Archive

  • Crews under starter's orders for the Fastnet

    The Rolex Fastnet Race starting from Cowes on Sunday is set to feature some of the fastest and slickest boats in the racing world. Many will finish Skandia Life Cowes Week on Saturday and head off for the Fastnet Rock and Plymouth the following day having

  • Beasant the man to do a job in goal

    DAVE BEASANT knows that tomorrow he faces an unenviable task when he is asked to step into the shoes of Aaron Flahavan. Portsmouth open their Division 1 campaign at Wolves after one of the most emotional weeks at the club following the death on Sunday

  • Rix bids to lift team ahead of season opener

    Portsmouth manager Graham Rix knows he faces a tough job to lift the team for tomorrow's opener at Molineux. Training has been carried out under a cloud all week following the death of Aaron Flahavan. Rix said: "It's been a difficult time and it falls

  • Saints women's top football job given to - a man

    VANESSA Raynbird has fallen casualty to the enterprising move to bring women's football under the Southampton FC umbrella. After seven years in charge of the area's leading ladies' club, the Southampton Saints, the 47-year-old from Lower Swanwick has

  • Storming start for festival

    IT WAS a case of stormy weather for Gosport Festival, but the masses defied the elements as the music burst over Fort Brockhurst last night. James Brown and Big Brother Soul entertained a bumper audience just hours after organisers had to work desperately

  • Vandals must be caught

    DRUNKEN youngsters have been going on a summer spree of destruction at a Chandler's Ford recreation ground. It comes a year after local councillors backed a call for a bylaw to be introduced to ban the drinking of alcohol on the Hiltingbury Recreation

  • Authority holds back arthritis wonder drug

    A PATIENT at Basingstoke hospital is being denied a new "miracle" drug because she has become a victim of the NHS postcode lottery. Mrs Jan Digby, 58, suffers from painful rheumatoid arthritis in all her joints. Her rheumatologist, Dr Peter Prouse, has

  • Councillors: Whose side are they on?

    COUNCILLORS in Basingstoke are split right down the middle over whether the brakes should be put on the play area blitz in the borough. As the debate over children's playgrounds hotted up this week, The Gazette asked Basingstoke and Deane councillors

  • Balding more optimistic

    TOBY Balding has renewed optimism over his cherished hopes into moving into a state of the art training centre near his present set up. Weyhill-based Balding had plans to redevelop his long-established yard but they were dramatically thwarted by the local

  • That's better Town

    TOWN were denied a comprehensive win on Tuesday night by the heroics of Guildford and Godalming's young 'keeper Arjuna Adlan, who pulled off a string of excellent saves throughout this competitive encounter. The home side took the lead from a corner in

  • Star turn in promotion

    THE ATHLETES of Basingstoke and Mid-Hants are celebrating a double promotion at the weekend. On Saturday, the men's second team won promotion to division four west of the southern league and the next day the women earned a step-up after just two seasons

  • Flocking down to the new waterhole

    DRINK has never been in short supply at Skandia Life Cowes Week but, happily, this year there are even more places where it is served, with the opening of new facilities at Shepard's Wharf. The boatyard, on the west bank of the River Medina, was bought

  • Sailing high on wave of money

    SKANDIA Life Cowes Week has provided the biggest pay packet of the year to the Isle of Wight which is worth millions to the yachting mecca. All this week, skippers, crews and spectators have fired the starting gun which sets the cash registers ringing

  • GO ON - PROVE YOU ARE DISABLED

    A MAN who has used crutches since he was a toddler was slapped with a parking fine - then told to prove he was disabled. Lee Fletcher suffers from a serious spinal condition and has walked with elbow crutches since he was two. Despite this, he had to

  • Drink-driver admits causing road death

    A DRINK-driver has admitted causing a late- night road accident in Southampton in which a pedestrian died. John MacTaggart, 34, of Radstock Road, Woolston, Southampton, admitted being responsible for the accident. Yesterday he pleaded guilty at the city

  • Storming start for festival

    IT WAS a case of stormy weather for Gosport Festival, but the masses defied the elements as the music burst over Fort Brockhurst last night. James Brown and Big Brother Soul entertained a bumper audience just hours after organisers had to work desperately

  • Wardens on city watch

    PEOPLE in Southampton are set to see their neighbourhoods improve as part of a new £1.5m community warden scheme. Wardens to clean up areas and improve the quality of life for residents are being recruited for outer Shirley and inner-city areas. They

  • Outdoor golden oldies

    Open Air Picnic Concert, Broadlands, August 11 IT'S a case of spot the odd one out at Broadlands on Saturday. For, of the three big-name musical acts lined up to entertain at the outdoor concert in Romsey, only one is the genuine article. Headline act

  • Stealing the crown jewel

    EASTLEIGH is set to steal the carnival glory from its big city neighbours. Southampton has pulled the plug on its carnival capers but it could give a big boost to Eastleigh's week-long entertainment extravaganza. The committee has had a steady flow of

  • FIELD OF DREAMS . . .

