Archive
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Elderly students to pay for college budget cuts
PENSIONERS may be denied cheaper adult education at West Herts College next year following a £400,000 funding cut. College bosses fear older students will suffer price rises and a reduced number of courses after Hertfordshire County Council struck its
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We all need to be loved
THIS time of year, the post-Christmas period, can be difficult for some people. There are a variety of reasons why this may be the case. Christmas is over and things can feel flat. Christmas may also be a painful reminder of recent bereavements or losses
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Show proves good news for audiences
EXUBERANCE, colour and cart-loads of youthful energy - all the hallmarks of a Pump House Children and Youth Theatre production are well in evidence in its latest venture, Godspell. This musical hit the London stage 26 years ago, with David Essex, Jeremy
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Abigail parties on
INFAMOUS party-giver Abigail, who recently returned to the small screen for one night, will be throwing live parties on stage in Northwood for three nights next week. Oaklands Drama has issued an invitation to Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party at Northwood
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Who will make the best racket?
THE quarter-finals of The Horn's Battle of the Bands starts this week with Watford mob The Secrets up againstin a Henman vs Rusedski-style clash. Well, it's nothing like a Henman vs Rusedski style clash, but we can say what we like. Since October 32 bands
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Special organ recital will mark 100 years
A CELEBRITY organ recital will help mark the 100th anniversary of Marlborough Road Methodist Church, St Albans, later this month. The recital will be given by rising star Alison Baker, who was born in Colchester and studied at the Royal Academy of Music
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Penalty heartbreak for Hornets
WATFORD's Cup hopes died in the City of Sheffield for the second time this season, as they bowed out of this exacting and often exasperating FA Cup Third Round replay at Hillsborough. On a chilly Wednesday night, Kevin Pressman's shoot-out penalty save
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Pub chain to hold meeting over plans row
PUB chain J.D. Wetherspoon will meet concerned residents in Rickmansworth this month to dispel fears about opening in the town. The meeting comes a month before the Watford-based company applies to the courts for a licence to trade in the High Street.
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Keeper keeps town in it
BEDFORD TOWN goalkeeper James Heeps stood between St Albans City and a place in the quarter-final of the Guardian Insurance Cup with an inspired display at Clarence Park last Tuesday. The visitors set about the Saints with great aplomb early on before
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Walton & Hersham...1 St Albans City...0
Haworth dismissal makes City defeat harder to take Saints striker pushed referee's assistant after Walton and Hersham hit winning goal MISSED chances proved costly for struggling St Albans City at Stompond Lane on Saturday as the Saints slithered to a
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Fulham beat Taylor to sign Kyle Lightbourne on loan
WATFORD attempted to sign 30-year-old Coventry City striker Kyle Lightbourne on loan but were pipped by Fulham. "We made inquiries for Kyle but Gordon Strachan had committed him to a month's loan at Fulham, unless we came up with an amount of money and
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Public meeting slates option to close hospital
HANDS off our hospital was the message from Watford residents who attended a public meeting to discuss the future of health service in west Hertfordshire. Scores of people turned out half-an-hour before Wednesday's meeting at the Multi-Racial Centre in
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Fraudster convicted of store con
A SENIOR employee at Asda in Garston was found guilty of fraud at St Albans Crown Court this week. Joe Olival, 29, of The Garth, Abbots Langley, transferred an estimated £6,641 into his own and a girlfriend's bank account when he was employed as a deputy
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Hat-trick hero Clark carries City through to Charity cup final
St Albans City...3 Ware...0 WITH the 20th hat trick of his St Albans City career, long serving striker Steve Clark booked the Saints a place in the final of the Herts Charity Cup at Clarence Park on Tuesday and moved to within four of his 250th goal for
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Saracens cruise into fifth round
SARACENS powered their way through a spirited Blackheath effort on Wednesday and set themselves up with the prestige tie of the fifth round against Leicester. A shock was never really on the cards, despite the fact Sarries were missing many internationals
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Penalty try staves off Quins danger
SARACENS claimed the two points necessary to keep their league ambitions alive on Sunday in a match their opposition believed should never have taken place. For Harlequins, beaten 25-16 in dour encounter at Vicarage Road, had already asked for the match
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Sandridge boss decides to quit
A 3-2 DEFEAT against Oxhey Jets proved to be the last straw for Sandridge boss Steve Petts, who handed in his resignation straight afterwards. Petts, who took over at Rovers last season after a successful run in the reserves, was said to be very disappointed
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Film boss head-hunted
FILM bosses have head-hunted a top drawer Broadway producer for a prime position at Leavesden Studios. Robert W McTyre, 48, former producer of the hit Broadway show Disney's Beauty and the Beast, has been appointed executive vice-president and executive
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Wasteful Saints must try again
FA Umbro Trophy St Albans City...0 Sittingbourne...0 HAVING failed on Saturday to break down a struggling Dr Martens side which had to survive for 73 minutes with just ten men, St Albans City must travel to Sittingbourne this evening for the first time
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Golf day set for second tee-off
FOR the second year running Observer Newspapers is organising a charity golf day at West Herts Golf Club. The event will be held on Friday, May 1, and the price per team of four will be £200 - last year's event raised almost £4,000 for Watford General
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Mosque plans changed in bid to allay fears
ALTERATIONS to the north Watford mosque plans have been made in a bid to placate angry residents. Architects have reduced the size of the minaret by 10ft to a height of 62ft and moved an entry gate to discourage visitors from parking in the nearby residential
