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Friday May 4, 2018

12 MONTHS GUARANTEE

No. 840

Twelve short films about local life

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MUSLIM GIRLS SCHOOL SHOCK Zakaria Girls’ High to close at end of term Former Batley Hospital plans abandoned Trustees quizzed over £1.3m loans EXCLUSIVE

By Staff Reporters A MUSLIM Girls’ High School which had ambitious plans to turn Batley Hospital into its new home has shocked parents by announcing it will close this summer, amidst allegations of a financial scandal.

The Zakaria independent school for Muslim girls aged 11 to 18 has buildings in Warwick Road and Taylor Street, Batley, but last week parents were told they will need to find new schools from the end of the current term.

There has been a furious response from both parents and people who loaned the Zakaria governors more than a million pounds to purchase

and develop the former Batley Hospital buildings off Carlinghow Hill.

In its last accounts filed in 2017 the school showed a profit of around £300,000 and assets of £1.8m – but it owed £1.3m to private individuals who had financed the Batley Hospital project.

The former hospital has been hit twice by fires in recent months, amidst rumours the Zakaria had overstretched itself and abandoned plans to move.

The buildings were bought and given planning permission for a £1.5m refurbishment in 2013.

Questions have been raised after it was learned the headteacher Yusuf Jasat, and two associates believed to be present or past trustees, Saeed and Shabir Patel, have

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privately bought the land around the school in Warwick Road and applied to build 17 houses on the site.

One parent, who did not want to be named, said the head of governors, Mr Shabbir Daji – described as ‘Proprietor Head of Trustees’ on the school website – had said the school couldn’t afford to continue due to “a lack of students, council opposition and lack of interested investors”.

Mr Daji is also a senior trustee of the Markazi Mosque in Savile Town.

The parent said announcements about the closure included little detail about what had happened – or what the financial situation really was.

Continued on page 2

The main Zakaria Girls High School building on Warwick Road (top) and the fire-damaged former Batley Hospital buildings just off Carlinghow Hill (above)

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ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

Shock as girls’ school set to close Deaths ARCHER SHIRLEY On March 26, peacefully at home after a brave battle with illness, aged 81, wife of the late Dennis. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Tuesday May 15 at 2pm.

ASHBY PATRICIA On April 25, peacefully in hospital, aged 86, wife of the late Kenneth. Funeral service will be held at Central Methodist Church, Batley, on Wednesday May 23 at 10.15am.

AVEYARD ELIZABETH MEARNS On April 21, peacefully at Roberttown Care Home after a long illness, wife of the late Alan. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Monday May 14 at 12.30pm.

BIRKETT (FORMERLY BRADBURN) (NEE HEYWOOD) JOAN On April 15, in hospital, of Ashworth Grange, formerly

will be held at Woodlands Crematorium, Scarborough, on Tuesday May 8 at 12.40pm.

of Dewsbury, aged 86, wife of the late Brian.

Funeral service will be held at Trinity Church, Batley Carr, on Thursday May 10 at 1.45pm.

COLLINS MICHAEL JOHN

CAPE (NEE HEY) MARIAN On April 24, peacefully at Lydgate Lodge Nursing Home, formerly of Ossett and Shaw Cross, aged 88 years, wife of the late Sidney. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Monday May 14 at 2pm.

CARTER JOHN On April 28, at home in Mirfield, aged 88 years, husband of the late Betty.

Funeral service will be held at St Mary's Church, Mirfield, on Wednesday May 16 at 12pm.

On April 27, peacefully at home after an illness, aged 68 years, daughter of the late Frank and Louie.

Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Thursday May 10 at 12.30pm.

CRASKE JOHN

GREENWOOD RICHARD JOHN

On April 27, peacefully, of Thornhill, aged 78 years, husband of the late Eileen.

Funeral enquiries to George Brooke Ltd, 01924 454476.

On April 2, peacefully at Wythenshaw Hospital, of Cheshire, formerly of Batley, aged 74 years, husband of Caroline. Funeral service will be held at St Peter’s Church, Hale, on Friday May 11 at 12pm.

On April 21, peacefully at Pinderfields Hospital, aged 85 years, husband of Jackie. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Wednesday May 9 at 11.15am.

On April 28, at Snaith Hall Care Home, of Scarborough, formerly of Hanging Heaton, aged 99 years, wife of the late William. Funeral service

GIBSON MARGARET On April 30, peacefully at Fieldhead Court, Thornhill, aged 82 years, mother of Beverley, Lynn, Gary and Frank. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Thursday May 10 at 11.15am.

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On April 29, at Kirkwood Hospice, of Batley, aged 72 years, husband of Maureen. Requiem Mass will be held at St Mary's Church, Batley, on Thursday May 10 at 11am.

DONEGAN FRANK

COLBECK PHYLLIS MARY

will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Tuesday May 8 at 1.15am.

HEPWORTH EDWIN On April 27, at home, aged 90 years, husband of the late Joan. Funeral service will be held at Thornhill Parish Church on Friday May 18 at 1.45pm.

MEACHAM ROBERT EDWARD ‘BOB’ On April 27, in hospital, of Chickenley, aged 89 years, husband of the late Doris May. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Friday May 11 at 11.14am.

MOXON JOHN On April 29, in hospital, of Horbury, aged 86 years, husband of Muriel. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Monday May 14 at 11.15am.

PHILLIPS BRYON On April 24, at home in Liversedge after a long illness, aged 82 years, brother of Barbara and

Linda and the late Barry and Malcolm. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Monday May 14 at 2.45pm.

PRESTON (NEE BRIGGS) DOROTHY On April 29, at Ashworth Grane, of Thornhill, aged 87 years, wife of the late Brian. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Tuesday May 22 at 11.15am.

SCARBOROUGH (NEE WHITWORTH) PHYLLIS On April 28, peacefully at Dewsbury Hospital, of Liversedge, formerly of Cleckheaton, aged 87 years, wife of the late Walter. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on

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On April 17, in hospital, of Barnfield, formerly of Batley, aged 92 years, wife of the late John. Funeral service will be held at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Wednesday May 9 at 2pm.

Place your family notices by calling 01924 470296

Mrs Jean Ewart and family convey their most sincere thanks to the many relatives, friends and business associates for the kind expressions of sympathy, flowers, cards and donations for the benefit of Heart Research UK received following their sudden sad loss of Bob. Grateful thanks to the ambulance crew for their prompt attention and to Rev Heather Thurlow for her words of comfort at this time.

Special thanks to Helen and staff of George Brooke Ltd for caring, compassionate and professional funeral arrangements.

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From page one “We need to know how this situation has come about,” he said. “Not long ago we had grand plans for expansion and a fantastic new site, because the current school wasn’t big enough. So what has happened? From having too many students, now there aren’t enough?

“A lot of people loaned huge sums of money to help fund the new project and now all we hear are whispers that ‘a deal’ has been done with a local developer to build housing there.

“Why wasn’t the hospital sold for development via normal means to get people their money back? What’s happened?”

The Kirklees Council planning website shows that a plan for 10 semi-detached houses on the Warwick Road site of the Zakaria school was submitted by headteacher Mr Jasat and the Patels, on the same day last year that a company called Warwick Road Development (2017) Ltd – of which Saeed Patel and his wife Aisha are directors – applied to build seven townhouses at the same location.

Kirklees planners have yet to decide on either project.

This week the school website was still announcing Batley Hospital as its new home, saying it will “provide an outstanding school that will continue to impart an excellent secular education”.

Another parent shared social media information indicating that a Midlands-based charity named the Green Oak Academy planned to open a new school at the Zakaria’s nearby Taylor Street building, but had since pulled out.

The Zakaria charges £1,400 per year and the website says it has 94 pupils, although this is believed to have declined recently.

An Ofsted inspection in September 2016 found the school required improvement in every area except the development, welfare and behaviour of the girls. It had previously been rated as ‘adequate’.

The school did not respond to requests for comment.

KIRKLEES: Couples who are planning a wedding can attend an open evening at Dewsbury Town Hall.

A range of local wedding suppliers will be on hand and Kirklees registrars can talk you through available packages. You can also sample a selection of drinks and canapes at the event on Thursday May 17, from 5pm to 8pm. To book for free go to http://bit.ly/ dewsweddingeve2018.

ThePress Friday May 4, 2018 Issue No: 840

31 Branch Road Batley West Yorkshire WF17 5SB Tel: 01924 470296 Fax: 01924 472561

www.thepressnews.co.uk @ThePressLatest /ThePressNews Publisher: Danny Lockwood Editor: David Bentley Reporter: Zoë Shackleton Sports Reporter: Ben McKenna Graphic Designer: Craig Moore Sales Manager: Lucy Tissiman Sales Executives: Nicola Finch, Janet Black, Rachael Hall Accounts administrator: Angela Hall

The Press abides by the principles of the Independent Press Standards Organisation and at all times attempts to report fairly and accurately and correct mistakes or errors as soon as possible.

