Archive
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Plans get green light
FOREST GREEN'S proposed new £3million stadium has been given the green light. In a champagne ceremony at the football club's current home, representatives from the county, district and town council, as well as Forest Green and sponsors Smiths (Gloucester
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Berkeley housing needed
AS a former Berkeley resident when we decided to get married we were unable to find a house in Berkeley and were more or less forced to seek somewhere else to live. I hope this does not happen to any other younger people of Berkeley through the selfishness
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Screen delight
SPECTATORS at the Land Rover sponsored Gatcombe Novice and Intermediate horse trials at Gatcombe Park next weekend will be able to watch live coverage of the Grand National from Aintree on a special big screen. See next week's Gazette for further details
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Anglers are ignoring fishing ban
ANGLERS' refusal to suspend activities during the swan-nesting season is endangering cygnets at a local lake. South Gloucestershire Council has imposed a temporary ban on fishing at Tyler's Lake in Brimsham Park to protect swans and their cygnets from
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Rovers climb out of relegation zone as countdown begins
EUPHORIA gripped The Lawn this week as Forest Green Rovers finally climbed out of the relegation zone on Monday for the first time this season. The 0-0 draw at Gravesend was enough to see the club pull clear of the dreaded drop zone, and the place change
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Case for local produce in schools
A CAMBRIDGE farmer is challenging schools to use locally produced food for their school dinners. John Cullimore, of G Cullimore and Sons, at New House Farm, started selling organic lamb and beef to the public a year ago and the company is now looking
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Clean up town and fill empty shops
IN an issue of the Gazette a couple of weeks ago the Mayor claimed Dursley was enjoying an exciting time because of, among other things, several 100s of houses being built on Listers old premises, a library, with which no one agreed and which very few
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Beds crisis at hospitals
DOCTORS have been warned not to send their patients to Frenchay Hospital as a beds crisis continues. The caution comes at a time when North Bristol NHS Trust is struggling to cope after infections at both Southmead and Frenchay Hospitals forced nine ward
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Castle is great backdrop for egg hunt
A NEW record attendance was set at Berkeley Castle's annual Easter Extravaganza. More than 3,000 people visited the historic castle - a record for that weekend. Visitors took part in events for all ages including an egg hunt around the gardens, bonnet
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Fury over road work stalling
THE county council has been accused of stalling work on £40,000 of road safety improvements in a rural village. Stephen Burt is calling for Gloucestershire County Council to start the work in Stone before a child is killed. Proposed plans include dropping
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Events around the region
Berkeley, Cam, Dursley and Wotton-under-Edge Friday, April 1 8.45-10.30am Wotton, The Chipping, Club Room. Friday Market. 10-11.30am, Slimbridge, Village Hall. Slimbridge Toddler Club. 1.30-3.30pm, Cam, Memorial Hall. Tea dance. 8pm, Wotton, Royal British
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Singers are very notable
DURSLEY Male Voice Choir has been busy over the past two months, raising almost £10,000 for local, national and international charities. February began with the successful concert to raise money for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Appeal when £6,300 was raised
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Salon's winning waves
JUNIOR hairdressers from Berkeley have scooped top prizes in their first competition. Claire Booth, 16, and Emma Smith, 17, collected first and third prize at GLOSCAT's annual in-house competition. Both girls work at the Michael Anthony salon in Canonbury
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Enjoy wild thyme in fine herb farm
HUNDREDS of people will learn some herbal secrets today and over the weekend when award winning organic herb grower Jekka McVicar opens her Alveston herb farm to the public. "Previous open days have attracted a great rsponse from the public and we're
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Concerns about tax-trap
YOUR editorial and story on pensions (March 25) highlights important problems. Stanley Gillard's concerns about the impact of the 'tax-trap' that penalises him for wanting to work are well founded. Labour gives with one hand and takes with another. Now
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Town and country help vulnerable
THE town and the country joined forces this week for a bold new venture which will improve the lives of thousands of disadvantaged and vulnerable people in South Gloucestershire and beyond. And in making the move the organisers have secured £750,000 to
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Smelly site dismays residents
A COMPOSTING firm is hoping to expand to Thornbury despite ongoing controversy at a current site in Old Sodbury. Green Waste Management Services Ltd owns the site at South Croft Farm near Old Sodbury School, which has long been the source of residents
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New county to be Severnshire
THE counties of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire are to be amalgamated to form a new county to be called Severnshire, the Gazette can exclusively reveal. Following rumours that changes were afoot, the Gazette this week spoke to Bob Down, of the
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Teens left injured by vicious attack
POLICE are searching for a man after two teenagers were attacked and left seriously injured in Yate. The boys - aged 14 and 15 - were beaten around the head, one with a metal bar. The 14-year-old boy was outside McDonalds in the shopping centre at about
