March 20, 2001
Freed Newcastle hostage Tim Selby was due to fly home today for an emotional reunion with his family.
Mr Selby, a 28-year-old engineer from West Jesmond, and two Danish colleagues were seized at gunpoint by suspected tribal rebels on February 16 as they worked on a road project in Bangladesh. Army commandos freed the men on Saturday after a dramatic rescue operation by stormtroopers in the village of Nakshichari.
March 20, 2001
Artwork by LS Lowry given to waitresses at the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland has emerged 25 years after his death. The rough sketches were drawn for staff at the artist's favourite hotel, where he spent much of his time in later years.
Two former waitresses were given three drawings, thought to be among Lowry's last pieces, in July 1975. One was given to a 45-year-old teacher, now living in Hampshire, who had a holiday job at the hotel. She asked Lowry for an autograph and left her book with him. When he gave back the book he had added not just his signature - but two sketches.
A third drawing belongs to Catherine Emmerson, who now lives near Bristol. Her mother Barbara Maw, of Seaburn, Sunderland, said it was produced in similar circumstances. Lowry had retired earlier and the drawings were among his last.
March 26, 2001
Hibernia Foods in Peterlee is to close with the loss of 200 jobs. The firm, which also has a factory on the Oakesway Industrial Estate in Hartlepool, said the decision was due to the current economic climate. The town lost 1,000 jobs at textile companies Dewhirst and Courtaulds last year.
March 26, 2001
Former children's TV presenter and producer Muriel Young was found dead at her home in Stanhope, County Durham, yesterday. She was 77.
Miss Young - known to an earlier generation of young viewers as Auntie Mu - started out as a TV announcer with Granada in the 1950s before going on to present The Five O'Clock Club and BBC's Kaleidoscope. She then moved into TV production before turning her hand to professional painting in her native County Durham.
March 26, 2001
North-East comedy actor Rowan Atkinson averted an air tragedy when he took the controls of a flight after the pilot passed out at the controls.
Atkinson and his family were 45 minutes into a journey from Ukundu airstrip to Nairobi's Wilson Airport when the pilot of the private Cessna 202 plane collapsed.
Both he and his wife Sunetra tried in vain to revive the pilot and Atkinson was forced to take over the controls - despite never having flown a plane.
The pilot came round after several minutes and managed to land safely. Atkinson, 46, famous for such diverse roles as Blackadder and Mr Bean, lives in Stocksfield, Northumberland, with his wife and their two young children.
March 28, 2001
This summer is set to be a British best for five years with a string of heatwaves beginning in May. Weather experts predict highs of 90ºF. The downside is the threat of drought!
March 28, 2001
Steel workers were given a stay of execution last night after Corus agreed to consider union rescue plans. The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation wants to keep the coil plate mill at Lackenby, near Redcar open for another year in the hope that this will give the steel industry time to recover and lead to a change of heart by Corus.
March 29, 2001
Marks and Spencer is to sell its US operations and close all its European stores to concentrate on its UK business and halt falling sales and profits. M&S stores in the UK will get a new image. Two thirds will be refurbished this year with more attention given to food, home and beauty goods. Competitor Selfridges is to acquire half of the lease in M&S's Manchester city centre store.
March 30, 2001
Buckingham Palace today confirmed that Princess Margaret has suffered a third stroke which has left the left side of her body paralysed. The Queen's 70-year-old sister has had round the clock nursing care at her London residence since leaving the King Edward VII Hospital in January where she had treatment for a previous stroke.
March 30, 2001
Historic Wilton Castle near Redcar is set to be converted into 45 luxury homes. The gothic castle was built in 1810 and is a grade two listed building. It replaced a burned-out building and was the seat of the Lowther family until it was sold to ICI who used the castle as a training centre and guesthouses for visiting VIPs. Home builder Wimpey bought the castle, stables and gardens in 1999, paying £5m for the castle and Norton Hall at Norton.
March 30, 2001
A new £97m hospital in Durham will admit its first patients next week. The University Hospital of North Durham, which replaces Dryburn Hospital, has 11 state-of-the-art operating theatres, modern wards and accident and emergency department with digital X-ray. The hospital was among the first in the region to be funded through the Government's Private Finance Initiative. Outpatient services will be transferred to the new hospital in August. Most of the old Dryburn Hospital will be demolished to make way for car parks.
April 3, 2001
A stretch of Durham coastline has been officially recognised as one of the most important in Britain.
The Countryside Agency has announced Heritage Status for the coast from Ryhope and Seaham down to Crimdon. The honour coincides with the completion of the £10m regeneration programme by the Turning The Tide Millennium Project.
The stretch of coast includes the former Easington Colliery and features fine magnesium limestone grassland, wooded dense, cliffs and stacks.Until recently, the Durham coast was one of the most heavily polluted coastlines in Britain, a legacy of more than a century of colliery waste being dumped from the six coal mines along the beaches.
The four-year Turning the Tide project saw the removal of 1.3million tonnes of colliery waste from the beaches and cliff tops.
April 3, 2001
Plans to build the world's biggest urban wind farm on Teesside took a step nearer this week. Beleaguered steelmaker Corus, Northern Electric and Gas and Amec Border Wind agreed to investigate the feasibility of building the farm on Corus-owned land on the south bank of the Tees. The TeesWind project would create new jobs and provide enough energy for 45,000 homes. The study will take 18 months.
April 4, 2001
The BBC has negotiated a delayed kick-off for a European football match so viewers can find out who shot EastEnders' Phil Mitchell without missing any of the football action.
The start of the Uefa Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Barcelona from the Nou Camp stadium has been put back 15 minutes to 2015BST on Thursday, to accommodate a special 40-minute edition of the soap.