In the first instance, contact the editor, otherwise we will be happy to give details of the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

Batley – a des-res place for retail (but Dewsbury struggles) BATLEY has been named as one of the most successful small towns in Great Britain according to a recent retail survey.

A report published by the Local Data Company showed it as the fourth fastestgrowing small town for retail and leisure in 2017.

Dewsbury didn’t fare as well, coming out second-worst town for persistent vacancies of shops, restaurants and retail spaces.

Head of Batley Business Association, Andrew Marsden, said: “It’s down to a variety of factors, including the stubborn resilience of Batley and as a community we’re very good at putting in the hard yards to make sure we turn that corner, promote the town and move things forward.”

Trish Makepeace, president of Dewsbury Chamber of Trade, remains positive despite the town’s low rating.

She said: “There’s an image and a reputation of Dewsbury that we need to let go of. We’ve got to be more positive about the town.”

Event for Sarah FAMILY and friends of a mum who died of cancer are raising cash for Kirkwood Hospice. Sarah Green passed away in January and a family fun day will be held on Saturday June 9 at Battyeford Playing Fields. There will be a dog show, stalls, live music and more from 12pm to 8pm.

All proceeds from the day will go to the hospice through Sarah’s Wish – a fund set up by her family.

Road killer with no licence gets just two years

News In Brief Election results due

Friend let him drive car to celebrate being off curfew

Santander to close

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NORTH KIRKLEES: Voters went to the polls yesterday (Thurs) to determine who runs Kirklees Council. Counting was expected to start in Huddersfield at around 9.30am today, with results due after lunch.

One councillor in every ward is up for reelection, except in Birstall and Birkenshaw where two seats are up for grabs following the resignation of Coun Andrew Palfreeman.

Labour are currently two seats short of becoming the first party in sole charge of Kirklees Council in more than 20 years.

Before today they held 33 seats, the Conservatives 20, Lib Dems nine and the remaining seven are four independents and three Green. See our website and Facebook and Twitter pages from late morning.

HECKMONDWIKE: Banking giant Santander will close the doors to its Market Place branch later this year.

The company blamed changes to the way customers do their banking on the decision to close on October 25. It follows news that NatWest will also shut down on May 31.

Mark Hepworth, president of the Spenborough Chamber of Commerce, said it made no sense as Santander would have been the only bank remaining.

Fire at takeaway

By Staff Reporters AN UNLICENSED and uninsured driver who fatally mowed down a mum-of-three has been sentenced to just two years in jail.

Faizal Kadia (pictured) was driving a hired BMW in Dewsbury when he lost control and crashed into pedestrian Hamida Sidat on February 4 last year.

The 21-year-old’s friend Hamza Fulat had hired the high-powered 420D vehicle because he was the only one who had a full licence.

Kadia and Fulat’s friend Ammaar Gora, who was in the passenger seat during the fatal collision, also appeared at Leeds Crown Court.

Kadia crashed into 54-year-old Mrs Sidat at the junction of Bradford Road and Dewsbury Ring Road near to Lidl, the day after the car had been hired from Elite Prestige in Dewsbury for £450. Fulat, of Town Street in Batley, signed an agreement saying he would be the only driver.

But he let the others drive because Kadia was marking his first weekend without a curfew as he was on licence for affray.

Kadia, of Benny Parr Close in Soothill, and Gora were driving towards Dewsbury when they mounted a pavement on Bradford Road, hitting a road sign and then a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van before hitting pedestrian Mrs Sidat and dragging her under the BMW. The pair fled the scene towards

Kadia’s house not knowing they had hit Mrs Sidat.

Fulat drove them back to the scene to tell officers he was the one driving, but the trio later changed their story and admitted it was Kadia – who has still been driving illegally since the fatal accident, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving, causing death by driving while unlicensed, causing death by driving while uninsured and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Gora pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, while Fulat admitted fraud by false representation.

They have apologised to the victim’s family, with Mrs Sidat’s eldest son Siraj saying in a statement: “No-one deserves news from a police officer telling them their mother has been killed in such a senseless and avoidable way.”

Kadia was also disqualified from driving for two years, while 22-year-old Gora was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence and will have to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

Fulat, 23, was sentenced to

Wife ‘knew attack was coming’ A HUSBAND launched a violent two-hour attack on his wife while their two-year old son was at home.

Ashfaq Ali’s victim said she knew she was about to get beaten when he locked the doors and shut the blinds at their Westtown home on March 22. She had refused his request to make breakfast and iron his clothes because she had to feed their son – who witnessed some of the assault.

Ali, 23, then got angry and locked up the house before slapping her in the face and punching her neck and head.

The victim tried to get up but Ali spat at her and pulled her hair. He then went to take a shower and she ran to alert a neighbour, but she didn’t answer the door.

Ali carried on the assault, despite the neighbour knocking on the door to see what was happening.

He kicked his wife, pushed her onto the sofa and grabbed her round the neck.

Ali then left their Unity Court home and his wife called police to say she couldn’t deal with his behaviour any more.

She has since moved out of

the area and taken their child with her.

District Judge Michael Fanning described Ali’s behaviour as “controlling and cruel” and sentenced him to 18 weeks in jail, suspended for 18 months because he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault.

He has been banned from contacting his ex or going to anywhere she might live.

He must complete 140 hours of unpaid work, 33 days of rehabilitation activities and pay £85 in court costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Police at the scene of the fatal crash

RAVENSTHORPE: A fire broke out at a Ravensthorpe takeaway yesterday morning (Thursday) .

Police and firefighters were called to the blaze at Roosta King on Cross Foundry Street, which is believed to have started due to the owner turning on his rotisserie appliance.

Firefighters aimed jets of water through the roof of the building to extinguish the flames and went inside to ensure the fire was out.

Nearby North Road was closed in both directions causing long queues along Huddersfield Road, but it was reopened at around lunchtime.

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ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

News In Brief Ferretting in the past SPEN VALLEY: Spen Valley Historical Society’s next meeting is on Wednesday, May 9, when The Mabel Ferrett Memorial Lecture on the Luttrell Psalter will be delivered by David Cockman.

Meetings are held in the Catholic Church Parish Hall on Dewsbury Road, Cleckheaton, starting at 7.30pm, with refreshments from 7.15pm. The cost is £2 per meeting for members, £4 for guests and membership is £10 per year. For more information email scooper@thecoopersonline.org.uk.

Credit Union cash NORTH KIRKLEES: A credit union which offers savings accounts and affordable loans has been awarded a £5,850 grant.

Dewsbury-based Borough and Parish Community Credit Union was given the cash boost by Lloyds Banking Group to help fund promotional material for a relaunch.

It will also help in offering more affordable loans and savings for residents, and raising awareness of the union’s services.

Sounds like a party MIRFIELD: The Mirfield Beer and Music Festival will be held over the weekend of July 6 and 7 at St Paul’s Church.

Attendees can enjoy over 30 real ales, craft lagers and ciders, prosecco and Pimms while watching a host of live music acts. More information can be found on Facebook.

Fuel thieves strike MIRFIELD: Police have been alerted after cars on Bank Street had their fuel tanks drilled into.

Residents woke to find holes in their tanks on Tuesday with signs fuel had been siphoned. They highlighted their concerns on Facebook page Mirfield Matters.

Information can be passed to police on 101 quoting log number 343 of May 1.

Local life on film – special screening of ‘12 shorts’ From Luddite-themed beer in Cleckheaton (Steve Hemingway, pictured left) to underwater hockey in Batley – the Creative Scene film screening will bring the Heavy Woollen and Spen valleys to life

By Steve Martyn A SPECIAL screening of 12 short films about hidden stories from North Kirklees will be held at Dewsbury Town Hall.

The films have been made in and around Dewsbury, Batley and the Spen Valley and are due to be shown at Creative Scene’s ‘Popcorn Premiere’ event on Friday May 18.

Over the last year Creative Scene, which uses Arts Council England funding to produce local arts and cultural events, commissioned film-maker Alistair I MacDonald to make a portrait of the district.

Alistair said: “Meeting so many characters and visiting some interesting places, particularly the historic mill which still uses the old looms, has been quite amazing. It is great to see

the people and places come alive through this collection of films.”

New restaurant plan burgered by officials PLANS to open a gourmet burger restaurant in Mirfield are now off the menu.

Despite Kirklees Council giving chef Eric Paxman the goahead, he has decided to shelve the idea because council restrictions would have made it unviable.