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Drivers furious at 'new improved' traffic lights
FURIOUS motorists were exasperated this week when adjusted traffic lights designed to improve traffic flow on and off the M5 yet again caused rush-hour chaos. The "new, improved" traffic lights were switched back on at junction 14 of the M5 at Falfield
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Bikers may close Ridge Wood
MORE than £1,000 of damage has been caused to a Yate woodland used to educate the public. Ridge Wood now faces being closed to the public following the vandalism over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Fencing recently put up to help plants grow, was vandalised
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Toddlers get free rein to be creative at Crafty Monkeys
THORNBURY mother of two Michelle Davies has launched creative play sessions so toddlers and their parents can give free rein to fancy and indulge in some serious arts and crafts. Mrs Davies started up Crafty Monkeys after noticing that there was a lack
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Don't close our lifeline
PARENTS of severely disabled children have pleaded for the care home they rely on to remain open. Mums and dads with youngsters at Alice House in Frenchay are desperate to see that the respite care provided there continues. They have begged South Gloucestershire
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Parents beg council to fight care home closure
PARENTS of severely disabled children have pleaded for the care home they rely on to remain open. Mums and dads with youngsters at Alice House in Frenchay are desperate to see that the respite care provided there continues. They have begged South Gloucestershire
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Effect of housing on local parking
IT WAS with some satisfaction that I read a letter from Mr William Sims (Gazette, March 25) in response to my previous letter in which I drew attention to the traffic problems, which are likely to ensue as a result of inadequate parking facilities being
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Thornbury folk stump up for the pump in a week
THE people of Thornbury are fantastic. That's official. Individuals and businesses have responded in their droves to the Gazette's Stump up for The Pump campaign and solved Thornbury in Bloom's financial crisis in JUST ONE WEEK. Not only has the £500
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With the Reds
DESPITE not playing any games this Easter, Bristol City can be somewhat more optimistic of their chances of achieving a top six finish after their rivals largely blew their respective opportunities to go further ahead of the chasing pack. On Easter Monday
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Poaching Affray research
I AM researching The Great Berkeley Poaching Affray of 1816 and in so doing I would like to make contact with any present-day descendants of the participant families - on both sides of the fence. So far I have had some success both here in the UK and
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Hospital debate is just a nonsense
I WAS appointed to the consultant staff at Frenchay Hospital in 1966. I retired in 1996. During the 30 years I worked there I held all the clinical managerial posts, throughout the various NHS re-organisations, eventually becoming the Medical Director
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Man admits child porn offences
THE former caretaker at Marlwood School in Alveston this week admitted downloading child pornography from the internet. Douglas John Saunders, 44, who was living in the site manager's bungalow at the school at the time of the offences, had initially pleaded
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A cliffhanger at Cape Cornwall
TWO of the region's top young golfers have narrowly missed out on a place in the British College's South West golf team following the recent regional qualifiers at Cape Cornwall. Andrew Hale, from Chipping Sodbury, and Dan Durber, from Wotton-under-Edge
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Hospital shake-up needed
I AM fed up with the constant correspondence about Frenchay/Southmead Hospitals. I came to live in Thornbury 29 years ago. I was brought up in South Wales and still have family there. Thirty years ago a new purpose-built teaching hospital was built on
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Jobs created as slice of Italy moves to town
A SLICE of Italy has landed in Yate with the arrival of a new pizza restaurant. National chain Domino's Pizza has just opened a new take-away outlet in the town's shopping centre and will not only be delivering some fancy toppings, but will also share
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Variety of stars at arts festival
THORNBURY Arts Festival's first weekend, starting on Friday, April 15, sees one of the great pioneers of TV journalism, Joan Bakewell, in town. The following day, physicist Dr Karen Bultitude will give children and families the opportunity to have fun
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Queen's message to Elizabeth, 100
SHOREDITCH-BORN Elizabeth Bateman celebrated her 100th birthday in Old Down this week with a good old Cockney knees-up. The sprightly centenarian joined in a chorus of Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner with staff at Windmill House residential home. "Elizabeth
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Police appeal for witnesses over barbaric killing of dog
WITNESSES are being sought to a "barbaric" incident of animal cruelty in Almondsbury when a dog was stoned and beaten to death at a traveller site. Police say the killing of the golden lurcher dog took place in broad daylight in full view of motorists
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Holiday joy for league rivals
Stourport Swifts 1 Mangotsfield United 3 MANGOTSFIELD maintained their promotion push in Southern League Division One West with a 3-1 victory at Stourport on Monday. They had a disastrous start, though, when they went a goal down to a thunderous strike
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GPs told not to send patients to Frenchay
