ANYONE worrying that director Douglas McGrath might have done horribly modern things to their favourite Dickens doorstopper should rest assured - it's as traditional as the long-vanished Sunday teatime serial. Rather than going the Baz Luhrmann route
EASTLEIGH police chief Supt Ann Wakefield is putting more bobbies on the beat in a bid to make Eastleigh an even safer place to live over the next 12 months. The borough already has one of the lowest crime rates in the country, but her aim is to reduce
CONMEN are spinning a yarn about a cat being run over in a bid to trick motorists in the Eastleigh area. Police are investigating reports that a man has approached drivers as they get out of their vehicles telling them they have run over a cat, which
THE Isle of Wight's Frost twins are opting out of the Island Games in Guernsey this week (June 28-July 4) to concentrate on booking their tickets to Finland next month. The petite, blonde 19-year-olds, whose striking looks have had sponsors and model
COUNCIL chiefs are estimating the latest traveller invasion in Gosport will cost thousands of pounds as workers begin the task of clearing up the Alver Valley beauty spot. Dennis Wright, chairman of Gosport Council's community and environment board, said
You have to admire Paul Jones as a thoroughly nice bloke. He has always stayed loyal to his music and kept his feet on the ground, when as a leading figure in the 60s London scene he could so easily have lost himself. Still today, he's in constant demand
This Glasgow quartet formed in 1998, released a new single last week, with a new album out next week. Stephen Fleming formed the band with ex-member Daniel Wylie and together they released two self-penned, self-produced albums on their own label Raft
THIS is a good time to look back and say 'Here's what I've done, reflects Suzanne Vega, one of music's most distinctive singers and storytellers. "If you had said in high school that this kid who technically couldn't sing and wasn't outgoing would have
IN the peace and tranquillity of a protected Southampton beauty spot, a swan glided serenely across the water, guarding its nestful of cygnets. The Lower Test haven for water fowl was a picture of a hazy English summer's day. But the image was cruelly
CRIME does pay - at least for some animals at Marwell Zoo. Creatures at the zoo near Winchester were given a free lunch courtesy of HM Customs and Excise after a raid on a lorry carrying illegal alcohol. The lorry was stopped at Poole, Dorset, and officers
RESIDENTS on a Hampshire housing estate have been warned not to take the law into their own hands after travellers moved into their neighbourhood. As reported by the Daily Echo, caravans started pouring on to land at Blackberry Drive, Fair Oak, which
A THUG who robbed a widow under a Southampton railway bridge just nine days after being released from jail is back behind bars. Carl Jennings targeted 86-year-old grandmother Nora Sait as she walked home from a shopping trip, knocking her to the ground
ROMEO AND JULIET: Rob Hall as Romeo and Eleanor Blackham as Juliet with other members of the cast at Titchfield Abbey. Echo photo by Chris Moorhouse. Order no: hh060dl4 Tracie Billington-Beardsley rounds up the latest amateur dramatic news. THE MAMMOTH
ACTOR Christopher Strauli reckons it's impossible to get on TV these days unless you're 'young, talentless and common as muck'. He's got a point. Best known for playing the teddy bear-clutching Norman Binns in 80s hospital sitcom Only When I Laugh, Strauli's
PROUDLY touted as the 'world's most offensive comedian', Jerry Sadowitz is best avoided if you like your laughs safe and sanitised. Whether you consider his approach to comedy brave or foolish, it's safe to say that it is very popular. Jerry has developed
COMEDY fans who think of Robert Newman as nothing more than a long-haired fop who does little more than lark about with David Baddiel on The Mary Whitehouse Experience will have another think coming this week. Not only has the long hair been shorn to
SHARES in southern pub retailer Eldridge Pope fell sharply after it pulled out of merger talks and appointed a new chief executive. Eldridge Pope, which manages and owns pubs in Southampton, Winchester, Eastleigh, Fareham, Brockenhurst and Lymington,
IF you go down to The Kindergarten in Fawley you're sure of a big surprise. Every teddy bear who's been good - including Snowy, Doughey, Millie and Peter - were in for a treat when the nursery based in the Methodist Church Hall held a traditional teddy
THE Daily Echo today reached the end of an era in Hythe - but it is about to begin another one in Lymington. Our New Forest district office in the Marsh at Hythe has been closed, but reporters Peter East, Chris Yandell and Kay Cooper will continue to
HYTHE market has been saved - just 48 hours after the operator ann-ounced that the popular attraction would close next week. Campaigners have won their race against time to preserve the weekly market, which attracts thousands of shoppers to the Hythe
WINCHESTER civic chiefs are poised to use emergency powers to resurface the River Park Leisure Centre car park. The city council's all-powerful Cabinet will decide whether to spend £29,000 on the scheme when it meets next Monday. Councillors agreed to
FAREHAM'S Olympic gymnastics hope Vanessa Hobbs leaps into the limelight this weekend when Great Britain take on the mighty Russians in Liverpool. The 16-year-old Dynamo School of Gymnastics talent, pictured left, will find herself in high-brow company