Mr Paxman, who runs successful restaurants in Huddersfield, was keen to expand into the former Yorkshire Building Society premises on Huddersfield Road.

But the council imposed conditions to limit opening hours to 11.30am to 10pm Monday to Sunday, with any operational activity on the site being between 7.30am and 11pm Est Monday to Saturday 45 and 8am to 10pm on Years a Sunday.

Mr Paxman wanted to extend these by an hour, but Kirklees planners recommended refusal because of noise.

A Facebook post read: “You may be aware that we were planning on opening another PAX Burger in Mirfield this year.

With regret, we have to announce that this won’t be going ahead.

“We have been granted only restricted opening and closing times by Kirklees Council, which makes the proposition unviable for us as a business.

“We’re very sorry to anyone in Mirfield who may be disappointed by this, we know how you feel!

“Unfortunately the situation is entirely out of our hands.”

He said highlights include the young designer creating his own clothing line using Arabic calligraphy; the underwater hockey player from Batley winning in Tasmania; the mobile dentists volunteering to keep Dewsbury smiling and Greenwoods – the shop where ‘Bolenium Bill’ has stood in the window for 90 years.

You can find out about the historic loom at the heart of Dewsbury’s Calderdale Carpets, one of the last remaining carpet manufacturers in the country, and discover more about the Rawson family at Thornhill Hall Farm where 270 cows graze; the monastic community which counts Desmond Tutu as a member; the petanque club playing for the Ashes and the Cleckheaton brewery serving ‘Luddite’ beer.

The event will include a special screening about Dewsbury Market, made especially by local filmmaker Simon Reed in his first paid commission.

Simon said: “I absolutely loved visiting the market I know so well and talking to some familiar faces. It has been a great experience and challenge to create such a film and wonderful for it to then be screened in my home town.”

Nancy Barrett, director of Creative Scene, said: “There are so many good things happening in our area. Dewsbury, Batley and the surrounding towns are on the up, with a definite feelgood factor taking hold.

“We hope people see North Kirklees in a new light.”

The stars of the films will be special guests at the premiere.

At the Friday-night event Creative Scene will also reveal its upcoming programme.

The films are being screened by the Marsden-based Electric Theatre and Cinema. To book a free ticket for the Popcorn Premiere short film event visit www.creativescene.org.uk.

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Cops’ Batley traffic blitz POLICE officers collared rogue drivers and took dodgy vehicles off the road during a traffic blitz in Batley. The Batley & Spen Neighbourhood Policing Team, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and HMRC carried out ‘Operation Mainland’ on Bradford Road, Batley, last Thursday.

They caught one disqualified driver, two drivers on their mobile phones, referred three to seat belt courses, and handed out three MOT fines at £100 each.

They also found three vehicles

with defective tyres, seized a Lexus for having no insurance and one Ford Transit van.

Two vehicles had over-weight loads (£300 fine each), one was fined £50 for excess smoke and two had no insurance.

Staff from VOSA checked 28 vehicles, immediately banning six from the road for problems with tyres, steering and brakes, while 11 will have to be checked for minor defects such as body work and lights. Two vehicles were found running on illegal red fuel, and one driver paid a £534 on-the-spot fine.

Serial burglar targeted OAP A BURGLAR from Dewsbury Moor with six previous convictions has been locked up for breaking into a pensioner’s home.

Ryan Dufton was caught after leaving traces of blood on a back door handle as he escaped from a vulnerable 83year-old woman’s home in Liversedge.

The 38-year-old caused £100

worth of damage to the property but didn’t steal anything when he broke into the home two days before Christmas last year.

The victim, who has limited mobility, is hard of hearing and was in bed at the time of the break-in, around 8.30pm.

Dufton was found by police in his Beckett Crescent home

10 days later injecting himself with a substance.

He pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal in February and was back at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court for sentencing.

Judge Penelope Belcher jailed him for two years and four months, and he will have to pay a £170 statutory surcharge.

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

Family and friends gather for James THE parents of Mirfield schoolboy James Hick, who died suddenly on his way to school, were among hundreds of people who turned out to release balloons in his memory on Saturday evening.

James (pictured left) collapsed on his way to Mirfield Free Grammar two weeks ago, and despite the best efforts of members of the public and medical staff passed away that afternoon.

The 14-year-old was a keen bowler at Almondbury Bowling Club and Almondbury Liberal Club, playing for three Huddersfield junior inter district

teams in his short career. His teammates from Huddersfield Junior Inter District A and B teams played off against each other in a memorial match on Saturday evening, attracting more than 150 people.

A minute’s silence was held before the game, while dozens of balloons were released after it finished, with James’s parents Michael and Louise Hick joining in. Michael said: “I would like to thank his friends from bowling, his friends from high school and the teachers at Mirfield Free Grammar, the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice and the wider community

in Mirfield for all their support and kindness at this very difficult time.

“They have really supported us and it’s been overwhelming.”

There was a raffle and other competitions at the Liberal Club event to raise money for James’s family, where donations can also be sent via www.justgiving.com.

Family members set up the page to help pay for funeral costs, and £7,210 has been raised so far.

The Coroner’s officers are looking into what happened on Southway but it is understood there are no suspicious circumstances.

Tories accused of smear Chairman silent over ‘spending’ attack on rival candidate DEWSBURY East Tory candidate Mark Eastwood has refused to deny being behind a cynical smear campaign against Independent candidate Aleks Lukic.

Both men were trying to unseat Labour councillor Cathy Scott, but after Lukic took out a two-page advertorial campaign feature in The Press last week, he came under fire from Dewsbury West Conservative candidate Sean Guy and Kirkburton councillor John Taylor.

Both men tacitly alleged Lukic had broken strict election spending limits. Neither sought to check with the newspaper.

Given repeated opportunities to deny that he authorised the smear, Mark Eastwood the chairman of Dewsbury Conservatives, refused to do so.

The spending limit for each candi-

date in the weeks leading up to the local elections is approximately £1,500. Candidates are required by law to submit accurate accounts of spending and donations, and these documents are made available for public inspection.

Mr Lukic gave both Conservatives short shrift, highlighting the public manner in which they had raised the issue only a few days before the election, and pointing out that both Mr Guy and Coun Taylor knew the rules for submitting accounts.

On Monday morning, he demanded an apology within 24 hours from Mr Eastwood for the “completely inappropriate” public suggestion that he might have broken the law.

He got no response.

Mr Lukic said: “I am disappointed that the Conservatives would act in

this way over such a serious issue.

Mark Eastwood is responsible for his members’ behaviour, whether he was personally involved or not.

“His failure to apologise or to even respond to me shows this may have been a pathetic and desperate attempt to smear me and my campaign, which has been very well received in Dewsbury East.”

Addressing Coun Taylor’s post on Facebook, Press publisher Danny Lockwood remarked: “Advertising is expensive? I guess it must be beyond your strategic political thinking to pick a phone up and ask the newspaper how much it costs.

“Over the years we’ve run similar advertorials for other parties too – Labour spring to mind, perhaps surprisingly. Still, asking and getting an answer would deprive you of the opportunity to cast a nasty slur on a

Schoolkids at their BBEST

A NEW community hub aimed at bringing children from Batley and Birstall schools together was launched at Batley Town Hall last week.

Batley and Birstall Excellence in Schools Together (BBEST) is a collaboration of 20 schools to provide support for families and promote community cohesion as well as give advice and educational opportunities.

Pupils from St Peter’s Church of England Junior, Birstall Primary Academy, Field Lane Junior and Infant, Upper Batley High and Batley Grammar schools performed at the launch event on Wednesday. Some gave speeches while others sang on stage.

Over 400 people turned out to enjoy the performances, refreshments, a raffle and to support the new venture. More information about the project can be found at www.bbesthub.uk.

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particularly honest young man of impeccable integrity Aleks Lukic.”

Mr Lukic added: “I will take no lectures from the Conservatives over spending limits when they were recently fined £70,000 for breaking the rules and their MP Craig Mackinlay is being prosecuted over his campaign spending against Nigel Farage at the 2015 General Election.

“When you consider that the Conservatives spend vast amounts on nationwide TV broadcasts in support of their campaigns, their behaviour towards me looks even more ridiculous.”

Mr Eastwood declined to comment when approached by The Press. It is understood Coun Taylor’s comments have been reported to the Kirklees Council Returning Officer.

News In Brief Supermarket snatch thwarted DEWSBURY: A man has been released from police custody after allegedly trying to abduct a young boy from a supermarket in Dewsbury.

The incident happened on Friday morning when the three-year-old boy was grabbed by a male at the Asda store on Mill Street West.