    Matthew Le Tissier is set to fulfil his dream of playing in the first game at the Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium. The long-time crowd hero, who scored the last ever league goal at The Dell, is in line to start tomorrow's friendly against Espanyol

  • Final Fantasy (PG) ***

    AS A digital epic, Final Fantasy comes pretty close to engaging both mind and eyes and succeeding in its mission to blow our socks off. Close, but no cigar. A cyber-adventure based on the best-selling computer game, there are no human actors, only CGI

  • Richard proves he's a real clever Dick!

    A YOUNG mastermind has wowed the country with his general knowledge as he stormed through a TV contest to become one of Britain's brainiest youngsters. Richard Thomas, 11, of Quince Tree Way, Hook, fought-off competition from some of the brightest children

  • Salisbury hope for bumper crowd

    SUMMER racegoers are being treated to a feast of high-class racing at Salisbury next week with the traditional two-day August meeting on August 15 and 16. The highlight of the first day will be the £25,000-added Listed European Breeders' Fund Upavon Stakes

  • In Port

    Today's Principal Arrivings: OOCL Fidelity, container, 0200, 205; Autorunner, car carrier, 0500, 201 link; Shieldhall, passenger, 1500 and 2230, 48; Lezhevo, general cargo, pm, Dibles Wharf; Nordsee, general cargo, pm, 204. Today's Principal Sailings:

  • Town midfielder out for a month

    BASINGSTOKE Town will face next week's big Ryman League kick-off without Stuart Girdler. The midfielder is out for a month after slightly tearing the medial ligament in his right knee against Salisbury City. The first game he will miss is team's last

  • Kemp has designs on being Hants' MiddletonCup boss

    PETER KEMP has put his name into the frame to become Hampshire's first Middleton Cup manager. The retired policeman needs no introduction to Middleton Cup bowls having been been the county's chairman of selectors for nine years until resigning after Hampshire's

  • Yacht of the Day: High Voltage sparks new Cup hope

    LAST year, Johnny Caulcutt and Richard Matthews - two of the UK's highest-profile yacht owners - brought a couple of boats to Skandia Life Cowes Week that were to change the course of recent British yacht racing history. Britain had not been involved

  • Pirate crew sail to a win on Desperado

    There was piracy on the Solent yesterday when old Solent favourite Desperado was driven to victory in the New York Yacht Club Challenge by a buccaneer crew from IACC boat High Voltage. When the strong winds ruled out racing for John Caulcutt and his team

  • District '12s' title still up for grabs

    A LOOK at the cycling calendar shows that, at local, national and international levels, the summer side of the sport still has nearly three months to run. But a glance at events listed for the next week indicates that the end of the season is about to

  • Billiards champs do it in style

    Aerostructures A clinched the prestigious Southampton Billiards League Championship in style. They crushed Botley 6-0 in their final match of the campaign to win the title by three points. Aerostructures needed the winning margin to overhaul their nearest

  • Tobin and Streatfield get GB call-up

    OUTSTANDING Hampshire teenagers Robert Tobin and Katharine Streatfield will be ending the track and field campaign on a high. After a sizzling summer of personal bests, the pair have had Great Britain call-ups for next Saturday's (August 18) Norwich Union

  • WARTIME BLOW TO FUNFAIR

    EASTLEIGH'S annual funfair has been ordered to stay off part of Leigh Road Park because underground air-raid shelters are crumbling. The borough council fears the four Second World War shelters in the south-west corner of the park might not support the

  • Yobs prompt CCTV calls at hospital's injury unit

    HOSPITAL bosses are taking action to protect staff from drunken yobs who have shouted abuse and vandalised a New Forest hospital. Over the past six months, threatening incidents have become much more regular at the 24-hour minor injury unit at Hythe Hospital

  • League big two face a Totton showdown

    BAT Sports and Havant enter the Southern Electric ECB Premier League championship home straight tomorrow, with the two contenders battling out crucial matches within two miles of each other in Totton (1pm). Marginally ahead on the eve of the 15th round

  • Hants canter into last eight

    Hampshire's Young Cricketers will play Glamorgan in the ECB Under-17 County Championship quarter-finals at the Rose Bowl next Thursday. They made sure of a last-eight slot with a convincing first innings win over Cornwall - the 60-run victory clinching

  • Tornado terror could be back

    FORECASTERS have warned that more tornadoes similar to one that ripped through a Hampshire caravan site could be on their way. Devastating 90mph gusts ripped through Gosport's Kingfisher Caravan Park, uprooting two of the mobile homes. The Met Office

  • School blaze used in initiative launch

    THE FIRE at Beech Down Primary School was this week used as an illustration of the devastation an arson attack can bring to a community. The blaze's impact on pupils, staff and the local community was described as chief fire officers and Hampshire's chief