BASINGSTOKE rugby club is on the lookout for a new leading backer after learning it is to lose main sponsor FX Management Services. Bosses at the Down Grange club have been told that their leading backer of the last two years will not be extending the
This weekend there will be a fantastic opportunity for young sailors to mix it up with more experienced ones at the RYA Youth Zone Championships. The South Zone's regatta will be held at Hayling Island Sailing Club this Saturday and Sunday, with three
Today's Principal Arrivals: Hual Trader, ro/ro, 0130, 40: Bunga Raya Dua, container, 0415, 205; Aurora, cruise ship, 0630, 106; MOL Precision, container, 0700, 206; Arabian Breeze, ro/ro, 1245, 201/2; Moksheim, general, 1330, 107/8; Autofreighter, ro/
Another old friend of Southamp-ton, remembered with great affection by many in the city, is making that lonely one-way voyage to the breaker's yard. In the 1960s the elegant shape of the 32,697-ton Transvaal Castle was a familiar sight in the port as
Bubbly Hamble yachtswoman Sam Davies raised her game this week in the French run Figaro race circuit as she beat the 2001 Figaro champion, Eric Drouglazet, by two places in the latest offshore race from Port Camargue to Beaulieu, France. Elated by her
Southampton based Olympians Hugh Styles and Adam May made a good start in the Tornado fleet and are back on form in second place overall at Kiel Week, Germany. After scoring a sixth and a seventh place on the first day of racing, they are currently in
GOSPORT'S Rory Gillard, skipper of London Clipper, announced "we were one and a half boat lengths from each other" after his duel with friend, but on the water rival, Ross Daniel as they neared Cape Town on Monday. Gillard continued: "It was neck-and-neck
THE levels of football indiscipline at grass-roots level throughout Hampshire are on the increase again. In 2002/03 the Hampshire FA dealt with 16,112 offences - a five per cent increase on the total they recorded in 2001/02. The amount of cautions, red
South Wilts' prospects of bowling BAT Sports off the top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League at Lower Bemerton tomorrow (11.30am) have received a double setback. Left-armer James Tomlinson, who played for the British Universities against India
Justin Rose went to Paris looking to build on his fifth-place finish in his US Open debut - and more or less succeeded despite picking up a bizarre penalty when the French Open got underway yesterday. The 22-year-old Hampshire golfer, aiming to win the
THERE really is something rather good about being served French food by French waiters right slap-bang in the middle of Romsey. It makes you feel as though you're on holiday on the Cote D'Azur. La Parisienne is something of a Gallic oasis in the quintessentially
Films showing in the Hampshire region until 3 July 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (12A): An ex-cop-turned illegal street racer is recruited by the police to help catch a drug dealer. Lots of high-energy car races and chases ensue. ANGER MANAGEMENT (15): An easygoing
ALISTAIR Pratt (Stephen Rea) is the host of the titular website - a spooky but seemingly harmless portal about things that go bump in the night, laden with Shockwave-type animated images of creaking doors and ghouls. Unbeknownst to web users, the site
WRONG Turn is a white-knuckle thrill ride born of the traditions of classic '70s-style horror movies, including a central plot which reeks of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, archetypal characters who have Dead Meat tattooed on their foreheads and lashings
ULTRA-COOL sporty bikes, break-neck chases, dangerous stunts and plenty of eye candy. Fictionalising the real world of underground motorcycle clubs in the USA, Biker Boyz revolves around the world of 18-year-old Kid (played by the up-and-coming Derek
IF YOU could be God for a day, what would you do? Deliver lasting world peace, perhaps? Invent a cure for diseases like cancer or Aids? Provide food for the world's impoverished and starving? In the new Jim Carrey movie Bruce Almighty, a regular Joe is
EASTLEIGH Community Services staff and volunteers welcomed back a VIP who opened their building seven years ago. The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire Mary Fagan was asked to help celebrate ECS' 25th birthday. It was in July 1996 that Mrs Fagan officially
UK Athletics' main sponsor, Norwich Union, has paid bonuses for the first time to Great Britain's Spar European Cup team, who competed in Florence last weekend. Although he didn't run in the relay because of a slight Achilles niggle, former Southampton
A YOUNGSTER from Fareham whose balloon was found washed up on Brighton beach has won a portable TV and video. Six-year-old Fred Thomas from Ranvilles Infant School picked up his prize in Asda Fareham after his balloon floated furthest. The store gave
SKIMMER are: Richard Hunt (47) on acoustic guitar/vocals, Ritchie Swann (26) keyboard/vocals, Julian Caesar (43) drums/vocals, Mick Taylor (35) fretless bass, Deano Eloson (36) sax and Ingie (who didn't provide a surname, just a nationality - he's from
A HAMPSHIRE county councillor has been summoned to appear before two separate standards committees next week following complaints about his conduct. However, Tory councillor Phil Heath has branded the two committees "flawed" and a waste of taxpayers'
A HAMPSHIRE firm is under investigation for allegedly bulldozing a badger sett. Bosses at The Perbury Group, based in Chandler's Ford, could face heavy fines and even imprisonment after the destruction of the sett behind The Otter pub in Otterbourne.