A man, 30, was detained by security staff and then arrested by police and the boy was returned to his mother unharmed.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the man has been released pending further investigation.

Woman assault denied by ex BATLEY: A man denied a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared before Kirklees magistrates.

The Huddersfield court was told by prosecutor Shamalia Qureshi that Richard Fennell, of Woodfield Avenue, Batley, dragged his expartner down some concrete steps outside her Batley home on March 14.

That was after an alleged argument where Fennell grabbed her by the hair and placed his hand over her nose and mouth so she couldn’t breathe.

A neighbour intervened when he repeatedly punched her and banged her head on the steps, the court heard.

Fennell was released on bail and must not contact the complainant or go to her home until his trial at Leeds on June 19.

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Friday May 4, 2018

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LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE Danny Lockwood

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Smart appointment stirs the haters EW Home Secretary Sajid Javid doesn’t have much of an act to follow after hapless Amber Rudd finally succumbed to the inevitable and fell on her sword.

The only wonder is that she didn’t miss the sword altogether and just bash her nose wide open. Less than useless, that woman.

Ms Rudd didn’t go because of the Windrush scandal, a predictably bureaucratic concoction of cock-ups which Britain will beat itself up over for decades to come.

No one died. I’m not sure they’ve even found anyone who was deported. But a lot of people were unfairly maligned and it’s right and fair that recompense be made.

Mind you, if it’s anything like Grenfell, there will be ‘victims’ from all four corners of the globe coming forth for some compo. And

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Sajid Javid – a smart operator knowing the breast-beating, pathetic nature of our civil servants, they’ll get it.

The choice of Javid to replace Amber Rudderless was inspired on a number of levels, if not for his mastery of geography. At the height of the Windrush storm he plaintively bleated “that could

have been my family!”

Like the moronic Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Javid is the son of a Pakistani bus driver, who clearly didn’t imbue his lad with his own acute sense of direction.

The good ship Empire Windrush would have had to be blown quite some way off course to pick up the Javid family from Karachi.

Still I get his point, as unnecessary as the contribution was.

As to his appointment as Home Secretary, Javid was the managing director of Deutsche Bank – a seriously notable achievement.

Compare that with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a jobsworth human rights solicitor who befriended hate preachers and terrorist sympathisers. Big difference.

The appointment also helped highlight the blatantly racist nature of the new Labour ultras, the hate-filled

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Corbynistas, who were swift to brand Javid a “coconut” and “uncle Tom”.

Steve Brookstein is a former X Factor winner and big Jezza fan. He called the Home Secretary ‘uncle Tom’ implying that he’s a person of colour, subservient to the white man, and a human shield for Theresa May. Nice.

Labour activist Tariq Mahmood’s ‘coconut’ slur implied Javid is brown on the outside, white on the inside. So why haven’t they been arrested for a race hate crime? (We all know the answer to that).

Javid’s ‘problem’, which I find heartening, is that although he’s of Muslim descent, he’s married to a Christian woman and practises no faith.

So the real point here is that he’s not much good to the Muslim brotherhood and fair game for every which colour of insult. It speaks volumes about the mess this country’s in.

LL OF which distracted nicely from the core point – illegal immigration. Have you tried getting into the USA lately?

Thought of overstaying either there or Australia?

Good luck having another holiday in Florida or Sydney.

Deliberately confusing the Windrush victims with the bigger plague of mass illegal migration is classic modern British politics. Nothing about finding grown up solutions, all about name-calling, smears and damage.

It would be easy to tire of repeating these simple facts, but they appear beyond the comprehension of the leftwing fascists.

There’s an NHS crisis – are we all agreed?

There’s a housing shortage – are you fine with that too?

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THERE was something of a storm in a political teacup this week with senior Tory politicians smearing young independent Aleks Lukic over the two-page advertorial he took out in this paper. That’s a real backhanded compliment by the way, for Aleks (pictured).

The barely coded accusation was that he must have breached strict spending guidelines. Shame they didn’t bother checking with me – because he could have run the feature again and still had plenty left in his piggy bank.

The dying Reporter Group however would have been a bit different – judging by what they quoted a lady for a recruitment advert recently, it could have cost him £47,430 to go in their papers.

I kid you not. Which works out by my rough mathematics at about a fiver per reader.

You could have got them all taxis to the polling station for that – and bought them a pint!

Their big boss at Johnston Press, Ashen Highfield,

resigned this week to huge acclaim from his board despite having shoved the business down a toilet bowl and kept on flushing for the past five years.

With their shares basically worthless and a massive bank debt due to be paid, JP pretending that small businessmen and women in Dewsbury and Batley are all lunatic millionaires seems to be their masterplan for survival.

Keep up the good work, folks!

The police are swamped by street crime – surely no argument there?

Schools can’t cope with the number of children and variety of languages lumped on them – okay with that?

So what part of trying to get to grips with the hundreds of thousands of people who have no right to be here, putting pressure on all those services, doesn’t make sense?

Are you crying over those Syrian ‘children’ (who look about 25) jumping out of the back of a lorry? Then house them and feed them at your place, why don’t you?

If it’s good enough for Bob Geldof and Lily Allen, surely it’s good enough for you other bleeding hearts. What’s that? Oh, despite their public proclamations they never

actually took any ‘refugees’ in. Slap my thigh!

Soft-headed Sunday Times writer Lynn Barber did – and paid for it. Her ‘guest’ Mohammed Ahmed not only took her for a ride, but reported her to the press regulator for writing about it!

“I am not a refugee, I am a political leader – my family is rich!” he screamed at her before departing. No doubt he has lawyers fighting his deportation on the grounds that he’d be persecuted back home if deported.

Are you happy paying for that too? Because I’d be happy if you did, and not me.

Or the 17.4 million people who voted to take back control of our borders.

Because that’s not going away either, snowflakes.

Sentence gives a licence to kill A N

NYONE who has driven a car round this district in the last 15 years or more will be painfully aware of the scourge of young male drivers with no regard for either the laws of the road or other users of it.

They are a nuisance, death on four wheels just waiting to happen.

And having read the horror story on page three today, my first reaction to the sentence passed by Her Honour Judge Penelope Belcher, was that she needs pushing in front of one of them.

A bit better perspective now, Your Honour? Bit scary, eh?

Because the woman clearly has no idea what kind of a

passport to carnage she has given people like Faisal Kadia, who mowed down and killed a mum of three.

No driving licence? No insurance? No problem, because we own these roads, these towns and who do you think you’re looking at? One phone call and you’re facing a mob. Kadia had been on curfew for affray.

He even kept driving after killing that lady. And Belcher gave him a two-year slap on the wrist? In mitigation his lawyer said he was sorry. Oh that’s okay then.

The sorriest part of this sorry affair is the suitability of that judge to preside over such crimes.

O SURPRISE over the quiet uproar (they keep it as private as possible) amongst the Muslim community over the closing of the Zakaria Girls’ High School.

Remember me predicting that a major Batley landmark was going up in flames? I knew it was the old hospital – and who the governors of the Zakaria had reportedly done a deal with. Sure enough it did, though perhaps not as devastatingly as hoped.

Why no word from the law?

They probably haven’t asked permission to investigate, what with award-winning Inspector Mohammed Rauf having hightailed it out of town, no doubt thanking his lucky stars.

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

MP remembers workers

News In Brief Four face trial for kidnap and assault

BATLEY & SPEN MP Tracy Brabin and local council candidates commemorated International Workers’ Memorial Day at Batley’s Memorial Park.

A minute’s silence was held, followed by the ringing of a specially-commissioned bell on Saturday.

Ms Brabin said: “We all need to be safe in the knowledge that when we go to work we will return safely, but sadly that doesn’t always happen because of negligent employers and bad employment practices. We must do all we can to eradicate these bad practices and make sure our workplaces are safe and healthy places to work in.”

Pictured – Jude McKaig, Jasmine Kennedy, Arfan Asif, MP Tracy Brabin, Tom Kowalski, Coun Viv Kendrick and Coun Gwen Lowe.

Ken’s 60 years of service Scouting has been the lifeblood of Batley leader and his wife

By Zoe Shackleton BATLEY’S legendary scout leader Ken Wright is celebrating 60 years of helping young people.

After receiving his Chief Scout’s service award two weeks ago, Ken was able to reflect on the time he has spent in scouting.

Now 79, he joined the scout movement in 1951 at the age of 12 – and he hasn’t looked back.

He became a leader five years later, which has taken him to all corners of the world from his home in Carlinghow, all while working full-time as an energy adviser for the electricity board.

Now retired, Ken said: “We’ve taken kids abroad, we’ve taken kids camping all over Great Britain and

site development committee.

