who lives in Savernake Forest, sent the Gazette photographs of parts of a wooden shed

Ref: 12824/3LAVINGTON School teacher Liz Greed whose own home was attacked by egg wielding yobs was in the national spotlight this week after she called for an end to the culture of accepted violence among teenagers. Mrs Greed, 56, of Townsend, Urchfont

DEVELOPERS behind a controversial Marlborough homes scheme intended to fund the building of a new St John's School on a single site will be missing from a public meeting in the town hall tonight. The special parish meeting has been called by the town

THE battle to stop proposed wind turbines being put up on a hill overlooking Ramsbury took a step forward on Friday. More than 120 people crowded into a public meeting called by the newly-formed village group opposing the scheme, called NOWT (No Wind

A NEW programme being tested at a school where up to half of the yearly intake has special needs has produced stunning results in pupils' progress. A group of 20 children on the Acceleread Accelerwrite scheme at Oaktree Nursery and Primary School in Park

TICKETS for this summer's Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford are now on sale in branches of Nationwide across the south and south west. The building society, which has its headquarters in Swin-don, will have tickets for the event, on July

SWINDON'S Stop the War Coalition is inviting people to have a say in its future direction. Its annual general meeting is on Tuesday at 7.30pm in the Friends Meeting House in Eastcott Hill, and leaders are asking people to go along and say what they think

Ref. 30022-6LEAH Mae Rumens celebrated her first birthday with a secular baby naming ceremony. She comes from one of around 20 families a year who opt for such a ceremony, provided by Swindon Council, instead of a religious service such as a christening

A MAN was beaten up by a gang of five or six thugs in a late-night attack. The 24-year-old was on his way home after work at the Greenbridge Retail Park. He was walking through the subway leading from Greenbridge to Oxford Road when a group of about six

Ref. 28389-69A VOLUNTEER search organisation that was involved in the hunt for Amanda Edwards is desperate for new members. Wiltshire Search and Rescue (WILSAR) spent more than 300 man-hours combing West Swindon for the 21-year-old murdered Purton woman

RUNNERS young and old are invited to take part in a charity half-marathon later this year. Nationwide Building Society has teamed up with Swindon Council and the Evening Advertiser to host the run on October 17. And organisers insist participants don't

The hard work of Parks and Walcot team Rector Rob Burles has been recognised by the Diocese of Bristol. The Rev Burles, who took over the parish seven years ago, is to be installed as an honorary Canon at a ceremony in Bristol Cathedral next month. But

STARGAZERS are expected to flock to Wroughton next month to watch a total lunar eclipse. On Tuesday, May 4, astrono-mers around the world will be treated to one of nature's most spectacular events. And the Science Museum at Wroughton sited on a disused

DEPUTY Prime Minster John Prescott is to be asked to settle once and for all the long-running row over the building of a wind farm near Swindon. But, whatever his decision on just how long the blades of the five turbines should be, a wind farm will definitely

Ref. 30047-18RUNNING the London marathon is no mean feat but a Swindon doctor has gone one step further by running in the Sahara Desert. Steve Rhodes, 45, who is based at the Hermitage Surgery in the Lawns, has just completed The Sahara Marathon and raised

Ref. 23151-35STREET entertainer Robert Stredder has castigated Swindon Council and English Heritage over planning delays which, he claims, have allowed a once-beautiful grade two listed farmhouse to become almost derelict. Dentist Patrick Holmes, who

RETIRED senior school maths teacher Gwen Poole runs a country dance group that keeps 22 U3A members on their toes on Wednesday mornings. Their chosen subject is a combination of English social history and physical activity. "The dances date from the 18th

Ref: A Curtis letter EA April 15. So, A Curtis is a mindreader now and knows what the Rev Bert and P Beaven are thinking regarding ritual slaughter. Did he not read P Beaven's letter recently about a meat free world? Anyone would pick up he is against

IN response to David Room's comments (EA, April 14) it has become popular to label anyone who objects to a development as a Nimby. It's a convenient label which ignores the fact that sometimes the people making the objections are doing so simply because

THAT Wessex Water are to cause major disruption to Devizes and the immediate area to complete 'essential works' confirms DASH2's view that vital services such as a hospital and a maternity unit should be retained and enhanced, not removed or reduced.

CHIPPENHAM travelled to Oakmedians for their final South West Two game which would be the game to decide the team to finish in fourth place in the league. Chippenham fielded a much changed side from last week's victory over Trowbridge. Chippenham started

BY half-time Devizes had established a 29-5 lead and looked as if they were heading for 50 points but Salisbury came back strongly ater the break. Devizes took the lead on 15 minutes when debutant Dan Cave set Mike McCrum on his way to score under the

CALNE just missed out on exacting a little revenge for Minety's unwillingness to postpone the World Cup final day fixture eariler in the year. A strong Calne line up drove into the fast improving Minety pack and created a turnover instantly. Minety found

CORSHAM County Primary School's young rugby stars followed in the footsteps of their heroes by setting foot on the hallowed turf of Twickenham on Saturday. The team of schoolchildren, from years five and six, earned the once in a lifetime opportunity

DEVIZES Rugby Club's U14s have returned from the junior section's first overseas tour and such was its success officials said it will be the first of many. The boys flew out from Bristol Airport and then travelled to their base at Mezin in the Toulouse

MY friend and I were refused a pensioner ticket to the Palace Cinema in Devizes last Monday. The lady said: "He says all tickets are £5". When I asked why not a pensioner rate, she followed: "You can go to the earlier show but not the late one." I felt

HERE we go again, when any talk about a Devizes bypass comes up we hear of that idea of a tunnel from Cannings Hill to the bottom of Caen Hill (Gazette letters, April 15). Does this writer realise that the cost of a tunnel would be far greater than the

GAZETTE & HERALD: AGE Concern Wiltshire is expanding its services by introducing a monthly advice session in Chippenham. The Chippenham Age Concern shop, at 10 The Bridge, will be host to an Age Concern advisor on the last Friday of every month. The

I WOULD like to thank you on behalf of the trustees and members of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society for the support that you have given to the museum over the past month. In particular Lewis Cowen has understood the predicament