AN OLD soldier who delivered messages around the streets of Southampton during the First World War has been honoured on his 100th birthday by the modern day British Army. Doug Terrey from Marchwood had a surprise visitor when he began his celebrations
A SOUTHAMPTON NHS dentists' group has revealed it is going private - leaving hundreds of patients scrambling to find a new practice. Portswood-based JJ Carroll and Associates wrote to nearly 2,000 patients announcing they would no longer deal with NHS
WESTON Park Boys' School's triumphant Year 9 football team celebrate lifting the Hampshire County Cup after a nail-biting final. The team of 13 and 14-year-olds lost a one-nil lead against Basingstoke's Bishops Challoner School team but held on to their
PUBLICAN Dave Kennett is hoping his plans to create a miniature railway are not derailed by planners next week. On Tuesday the Isle of Wight Council's Development Control Committee will decide whether his application for the railway at the Sun Inn Calbourne
WHEN schoolboy George Wardley stared out of his bedroom window at the night sky he found The Plough was patchy, the Three Sisters were only two and comets came and went unnoticed. Nine-year-old George just wanted to see the stars. But an illuminated sign
JOB hunters in Southampton are among the most snobbish in the country when it comes to choosing where they work, new research shows. Only Londoners ranked higher in the snobbiness stakes. One in four southerners says the views of friends and family influence
TWO major competitions designed to bring out the artist in Winchester residents have been launched. The Brooks shopping centre is holding competitions in photography and art. The photographic competition is focussed on floral decorations around the city
IDEAS for a new logo to bring visitors flocking back to Winchester have gone on display - but the Daily Echo has been banned from showing readers the controversial designs. Civic chiefs in England's ancient capital want to replace the current image of
He shot to fame as the youngest skipper of a Whitbread Round The World Race at the age of 21 in 1992/3, and Southampton based Matt Humphries continues to go from strength to strength ten years on. Now skippering the Volvo Ocean 60 yacht Challenge of Netsurvey
POMPEY boss Harry Redknapp has admitted he was trying to sign tragic star Marc Vivien Foe. The 28-year-old ex-Manchester City player collapsed on the pitch while playing for Cameroon in a Confederations Cup tie against Columbia last night. Doctors battled
IAN Robinson has piled on the misery for his old club AFC Totton by signing their dynamic little striker Paddy James for his new club, Lymington & New Milton. Only a fortnight ago, the 22-year-old from Calmore ruled out linking up again with his old
St Cross Symondians' bid to secure their new-found Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 leadership with a sixth win in seven games against United Services at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, tomorrow (1pm). The Winchester club leapt to the front with
Beth Bainbridge has leapt to the top of the Young Riders dressage rankings after two recent major competitions with her piebald Irish draft gelding. The 16-year-old Romsey School student won the English team selection trials held at the West Wilts Equestrian
BREWSTER BARBARA Passed away suddenly on June 21st, 2003. Loving mum to Clive, mother-in-law to Jenny, grandmother to Jayne, Andrew and Joanne and great grandma to Elliot, Oliver, Sam, Thomas and Tabitha. Sadly missed, never forgotten. ---------- Funeral
WILTON LINDA Much loved daughter-in-law, did not have time to say goodbye. Will be sadly missed. Love Mum X X X ---------- WILTON LINDA Will be loved and remembered always. By sister-in-law Carole and brother-in-law Alan and Kismo. Goodnight, God Bless
PITTERS JOHN Died suddenly and tragically at home on Friday, June 20th, 2003. Aged 60 years. Many happy memories. John is at peace now. ------------- The Funeral will take place at Southampton Crematorium (East Chapel), on Friday, July 4th at 10.20 a.m
BULBROOKE HILDA The family of Mrs Hilda Bulbrooke would like to thank friends, district nurse Mary Spence, staff at Countess Mountbatten and all who looked after Mum during her illness. Sincere thanks.