He went on to hold various titles across the scouting community, but it was his first post where he met his wife of 57 years, Christine.

The pair met at a scout Valentine dance as teenagers and they have served in the scouts together ever since.

Although they aren’t scout leaders any more, Ken said: “We’re still connected with scouting, we’re still involved with St Thomas’s and run a fundraising club and an executive committee up there.

“We’re not now active with the boys and girls, there’s a time when you realise you sit on the floor and can’t get up!”

even went canoeing the lakes in Canada and went to Texas for a fortnight.

“I’ve met a lot of interesting people and friends who we’re still writing to in Canada.

“It’s nice to get the award, it’s nice to think back on all the young children that you’ve perhaps helped somewhere along the way.

“The comradeship, the friendship, both adults and children, when you’re in the scout movement you shake hands with the left hand and that’s a sign of trust and friendship.”

Ken was a leader of the 7th Batley St Andrew’s Scouts for 10 years from 1958 before becoming an assistant district commissioner as well as chairman of the district camp-

DEWSBURY: A group of four young men will face a Crown Court trial on assault and kidnap charges.

Khaqan Ilyas, 20, of Scarborough Street in Savile Town, Amar Khan, 18, of Park House Drive in Thornhill and two other 17-year-olds from the Dewsbury and Batley areas allegedly assaulted a man on December 22 last year in Dewsbury.

They face charges of kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm and have been ordered not to contact each other until their trial at Leeds Crown Court on May 29.

Snapper celebrates BATLEY: A Kirklees College attendee won the Student Photographer of the Year prize at the British Institute of Professional Photographers Yorkshire Regional Awards.

Batley-based Dallas Weeks, 45, got the crown for his image of a gymnast set against a surreal landscape.

The sport and fitness photographer also received merit awards for two other sportinspired portraits.

The competition was held at Guppy’s Enterprise Club in York.

Caring about history HECKMONDWIKE: A care home is celebrating its history with a pop-up pub event.

Avery Mews, on Railway Street, was built on grounds which once housed The Railway Inn – and its residents and guests are being treated to a drink and a pub quiz on Wednesday May 16.

They will also learn about Heckmondwike’s history as part of a UK-wide celebration run by their care provider Brighterkind.

The special event runs from 2pm to 4pm and admission is free.

To attend, contact Angela Blackburn on 01924 403001.

Uninsured driver tried to flee police A DRIVER who led police on a car chase because he had no insurance has been banned.

Dewsbury man Nigel Naylor was driving a white Vauxhall Vivaro van at speed on Huddersfield Road in Liversedge, and did not slow down for officers when they indicated for him to stop at 1.30am on March 11.

The 36-year-old sped along Halifax Road before turning left and reaching the junction of Bradford Road and Leeds Road, going through a red light and then reaching over 50mph in a 30mph zone on Saxton Street.

He stopped when he mounted a kerb and just avoided crashing into a wall.

Naylor, of Whitehall Way, was arrested and admitted he was trying to get away because he couldn’t afford insurance. He accepted his actions were ‘stupid’ and said he only drove in such a manner because it was quiet on the roads.

Naylor’s licence already had 15 penalty points and he had previous convictions for driving without insurance and drink driving.

He pleaded guilty to using a vehicle with-

out insurance and dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight weeks in prison

suspended for a year.

He was also banned from driving for a year and will

have to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

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Policing problem not solved Reading your piece last week following David Exley’s letter to the Kirklees police chief.

Do the police chiefs think one constable and three volunteers are going to be the answer to the plethora of crime and anti-social behaviour plaguing our town?

We had more police in Birstall in the 60s when Birstall was just a village.

Can anyone say they have seen anything of these ‘officers’?

It is simply not good enough to say manpower has been deployed, as the deployment is ineffective.

It is like saying I will buy you a

Voting must prove it?

From: Harry Smithson, via email Perhaps I am missing something, but have the offspring of immigrants who came here as Commonwealth citizens in the Windrush years been accepted onto the electoral roll?

Or is this something that has been completely overlooked by the Government and the opposition?

I cannot imagine that all these complainants have not

Letter of the Week: Anthony Doyle, via email Rolls Royce but only giving you enough to buy a Mini!

The truth of the matter is West Yorkshire Police are not making us feel safe and are not protecting our property.

If the police chiefs were in business they would be watching their

been able to vote as British subjects for the last 40 or so years without realising that their citizenship had not been recognised.

Back and forth with my MP From: Paul Goldthorpe, Batley At the beginning of April I wrote to your newspaper expressing concern about a lack of response from the member of parliament for Batley & Spen regarding a planning development in

backs waiting for the tap on the shoulder and the visit to the MD’s office.

Too many cuts, too many police stations closed, too long to attend incidents if at all, time for a rethink. Pretending never helped anyone.

Batley. The Press got in touch with Ms Brabin, who stated that if I re-wrote to her, she would ensure a response was forthcoming.

I have re-written to Ms Brabin, and as of this moment I have received no form of communication.

This is the third time I have tried to communicate by letter with the member of parliament for Batley & Spen.

If Ms Brabin finds it easier, then I am quite happy for her to print a response in your newspaper to the proposed planning development of houses on Lady Ann Road in Batley.

Tracy Brabin, Labour MP for Batley and Spen

Thousands of parents out of luck thanks to childcare policy N THE past week I have debunked another Tory claim – that they are delivering 30 hours of free childcare to all working families.

Picture this: You spend hours navigating a complex, convoluted and needlessly frustrating Government form to claim what you were promised, only to be told you do not earn enough to be eligible.

Yes, that’s right – too poor to claim.

Unbelievable as it may sound, this frustrating nightmare is what parents are subjected to as they try and take advantage of childcare policies which are supposed to help families.

When the Conservatives boasted promises of 30 hours’ free childcare for all three and four-year-old children of working parents, they didn’t tell you the small print – that if your wages are below the minimum threshold, or if only one parent is in work, your child will miss out.

This means that if you are over 25 but are earning less than £125.28 a week, you’re out of luck.

This leaves thousands of parents who work part-time or on zero-hours contracts frozen out of the scheme.

As families know, once you have the childcare, you can increase your hours or find other work – but it’s not possible when you risk being hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

We revealed last week that more

I

than half a million children fail to qualify for the 30 hours’ free childcare – over half of all three and fouryear-olds.

A scheme designed to improve social mobility is excluding the very children who could benefit the most.

It’s yet another example of yet another hollow Tory promise.

N A FAR brighter note, in the past week I’ve had the pleasure of officially opening two local projects that have come into being thanks to the hard work, tenacity and determination of the local communities.

Firstly, I was invited along to St Patrick’s Catholic Primary to cut the

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ribbon on a new storyland area at the Birstall school.

The tranquil retreat at the edge of the playground was designed with input from the children themselves, and the result is outstanding.

Thanks to their imagination, a democratic process and the fundraising efforts of the school, the PFA and the community, they now have a beautiful playground retreat they can all be proud of.

In the same day I saw yet another example of community cohesion in the shape of the fantastic new changing facilities at Mount Cricket Club in Batley.

The local club have wasted no time in pulling together to replace their old pavilion after it was ravaged by a fire which caused hundreds and thousands of pounds worth of damage.

I was also incredibly excited to see their vision for their new ‘Field of dreams’ ground redevelopment which could serve Batley and Spen for generations to come.

Sport is such a vital part of community life and Mount Cricket Club are dedicated to giving everyone the opportunity to get involved.

Tracy

I am sure the residents that live here and on Primrose Hill would appreciate Ms Brabin’s input on a planning development that is going to have a significant effect on this part of Batley, along with the neighbouring parts of Soothill Lane.

• A spokesman for the office of Tracy Brabin MP replied: “Thank you for resending your letter to the constituency office. We received your letter dated April 18 on Monday April 23 and a response was sent out earlier this week.

“Please contact my office on 01924 900036 if you do not receive this response in the next couple of days.

“Thank you again for sending your concerns to me and please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future if you need any further assistance.”

Support our prickly friends From: Ruth Yates, Gomersal It’s Hedgehog Awareness Week, from May 6 to May 12.

Hedgehog numbers are dropping because of many issues including loss of habitat, and the use of pesticides.

Those who have been fortunate enough to survive the long, hard winter in hibernation are emerging and will have lost weight.

Please consider putting out food (meaty cat or dog tinned food or biscuits, peanuts) and a shallow bowl of fresh water.

This will help enormously and get them fattened up and ready to mate and swell their numbers!

But there is another haz-

ard facing our hedgehogs known as the ‘A24Trap’. The trap is used in New Zealand to kill hedgehogs which are non-native and considered to be a pest.

The trap is now being sold, unaltered in this country where it can kill 24 times without the need for checking or replacing the CO2 canister (hence its name).