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Choice made was the correct one
THERE will doubtless be a large number of pensioners across the county angered by the cut in subsidy for their education. With some justification, they will feel victimised and disenchanted that their cut-price classes will be lost. But there were some
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Knights in armour
HOW low can you go? Ambulance crews in Watford are soon to be wearing body armour because of the rising amount of attacks on paramedics attending incidents. It is almost unbelievable that caring members of an essential service are beaten up. The people
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Lesson to be learned from 'honkers'
LIKE me, you've probably seen, and heard, geese flying in a V shape in the skies above St Albans. Surprisingly, this formation can teach us much about ways to improve the quality of our community. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for
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Crash causes M-way chaos
THERE was traffic chaos on the M1 near Redbourn on Friday morning after an articulated lorry crashed into the central reservation just before midnight on Thursday. The 38-ton lorry, from Southampton, was travelling southbound when it jackknifed near Junction
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Increase in number of drink drive offenders
POLICE in Hertfordshire have released further figures following their anti drink drive campaign over Christmas. Twenty drivers on the county's roads failed breath tests over the holiday period, compared with just seven in 1996. Inspector Martin Goss said
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Jones denies assault charge
VINNIE JONES has pleaded not guilty to assaulting his Redbourn neighbour and causing criminal damage to his home. But the Wales and Wimbledon star, of Library Lane, Redbourn, will stand trial on the two charges at St Albans Magistrates Court. Appearing
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Medieval wall site dug up by workmen
PART of St Albans' medieval past was uncovered by workmen building the new Ryder Seed Mews development in Holywell Hill. The Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust carried out a dig on the site behind The White Hart pub before developers Try Homes began construction
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Saturday What's On
The Temple Stealers perform acoustic originals and covers at The Meeting Place, High Street, London Colney, from 9pm. Admission is free. Darktown perform in Snooks at the Dacorum Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, at noon. Admission is free. Erica Harwood plays
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Olympic champion warns pupils against glory-seeking
CHAMPION oarsman Matthew Pinsent warned academic prize-winners at Watford Grammar School for Boys against pushing themselves merely for glory's sake, last week. Instead they should strive for the best possible achievements for themselves, said the twice
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Rows over loud music silenced in court
A FEUD between neighbours came to head at Watford Magistrates Court on Tuesday, when a woman was found guilty of breaching an abatement notice for noise pollution. Andrea Reid, of 36 Stripling Way, Watford, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, was fined
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A performance so inept it must surely be a one-off
A STRANGER to Second Division football, visiting Turf Moor on Saturday, would have had no hesitation when asked to identify the strugglers and the runaway leaders. His only doubt would have been as to the sanity of the person who told him he was wrong
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Council smoking ban sparks controversy
WATFORD councillors who this week banned employees from smoking inside the Town Hall have decided to make their own rooms exempt from the rule. Most offices at the Hempstead Road building are already non-smoking, with smokers having to gather in corridors
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Baring their art and souls
LIVING with physical disabilities is the inspiration behind a unique exhibition of art work at Watford Museum. Past, Present And Future was produced by ten members of the Watford charity, Drum, which provides facilities for people with disabilities. Their
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Punters are kept happy
MY abiding memory of a Gilbert and Sullivan production is watching a long-ago performance in a school gymnasium where an enthusiastic director had gone overboard on visual creativity, writes Rosemary Lomax. The play must have been the Pirates Of Penzance
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Date filled with romance
SINGER Elaine Delmar returns to the Palace Theatre, Watford, with lots of love for a Saturday date, on January 24. Elaine's new show, Songs Of Love, features classic love songs from the romantic side of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers
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Teenager tried to pull man off railway lines
Court hears of 16-year-old's brave bid to save another man from electrocution on the tracks A BRAVE teenager told an inquest about his desperate attempts to save a young man who had been electrocuted on a railway line. At St Albans Coroner's Court on
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Young cook dies in New Year's Day crash
A FORMER pupil of Francis Combe school who was due to marry this year was killed in a car crash on New Year's Day. Richard Hammond, 21, who had recently started work as a cook at Long Island Exchange in Rickmansworth, died at the scene of the accident
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Place in squad for Helen
A SEVENTEEN year old from Wheathampstead has won a place in the British Judo Association National Junior Squad. Helen Robertson, who attends Sandringham School in Wheathampstead, was selected to the squad after a succesful performance in the British Youth
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Harpenden...25 Old Millhillians...11
HARPENDEN disposed of another of their championship rivals on Saturday, beating Old Millhillians 25-11, thanks to a breath-taking opening 20 minute burst which kept their 100 per cent league record firmly intact. Two quick tries set them on their way
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Developer leaves £77m to charity
A FORMER property developer and company director from Moor Park has died leaving millions of pounds to charity. Mr Ronald Diggens, OBE, 85, of Russell Road, died last year and left most of his £77 million estate to charity. He bequeathed land to the National
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Mother's bid to improve road safety in village
A MOTHER concerned about her children is mounting a campaign to improve pedestrian safety in Bedmond. Mrs Carol Cornish, 40, decided to take action after fears she was risking her life and that of her two young children when crossing the High Street.