DOCTORS have been warned not to send their patients to Frenchay Hospital as a beds crisis continues. The caution comes at a time when North Bristol NHS Trust is struggling to cope after infections at both Southmead and Frenchay Hospitals forced nine ward
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Events around the region
Yate, Chipping Sodbury and district Friday, April 1 2pm-6pm, Winterbourne, Recreation ground behind The Ridings High School. Consultation day on the skate board ramp. Saturday, April 2 7.30pm, Wickwar, Holy Trinity Church. Inaugural recital on the newly
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With the Pirates
ROVERS head for Southend tonight for the second time in a month, looking to put one over in-form United, now second in the table and into the LDV Vans Trophy final in Cardiff next Sunday at Rovers' expense. The 2-2 draw in the southern area final was
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Businessman takes issue with council planning for cemetery
AN EARTHCOTT Green man is locked in a bureaucratic wrangle with council chiefs over the handling of planning applications submitted by a woodland cemetery near his home. Businessman John Black was so furious about the way planners dealt with an application
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Mangotsfield win puts the pressure on Yate
Mangotsfield United 2 Yate Town 1 THIS eagerly awaited contest was settled in Mangotsfield's favour late in the game with a free kick that deflected into the Yate net. The result means that Mangotsfield maintain their three-point lead at the top of the
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Families slate store
PEOPLE living near a Yate supermarket claim they fear for their lives after a string of blunders by the company. Residents contacted the Gazette with a catalogue of complaints about the town's newly-refurbished Morrisons store. They say they:- * have
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Book produced to celebrate golf club centenary
CHIPPING Sodbury Golf Club has produced a book to celebrate the club's centenary. The unique publication contains articles on just about every aspect of the golf club, as well as interesting pieces regarding Chipping Sodbury, local sports clubs, performing
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Family joy over reunion
THORNBURY maths teacher Betty Manser turned detective to bring about an emotional family re-union over the Easter holiday. Betty's mum Vera was adopted as a child during the Second World War and had not seen her own natural mother Edith for 60 years.
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A cliffhanger at Cape Cornwall
TWO of the region's top young golfers have narrowly missed out on a place in the British College's South West golf team following the recent regional qualifiers at Cape Cornwall. Andrew Hale, from Chipping Sodbury, and Dan Durber, from Wotton-under-Edge
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Signals cause chaos - again
FURIOUS motorists were exasperated this week when adjusted traffic lights designed to improve traffic flow on and off the M5 yet again caused rush-hour chaos. The "new, improved" traffic lights were switched back on at junction 14 of the M5 at Falfield
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Mother eases her heartbreak
IT IS the worst nightmare of every new parent. But for one couple from Yate that dreaded dream became a reality when, on January 15, they discovered their five-and-a-half-month-old son had died from cot death. Inexplicable and unbearably fast, Michelle
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Dynamic Dursley prevail against mighty Minety
Dursley RFC 15 Minety 7 DURSLEY travelled to Wiltshire on Saturday to play in the semi-final of the Stroud & District Cup against opposition who play the equivalent of three leagues higher in the Southern Counties League. In near perfect conditions
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Looking at both sides of a trying argument
ILLEGAL travellers' camps have long been the source of many arguments, but the issues and their bearing on human rights have taken a new turn in recent weeks. A national newspaper has launched a campaign to stamp out illegal sites and Conservative leader
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Super sleuthing for family reunion
THORNBURY maths teacher Betty Manser turned detective to bring about an emotional family re-union over the Easter holiday. Betty's mum Vera was adopted as a child during the Second World War and had not seen her own natural mother Edith for 60 years.
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Plea for mother's treasured books
THIS is a plea from the heart. Has anyone bought any old books from the Cotswold Care charity shop in Dursley? The reason I am asking is that our darling mum, Dorothy Bidwell, died at the beginning of March and by accident her treasured old books were
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Watchdogs give planners grilling
POLICY watchdogs at Stroud District Council grilled top planners last Thursday night over controversial housing sites included in the Local Plan. Sites in Thrupp, Slad and Berkeley have already been earmarked for development by a government inspector,
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Soldier died in 110 mph crash
A SOLDIER who fell asleep at the wheel of his sports car at 110mph awoke moments before he crashed into the back of a lorry and died instantly. Lance Cpl Darren Martin Cox, 21, of Helston, had had almost no sleep for 21 hours before the accident, an inquest
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Head teacher sacked over plans for future
THE HEADTEACHER of an exclusive preparatory school near Wotton-under-Edge has left his post with immediate effect. Peter Platts-Martin has departed from Rose Hill School in Alderley after a disagreement with the school's governors over future plans. The
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Cook who put health on the table
The news this week that the government is to make millions of pounds available to improve the quality of school meals is to be welcomed. But one local comprehensive school is already way ahead of the field, as Louisa Winkler reports THE ARRIVAL of a new