A petition was started last year to persuade DEFRA to withdraw approval for this trap but was cancelled (with 29,613 names already on it) when the General Election was announced.

All signatures were declared void. If you care about our prickly friends, please look for more information on the British Hedgehog Preservation Society’s web-

Continued on page 9

LATEST PLANNING APPLICATIONS S Shaw, electric gates, 1-14 Greenside Court, Mirfield.

J Pollard, ground and first floor side extension, 25 Chapel Lane, Heckmondwike.

KAL, non-illuminated signs, Batley Sports And Tennis Centre, Birstall.

I Stuart, two dwellings, land adjacent to 710 Bradford Road, Birkenshaw.

N Mayet, two-storey rear extension and porch to front, 6 Norfolk Street, Batley.

D Greaves, certificate of lawfulness for proposed erection of dormer extension and alterations from hip to gable roof, 7 Hayson Close, Dewsbury.

M Fuzail, demolition of existing garage and rear extension and erection of two-storey side and single storey rear extensions, 41 Russell Close, Heckmondwike.

Robert Kneen, agricultural building, land adjacent to Redhouse Farm, Briestfield.

Darrington Healthcare Ltd, discharge conditions 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16 and 17 on previous permission 2017/91677 for erection of 43 retirement living apartments, 83 bed care home with provision of communal facilities, landscaping and car parking and erection of 7 affordable dwellings, land at Serpentine Road, Cleckheaton.

Noreen Akhtar, works to tree TPO 06/92, 11 Pickard Way, Dewsbury.

C Ives, prior notification for change of use from agricultural building to one dwelling, agricultural barn, Marsh Lane, Birkenshaw.

G Bradford, advertisement consent for erection of illuminated and non-illuminated signs, Evans Halshaw, Bradford Road, Batley.

Barnes Homes, detached storage/garage, adjacent to 1060 Halifax Road, Scholes, Cleckheaton.

G Maiwand, three-storey rear extension, 79 Overthorpe Road, Thornhill.

M Ikram, the proposal is for erection of single-storey rear extension.

The extension projects 4.5m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse. The maximum height of the extension is 4m, the height of the eaves of the extension is 3m, 96 Low Road, Dewsbury Moor.

Brian Walsh, advertisement consent for installation of 14 non-illuminated signs, Francis W Birkett, Hightown Road, Cleckheaton.

F Mamaniat, the proposal is for erection of single-storey rear extension. The extension projects 6m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse. The maximum height of the extension is 4m, the height of the eaves of the extension is 3m, 66 Woodside Crescent, Staincliffe.

M Hashmi, the proposal is for erection of single-storey rear extension.

The extension projects 5m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse. The maximum height of the extension is 4m, the height of the eaves of the extension is 2.5, 45 Ouzelwell Lane, Thornhill Lees.

MM Ahmed, the proposal is for erection of single-storey rear extension. The extension projects 6m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse. The maximum height of the extension is 3.6m, the height of the eaves of the extension is 2.6m, 86 Headfield Road, Savile Town.

B&Q, advertisement consent for installation of 18 non-illuminated signs and two illuminated signs, Wilton Street, Dewsbury.

A Milner, two-storey side extension, 47 Northway, Mirfield.

Evans Gulliver Partnership, discharge of condition 4 (roofing materials) on previous permission 2017/93688 for demolition of outbuildings and covered area, erection of single storey side extension with twostorey glazed element, installation of replacement windows, external alterations, formation of parking area and associated landscaping, York Mills, York Road, Mirfield.

SJ Ackroyd, outline application for erection of two dwellings, 33-35 Windy Bank Lane, Hightown.

F Heaton, non-material amendment to previous permission 2017/93363 for erection of detached dwelling, 24 Doctor Lane, Mirfield.

S Patel, the proposal is for erection of single-storey rear extension.

The extension projects 5m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse. The maximum height of the extension is 4m, the height of the eaves of the extension is 2.5m, 89 Ravensthorpe Road, Thornhill Lees.

M John, two-storey extension and dormer windows, 857 Halifax Road, Hartshead Moor.

N Rahoof, two-storey side extension and front porch, 68 Knowles Hill Road, Dewsbury.

Infront Homes Ltd, non-material amendment to previous permission 2016/91832 for erection of three dwellings and demolition of existing pair of semi-detached dwellings, 77-79 Towngate, Mirfield.

T Hussain, the proposal is for erection of single-storey rear extension.

The extension projects 6m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse. The maximum height of the extension is 4m, the height of the eaves of the extension is 2.5m, 186 Commonside, Hanging Heaton.

Dr M Dantanarayana, works to trees in TPO, 8 Popeley Grange, Littletown.

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

Gawthorpe prepares for 144th maypole procession From page 8 site www.britishhedgehogs. org.uk and consider signing the petition yourself.

100,000 signatures received by June 1 will mean there is a good chance it will be debated in parliament.

You may also write to your MP or to DEFRA (Dr Therese Coffrey, DEFRA, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, LONDON SW1P 3JR) asking them to withdraw approval for the trap.

Please do all you can to support our iconic, prickly little animals.

Parking row a victory for common sense From: Carol Curtis, Liversedge After learning of my concerns about the rumours going around that our local council was planning to introduce parking charges in places where there were none, Tom Kowalski, the local Labour Party candidate for Cleckheaton had the courtesy to contact me on the matter.

He reassured me that the council is not intending to do that as it may adversely affect trade and business in the area.

I view this as a victory for common sense and a desire to do what is best for our community, despite austerity cuts.

The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has this week resigned for “inadvertently” misleading parliament. This may or may not be another phrase for being dishonest.

However, the local candidates in Cleckheaton, Gomersal and other local towns who have perpetuated the myths of local parking charges in their election literature are not about to resign. They have not been

elected yet.

We need to let them know that we reward honesty and do not reward misleading information (inadvertently or deliberately given) by the way we vote in the council elections.

‘Creep’ composer was a real local hero From: John Appleyard, Liversedge While I may share some of the political views of singer Billy Bragg, I don’t have the same affection for his vocals!

However, he has written a well-researched book called ‘Roots, Radicals and Rockers’, which covers 1950s music with the emergence of jazz, big bands, skiffle and rock & roll.

One of the great big band leaders of the time, acknowledged by Bragg, was Liversedge-born Ken Mackintosh.

He played with the likes of Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Matt Munro and also composed his own music such as ‘The Creep’ which hit the charts in 1954.

Teddy boys were associated with rock & roll, but before Bill Haley and the Comets had been heard of in the UK, they were smooching with their girlfriends to slow dance music.

The popularity of ‘The Creep’ gave the Teds’ crepe-soled shoes the nickname of creepers.

In the Britain of the early 1950s dancing was strictly ballroom.

Ken Mackintosh died in 2005 and had he lived he would have celebrated his 100th birthday next year.

His contribution to music was enormous and he is honoured by the Spen Valley Civic Society’s Fame Trail plaque number nine near the home where he was born on Halifax Road, in the Millbridge area of Liversedge.

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HUNDREDS of visitors are expected to descend on Gawthorpe for the annual Maypole procession this weekend.

Each year an array of decorated floats, people in fancy dress costumes, dancers and horses make their way through Ossett and Gawthorpe to mark the first Saturday in May, with prizes for the best entries.

This year will be the 144th procession, with participants starting at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday) to complete the four-and-a-half mile parade route.

It will set off from Highfield School in Ossett before taking a loop down High Street, through Cross Street and back towards the Shoulder of Mutton pub.

MIRFIELD: The Safe Anchor Trust are running a series of free boat trips and special events to mark this weekend’s bank holiday.

Over three days, people can enjoy

The procession then heads to Swithenbank Street and Avenue and on to Bridle Place and Streetside, turning left down Kingsway.

Once at the Co-op, it turns right on to Ventnor Way before taking a break at the community centre on Bank Street.

From there, it goes to Prospect Road and continues to Church Street where a brass brand will play at the nursing home.

The procession is headed by the May Queen and her maids, ending at the Maypole Green. Anyone can enter but must register at the Maypole Hut, just down from the Shoulder of Mutton.

More information can be found at www.gawthorpemaypole.org.uk.

a boat trip through Mirfield to the River Calder and back to the Shepley Bridge Marina, all while learning a bit more about the charity’s work.

The 40-minute trips start at 10am

each day with the last one going out at 3.30pm. Donations are welcome.

Each boat is limited to 12 passengers and spaces can be booked at the Marina chalet.

9

ThePress

10

Friday May 4, 2018

News In Brief Charity golf day DEWSBURY: A man has organised a charity golf day in memory of his late wife, who died of cancer last year.