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Christian message goes on-line
IN an attempt to promote the forthcoming National Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, churches in St Albans are employing an altogether more modern way of getting their message across - the Internet. Churches Together in St Albans, a group of more than
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Park triumphant
ROUNDWOOD PARK Under-13 netball team were triumphant on Tuesday after winning the first St Albans and District Cup Final, beating St Albans Girls School 15-10. It was a hard-fought match but Roundwood never lost the lead and the girls demonstrated a high
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Old Vees score first but then crash
Cambridge...33 Old Verulamians...7 AFTER a memorable victory the previous week at Wimbledonians, OVs slumped to a heavy defeat in the league at Cambridge. Coach Minto will have been especially disappointed with his side's display as they actually scored
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Harps surge to top of the league
Tring...21 Harpenden...37 HARPENDEN fought back from being behind to chalk up another convincing win and surge to the top of London North West League Division Three. With Hertford, their closest rivals, going down to a shock one-point defeat against Letchworth
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Hornets welcome Hazan
NEWEST recruit Alon Hazan, cannot wait to get into action for the Hornets. "I want to prove to the men who worked so hard to bring me here that I am worth something. The main thing is to be good with the team and help to make the First Division next year
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Capacity crowd sees Lewis turn the game for Towers
TIP-OFF had to be delayed by ten minutes on Saturday to allow a capacity crowd into the Watford Leisure Centre to watch the Watford Royals take on the current Budweiser League leaders, London Towers. Royals took an early lead of 6-5 before a 12-2 run
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Plan to convert university into housing development
PROPOSALS to convert an historic building in Bushey into a residential development housing hundreds of people have shocked and angered the community. A planning application was lodged by Comer Homes Developers last week to transform the former International
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Court hears of woman's death on railway line
CHILLING eyewitness accounts detailing how a young woman took her own life by standing in front of an express train, left a court stunned this week. The final moments leading up to the death of Angela Jones were recounted by three witnesses who saw her
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Royals left wanting
JUST when it looked as if Watford Royals were finally in the mood to capture their first win in the Budweiser League, bad luck thwarted them at Newcastle on Friday. Two wins in the Uniball Trophy could not compensate for 14 successive league defeats but
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Consultation is the key
THE decision of St Albans and Hemel Hempstead NHS Trust to close two wards for elderly people without feeling the need to consult anybody is staggering. Health is an emotive issue and it seems those who make decisions that affect us all have yet to realise
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Fairy tale magic on ice
A SPECTACULAR production of The Sleeping Beauty on Ice will enthral audiences at The Alban Arena later this month. The Russian Ice Stars return to St Albans for their traditional January date with a £3.5 million production featuring world class skaters
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Purse snatch gang targets shoppers
A GANG of purse snatchers is preying on unwitting shoppers in St Albans city centre, causing police to issue a warning to women to be on their guard. The thieves enjoyed rich pickings on Saturday, stealing ten purses with a total haul of around £500.
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In the back of the Net by Oliver Phillips
The first of an exclusive series of articles written solely for visitors to the Watford Observer Web Site is written by our assistant-editor, Oliver Phillips, who has been covering the Hornets since making his first-team debut in 1962. IN THE beginning
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Woman hopes to bring famous family together
MEMBERS of St Albans' famous Ryder family are being sought to fulfil the dreams of a British exile hoping to meet up with her wartime friends. Denise Sabotta, ne Looney, lived with the Ryders from 1940 until 1945 before moving to the United States with
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Yet another inquiry date for scheme
ROUND the clock building work at Cheapside Farm would be an unacceptable burden for local residents to bear, councillors have ruled. A plan to introduce twilight working hours on the controversial site - where sports facilities for St Albans School and
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Watchdog condemns 'underhand' decision
HEALTH bosses have been condemned by a watchdog for their decision to close two wards for the elderly at St Albans City Hospital. North West Herts Community Health Council (CHC) says it is "disturbed and disappointed" that St Albans and Hemel Hempstead