The EastEnders storyline has gripped viewers since the former Queen Victoria landlord was gunned down outside his Albert Square home five weeks ago. The culprit will be revealed on Thursday.
The storyline has been billed as the biggest TV whodunit since the 1980 shooting of oil magnate JR in American soap Dallas. Find out more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/
Exotic plants make home in Sunderland
April 5, 2001
Thousands of exotic plants have started to arrive at Sunderland's new Winter Gardens. The specimens, from a Dutch nursery, include a pygmy date palm which is expected to grow to 11 metres high, with a five-metre canopy within two years. Other plants include a 6.5-metre high yucca plant from Honduras and an 80-year-old Sicilian olive tree. The Winter Gardens, part of the £13m Mowbray Gardens project, are expected to open in July.
April 6, 2001
Dressers Stationers, one of the oldest family businesses in the region, shut up shop last weekend. The company had traded in Darlington for 155 years. The shop in High Row and a second one in Northallerton have been sold to a property developer. Several national retail chains are thought to have shown an interest.
Moving tribute to Selby crash victim
April 6, 2001
A moving memorial service for Prof Steve Baldwin who died in the Selby rail crash was held at the University of Teesside this week. The psychology professor was one of ten people killed when the GNER train hit a car on the tracks. Prof Baldwin, 44, had gained international recognition for his work.
April 11, 2001
This year's Grand National winner Red Marauder is basking in the glory of his victory at his stables in County Durham. The region's latest sporting hero is stabled at Brancepeth Manor Farm near Durham City, which is also home to his owner and trainer Norman Mason. Red Marauder, an 11-year-old gelding, was one of just four horses to pass the finishing line at Aintree to win by a distance.
April 11, 2001
Darlington council is talking to housing developers about a multi-million pound revamp of the town's troubled Firthmoor estate.
The estate has been stigmatised over the years by high levels of poverty and crime. Hundreds of houses there will be replaced with low-cost housing with the first 60 new homes being built next Spring. The estate will also get a new primary school. Both schemes are part of a £3m rescue package won last Summer from the Government's Single Regeneration Budget by the community-based Darlington Partnership.
April 18, 2001
Steelmaker Corus has rejected union proposals to save more than 1,000 jobs, dealing the final blow to Teesside steelmen.
The 234 workers at Lackenby coil plate mill now face redundancy as early as June. The closure of the mill will end the 160-year-old integrated steel industry on Teesside and places the long-term future of steelmaking by the banks of the Tees in jeopardy.
The union plan was to keep the mill open for 12 months on reduced working to give the industry the chance to turn the corner. There are expected to be a total of 650 redundancies on Teesside; 140 in Hartlepool and Stockton and 40 in Skinningrove.
April 18, 2001
A draft report by Hartlepool Borough Council says the centuries-old tradition of seacoaling should be allowed to flourish. Early findings from their inquiry says a ban on taking coal from the town's beaches would not be practical and would be very difficult to enforce. Councillors now look set to introduce a licensing system to regulate the practice. A final decision will be made later this year.
April 18, 2001
Receivers appointed to shipbuilders Cammell Laird today announced that 320 jobs would go in the next week. The Teesside yard will close on Friday with the loss of 110 jobs while 60 workers will go at Hebburn on Tyneside and a further 150 at Birkenhead. The company blamed the decision to go into receivership on the loss of a £50m Italian cruise ship contract and uncertainty over other deals.
April 18, 2001
The Wear's fishing fleet was been given an Easter blessing this year for the first time since 1815.
The ceremony was performed at Sunderland Fish Quay by the Rev Stephen Hazlett, the priest in charge of Sunderland Old Parish Church. He said it was to express the city's solidarity with the fishermen, who have been experiencing difficult times with the depletion of North Sea stocks and new fishing restrictions imposed by the European Parliament.
The ceremony was an annual occurrence at a time when parishioners paid rectors in the Church of England tithes.
April 20, 2001
The 60 Tyneside Cammell Laird workers made redundant earlier this week were leaving the shipyard for the final time today.
The company went into receivership last week. Receivers are now considering expressions of interest in the firm including a management buy-out. Yesterday 110 workers were laid off at the Teesside yard. Another 40 will complete their last shift this afternoon. Cammell hit difficulties when a £5m upgrade for an Italian cruise liner bound for Merseyside last November was cancelled.
April 20, 2001
Family and friends gathered today for the funeral of Sir Harry Secombe who died from prostate cancer last week at the age of 79.
A private service was held at Cranleigh Parish Church in Surrey; near to the home he shared with his wife Myra. Sir Harry made his name as part of the visionary radio comic team The Goons. He also fronted religious TV programmes Highway and Songs of Praise, highlighting his strong Christian faith, and he was a tireless worker for charity.
Sir Harry received his knighthood in1981. A memorial service is expected to be arranged later in the year.
April 24, 2001
The hunt for the Loch Ness monster resumed today as Swedish-based team set up hi-tech sonar equipment to scour the Scottish Loch for any large, unusual shapes.
Expedition leader Jan Sundberg says there have been so many sightings of Nessie that there must be some truth in the legend. He said past expeditions have failed to trace the monster because they did not have the sophisticated equipment available to his team.
But the monster hunters will have more than the elements and Nessie to contend with. A white witch is planning to cast a spell on the team to prevent them catching Nessie.
Kevin Carlyon, a High Priest in the British Coven of White Witches, says he will sail out onto the loch and cast a bad luck spell on the researchers.
Each year half a million tourists from all over the world flock to the loch in the hope of catching a glimpse of the monster, and they spend up to £25m in the area.
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