Steve Wroe, of Hanging Heaton, is hoping for a big turnout for his event at Dewsbury Golf Club today (Friday) and there will also be a sports auction, food, refreshments and a comedian from 7pm upstairs in the Pinnacle Suite.

A group of 48 golfers will be teeing off in a bid to claim the Jackie Wroe Memorial Trophy from 1.30pm and everyone is welcome to help raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

People can donate via www.macmillan.tributefunds.com/jackie-wroe-golf-fund.

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A GROUP of six die-hard Batley Bulldogs supporters embarked on a 105-mile trek to Barrow this week.

Nick Sowerby, Michael Binks, Michael Gothard, Steve Curnin, Hanif Akudi and Ben Thirkill, members of the Batley Bulldogs Independent Away Travel group, set off on Wednesday to get to Barrow for Batley’s game against the Raiders on Sunday.

The team are completing the

four-day expedition to raise money for Breast Cancer Care, in alignment with the Bulldogs’ Pink Weekend annual charity event.

And they have full support from the Batley club, liaising with chairman Kevin Nicholas and director John Miller regularly leading up to the walk.

The team completed 30 miles on Wednesday and were accompanied by Mr Nicholas.

Before setting off Nick Sowerby said: “We’re very excited about the walk. It’s in respect of an amazing cause and for something that means a lot to me personally.”

The group, who travel to Batley away games from their base at The Woodman Inn at Batley Carr, will go Bear Grylls-style by camping out each night and cooking their own food, rather than enjoying the luxuries of hotels.

They will walk through Skipton, Ingleton and Ulverston along the way.

So far the boys have raised £3,765 and have a target of £4,000.

People can donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/batleyindependentawaytravel.

Pictured from left: Hanif Akudi, Ben Thirkill, Nick Sowerby, Michael Binks, Steve Curnin and Batley chairman Kevin Nicholas

OAP groped care worker Cancer treatment delays

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A PENSIONER groped a care home assistant’s bottom before grabbing her leg and moving his hand upwards.

Derek Robinson was a new resident at the Dewsbury nursing home when he assaulted the woman on July 23 last year.

The 73-year-old initially denied sexual assault but was found guilty by Kirklees magistrates and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.

His solicitor Ian Whiteley said Robinson had since admitted his guilt, possibly due to listening to his victim give evidence in court.

The worker was looking after Robinson with a colleague, wash-

ing him while he was on the bed and then helping him dress.

But he grabbed her bottom, slipped his hand down to her leg and then moved it back up to tickle her through her clothing.

Robinson said ‘tickle, tickle, tickle’ while he was doing it and later asked if she was working the next day so he could grab her again. The victim now finds it hard to work because she suffers from anxiety.

Robinson is now at Meadow Green home in Heckmondwike.

He has to do 300 days of rehabilitation activities, pay his victim £100 compensation, £200 in costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

CANCER patients in North Kirklees face a longer than average wait for treatment.

Figures revealed by NHS England show that the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust – which includes Dewsbury District Hospital and Pinderfields – falls below national standards which say hospitals should treat at least 85 per cent of new cancer patients within 62 days of a GP’s referral.

Mid Yorkshire was five per cent off target during February.

Twelve out of 58 people got their first treatment after waiting over two months, with five having to wait for more than three months.

Trudie Davies, chief operating offi-

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cer at Mid Yorks, said: “We have consistently delivered the cancer standards for our patients throughout quarters 1, 2 and 3 for 2017.

“Unfortunately, as the most recent figures show, the trust has found it challenging to hit the specified cancer target for February.

“This has been as a result of more patients being referred to us for cancer treatment and also the complexity and acuity of some cases.

“We would like to reassure our patients we are doing everything we can to ensure we return to our usual level of high performance as demonstrated in previous quarters,” she said.

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Friday May 4, 2018

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Friday May 4, 2018

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ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

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Local historian Mike Popplewell looks at the people & places that have shaped the history of the district...

How my ancestor met the ‘gentleman highwayman’...

NYONE who has read ‘Roots’, Alex Haley’s fictionalised family history – or seen the iconic TV series, will recognise the value of oral history.

Stories passed from generation to generation by word of mouth will doubtless change a little in the telling, and there may be some distortion of the truth, but an element of truth is always there and so it is with Mary Skinner’s story of the ‘Firths of Heckmondwike’.

Mary, a great granddaughter of Sir Thomas Freeman Firth, wrote the typed manuscript held in Heckmondwike Library and drew on a much earlier history written by James Firth in the early 19th century, which was in turn largely based on stories handed down from his grandfather when James was still a teenager.

These stories included a tale of an encounter between a young Firth ancestor and the famous 17th century highwayman Jack ‘Swift Nick’ Nevison!

Mary Skinner names Jeremiah Firth (1627-1720) as the ancestor involved, but given the fact that Nevison was not born until 1640 it

A

John Nevison is believed to be portrayed in The Glamorous Highwayman painting was most likely Jeremiah’s young son Jeremiah Jnr who the story refers to.

Jeremiah was a maltster and his son, only 12 or 13, was working for Roberttown grain merchant Richard Green when he was asked to take a pack horse loaded with wheat over to Halifax.

With no proper roads in the district at this time, there were pack horse routes criss-crossing fields throughout the area.

The Roberttown to Halifax route probably followed the current Halifax Road (A649), if The Old Pack Horse pub at Hartshead Moor is any indication, and it is quite probable that Hartshead Moor top was the

scene of Jeremiah’s encounter with Nevison.

John Nevison seems to have been the archetypal ‘loveable rogue’. He was in trouble most of his life but he repeatedly evaded capture or conviction – most notably his ride from Gads Hill in Kent to York in 1676, just for an alibi.

Having committed a robbery he set off on his horse immediately and rode continuously until he reached York.

He covered the distance so quickly that, although he was arrested in York, no-one believed he could have travelled so far so soon after the crime in Kent.

This ride subsequently passed into

The Old Pack Horse pub folklore as being attributed to Dick Turpin after Harrison Ainsworth’s story ‘Rookwood’, but it was Nevison who made the ride and it was that which earned him the name of ‘Swift Nick’.

It was probably around 1681 that young Jeremiah came face-to-face with Nevison at the then-isolated Hartshead Moor on his return from Halifax with the money from the wheat sale.

When Jeremiah, so close to home, found Nevison in his path he stopped dead.

“Where do you live?” said Nevison.

“Heckmondwike,” replied Jeremiah.

“How much did you get for your wheat?” Nevison asked calmly. No hint of a demand.

The conversation continued as cordially as two men over a pint of ale.

Jeremiah told him how much money he had and who he worked for. He must have feared the worst, and how he would be treated when he returned to Mr Green with no money.

But he needn’t have worried.

Nevison was famed as the ‘gentleman highwayman’ and he just said quietly to Jeremiah: “Give my compliments to thy master and tell him that Nevison met thee but did not take thy money.”

Jack Nevison escaped from Wakefield Jail in 1674 and avoided arrest with his infamous ride to York in 1676, but soon after his encounter with young Jeremiah he was arrested again and this time there was no escape.

It was 334 years ago today that he was hanged at York Castle and buried in an unmarked grave.

As for Jeremiah, he was to see four further Jeremiah Firths descend from him as well as three baronets, several captains of industry, men of the cloth and – oh yes, me!

14

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

BATLEY

YOUR

TOWN

YOUR VOICE

Loyal and passionate about town and club Danny Maun, Batley Bulldogs RLFC GREW up just five minutes away from Mount Pleasant, and spent most of my youth going to the games in what was then the highlight of my weekend, seeing the likes of Tomlinson, Grayshon, Scott and Wilson showing their skills on the pitch.

Obviously I had the pleasure of pulling on the famous shirt trying to emulate my heroes I watched as a kid, and currently I’m working with the commercial and coaching side of things at the club.

One thing I’ve found about the people of Batley, and at the Bulldogs over the years, is that community spirit is always there to see and people pull together.

We recently had some bad weather and we had up to 50 volunteers at the ground clearing snow and that really made me proud to be associated with the club.

I’ve also done work with Friends of Batley Station and really saw how proud these people are of this great town.

At the Bulldogs we do various events with charities and to try bring the community together to work as one and to break down barriers for people who wouldn’t normally attend a game.

The fans, volunteers and local businesses are loyal and passionate about the club

I

Friday May 4, 2018

ThePress

15

ROCKIN’ ALL OVER MIRFIELD! Hidden arty stones are taking the town by storm...

By Zoe Shackleton A NEW craze is rocking Mirfield.

Hundreds of residents have been decorating pebbles and stones and hiding them across the town.