OTHEN ROY Passed away suddenly on June 23rd 2003 aged 66. Loving husband of Stella. My Love, My Best Friend You will be sadly missed -------- Funeral Service on Weds 2nd July at Stoneham Crematorium at 11am. Family flowers only, donations if desired to
JACOBS BETHANY JADE A beautiful first daughter for Adam and Claire. The most precious present for Adam born on his birthday June 19th, 2003 weighing 4lbs 7ozs Congratulations and lots of love Mum, Nigel sister Lucinda and nephew Ricky. XXXX
JANES PHIL "BADGER" Passed away suddenly, aged 56. United now with Mum, Dad and brothers John and Peter. Never to be forgotten and will always be in our hearts. Will be sadly missed by Mary, Neil, Emma and family. --------- Funeral service to be held
WILTSHIRE DAVID The family of the late David Wiltshire would like to thank all relatives, friends and neighbours for their messages of sympathy and support and for all the kind donations made to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (Southampton) in memory
ALDRIDGE DENNIS GEORGE Passed away peacefully on June 20th, 2003 in Ashley Manor Nursing Home. Aged 80 years. Reunited with his beloved wife Grace. Will be greatly missed by his daughters Christine and Marianne, son-in-law Colin and grandchildren Andrew
HAPPY 21st ! MICHAEL HUTCHMAN Don't get too 'tanked up'! With love from Mum, Kate, John, Nan and Ron. xx
OTHEN ROY Dad, you were a great man who I know will continue to watch and care for us all from afar. We all love you very much, and miss you terribly. Love Julie, Jonathan, Nicolas and Katherine xx
BREWSTER BARBARA Beloved mother to Denise and mother-in-law to Ray. Sadly missed by granddaughters Louise and Stacey. Reuinted with husband Eric and sons Keith and Philip. We will cherish your memory forever. Goodnight and God Bless.
BEVAN REG Passed away July 21st 2003, sadly missed by Doreen and Stan, Terry and Barb, Gill and John, Anne and Clark and families. Funeral Service at Southampton Crematorium at 12.20 on Friday, July 4th, 2003. Family flowers only please. Donations in
OTHEN ROY Dad, You leave us all with so many happy memories. You will be in our hearts always, your loving daughter Carol, son-in-law Ken, grandchildren Sarah & Nicholas.
TAYLOR WILLIAM EDWARD (BILL) The family of the late Bill Taylor would like to express their sincere thanks for all the floral tributes, cards and donations sent following the sad loss of Bill. Please accept this as a personal thank you.
JUDD JEAN AND EDD Have great pleasure in announcing the engagement of their daughter Belinda to David, son of Mary and Peter Plowman. With love and congratulations from both families.
GREEN ANDREW (ANDY) Passed away on June 22nd, 2003. Sadly missed by his Mum and Dad and brothers Richard and Lee. ---------- Funeral Service at Southampton Crematorium at 1.00pm on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2003.
WILTON LIN Dear sister-in-law, so many good times, never forgotten. John, Sheila and Family. XXX
GILBERT LESLIE Passed away two years ago today, we never had a chance to say goodbye. I miss you every day. You are in my thoughts and in my heart. We love and miss you. Goodnight and God Bless. Your loving wife Esther, daughters Mandy and Julie, son-in-laws
GREENWOOD GEORGE Loving memories, treasured forever of the happy years we shared together. Mary and family.
WESTERMAN LEONARD (Len). Treasured memories of a dear husband, dad and grandad, who passed away suddenly one year ago today. Forever in our hearts. Loved and missed so very much. Beryl, children and grandchildren. xxxx.
MILLER SUZANNE (Nee HARPER) AND KEVIN Congratulations on the safe arrival of your precious little son Benjamin Robert. Born June 23rd 2003. All our love and best wishes. Mum , Dad, Kerry, Martin, Megan and Joseph. XXXXXX
GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY BRADBEER Jean and Mervyn CONGRATULATIONS Best wishes and lots of love. From all your family. xx