The fun family activity was started by Mirfield mum Sally Slack, who set up the Mirfield Rocks group back in September with her young son Sam. Sally saw the social media craze had taken off in Beverley, near Hull – with over 3,000 people getting involved – and wanted to recreate it in Mirfield.

Participants take a rock, give it a colourful design and then hide it in a public place.

When the rock is discovered, the finder posts a picture of the stone or themselves with it on social media before either re-hiding it or keeping it.

The idea is that people can see how far their rock design has travelled, and whose day

has been brightened by finding it.

Sally admitted: “I set it up in September with my little boy – blatantly copying the idea from Beverley Rocks.

“We originally started with 20 rocks being dropped but only two were found so it was a real slow-burner.

“It relies on people finding them having Facebook and being willing to post pictures.

“Fast-forward to a few weeks ago when a lady called Tracey Riley messaged me to say that she runs a few Brownie groups in Mirfield.

“They have recently celebrated a big anniversary so she asked if they could join the group and promote it on the evening.

“The rest is history, so to speak, and it has snowballed from there.”

Grown-ups and children alike are getting creative on their rocks, with over 600 members on social media.

To join in, search for Mirfield Rocks on Facebook.

Officers at the scene last Friday morning Photos: Mike Clark

Man held after cars attacked ARMED police swooped on a main road in Dewsbury after reports of a man brandishing a ‘gun’.

The man was seen attacking passing cars with house bricks and a piece of pipe before police got to the scene on Halifax Road at 7.20am last Friday.

Police said a fake gun had been recovered after the man was pictured waving what looked like a handgun. A long stretch of the road, from the Butchers Arms crossroads to Birkdale Road, was closed while officers armed with guns dealt with the incident.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “Police were called to reports of a man with weapons on Halifax Road, Staincliffe at 7.20am.

“It is alleged he was hitting cars with items including a piece of pipe and a suspected imitation firearm.

“Officers including armed officers attended the scene. A man has been arrested.

“A suspected imitation firearm has been recovered by officers. No-one was injured during the incident.”

Jacob Connah, aged six, with a rock he found in Mirfield

and the town of Batley.

And it’s a great thing when people can say “I’m proud to come from Batley”.

Centenary badges available NEW badges commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War are now available in Mirfield.

The Royal British Legion fundraising pins can be obtained for a suggested donation of £3 from Poppy Appeal officer Tim Wood, landlord at the Old Colonial

pub on Dunbottle Lane.

Featuring the Remembrance poppy, the pins are a tribute to the mil-

lions who served during the conflict and those who died.

Anyone interested in the badges can contact Tim on

01924 496920 or call into the pub.

All the money raised goes directly to the Royal British Legion.

ThePress

16

Friday May 4, 2018

Cleckheaton celebrates author with special event

By Steve Martyn

ing with Cleckheaton Library to promote his literature and volunteers have organised a special ‘Mr Men Day’ tomorrow (Sat).

Running from 12pm to 4pm, families are invited to come along to Savoy Square in Cleckheaton town centre to get involved in lots of crafts, activities and stories.

Cleckheaton-based engineering firm Flexitallic have manufactured special cut-out shapes of Mr Men characters that will be on display in the town to celebrate Roger Hargreaves’ links.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Roger’s death, and the chamber of trade wanted to honour of the man whose characters continue to entertain generations of young readers, as well as promoting reading and forging links with the town’s library.

A spokesman for Spen Chamber of Trade and Commerce said: “We are trying to acknowledge a local author and promote the reading of his books, putting Cleckheaton on the map as well.”

The fun family event is mostly free and there will be hands-on tasks and fun reading and listening activities.

For details of the Cleckheaton event visit the chamber of trade’s Facebook page.

MANY MOONS ago, there was a six-year-old called Adam Hargreaves who asked his daddy: “What does a tickle look like?”

Luckily for Adam, his dad Roger’s dream was to be a cartoonist, so he had been practising his drawing.

Roger thought for a bit, then drew a little round orange man with a small blue hat, a cheeky grin and long, wriggly arms.

The arms were so long he could make breakfast without getting out of bed and he wanted to make people laugh. His name? Mr Tickle.

The first of the Mr Men had been born.

Today Mr Men and Little Miss is an international brand, and around the world a Mr Men book is bought every two and a half seconds.

Creator Roger Hargreaves grew up in Cleckheaton, the son of a launderer and dry-cleaner.

The house where he first lived, High Lees on Halifax Road, close to the Pack Horse pubs, is the site of the first plaque of the Spen Valley Civic Society’s Fame Trail.

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Friday May 4, 2018

17

A wonderful year of work DEWSBURY Photographic Group marked a successful year with a well-attended awards evening and dinner at Whitley Community Centre.

The event last Friday celebrated the success of the group’s photography throughout the 2017/18 season and more than 50 people attended.

Judge Brian Hemsworth, of the Yorkshire Photographic Union, presented trophies and certificates to winners of various categories.

President Melissa J Harvey presented the President’s Trophy to Geoff Nappey for his outstanding contribution to the club’s endeavours throughout the year.

From the long list of winners a special mention went to Paul Harrison, who won the best colour print of the season and Frank Lodge the best projected digital image.

The club bought three new trophies to commemorate past presidents, and in honour of Connie and Ronnie Crowther the Crowther Memorial Trophy was presented.

The Albert Robertson Trophy, was handed to Paul Rothery by his sons Samuel and Chris, and the Roger Holdsworth Memorial Trophy was presented by his widow, Helen, to Ian Shaw.

The complete list of winners is as follows: Monochrome Prints for the Dewsbury Co-op Trophy was won by Paul Ketton for Full Steam Ahead;

Full Steam Ahead by Paul Ketton

Tobermory

by Ian Shaw

Colour Prints for the Peter Sylvester Silver Trophy was won by Paul Harrison for his photograph Colours of Cambodia; The Dewsbury Reporter Cup for Advanced Prints Mono or Colour was won by Paul Harrison for a photograph titled Sunrise; The open print subject for entry level prints for the DPG Cup was won by Ian Shaw for his print Tobermory; Lawrence Gatt Shield for Advanced Images Mono or Colour was won by Frank Lodge for Peacock Feather; Open image subject entry level for the Rodger Holdworth Trophy was won by Ian Shaw for Banded Demoiselle; Open image subject for intermediate level for the Austin Trophy was won by Melissa Harvey for Balance and Beauty;

Projected Image - Architectural/Record: Crystal Bowl was won by Frank Lodge for Stained Glass, Antanara Gran Canaria; Projected Image - Nature: The Moffatt Trophy was won by Melissa J Harvey for Great Spotted Woodpecker; Projected Image People Studies: The Albert Robinson Trophy was won by Paul Rothery for Liza; Projected Image Sport/Photojournalism: The Crowther Trophy was won by Frank Lodge for Clear Round; Monochrome Prints - People Studies for the Ian Greg Cup was won by Paul Harrison for Preparing Sticky Rice; Colour Prints - People Studies for the Ian Newsam Salver No 3 was won by Paul Rothery for Chelsey; Colour Print for Sport/Action: Photojournalism for

the Ian Newsam Salver No 2 was won by Paul Harrison for This Is Going To Be Wet; Mono Print for Sport/Action: Photojournalism for the FJL Tankard won by Paul Harrison for Over We Go; Colour Print for Nature: for the Wheatley Trophy was won by Paul Harrison for Gannet Love Birds; Monochrome Prints - Architectural Record, Diamond Jubilee Silver Cup won by Paul Rothery for West Door, Beverley Minster; Monochrome Print for Travel - GH Lambert Trophy won by Deborah Clough for Jaguar; Colour Prints - Architectural Record, for the Colour Silver Trophy won by Frank Lodge for Detail of Gate at Halifax Piece Hall; Colour Print for Travel for the Ian Newsam Salver No 1 was won by Paul Harrison for A Winter’s View Rannoch.

Great Spotted Woodpecker by Melissa J Harvey

BLUEHILLS FARM SHOP & PLAY BARN ALL YOUR BBQ Birkenshaw, BD11 2DU Tel: 01274 682007 FRIDAY NIGHT DISCO! 4pm-6pm With PEPPA PIG, MICKEY & MINNIE MOUSE, DONALD DUCK MINION & SPONGEBOB EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT! £6 ENTRY includes Tea from the Childrens Menu and FREE PLAY!

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ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

Ramblers’ corner FORTHCOMING walks with the North Kirklees Group of the Ramblers – non-members are always welcome. Please call the walk leader for more details SATURDAY MAY 5 TO THE WOODS Starts at 10.30am at rear of War Memorial Gardens, Bailiff Bridge (HD6 4DX, SE147253) Contact: David Parkinson 01274 879794 david.parky@tiscali.co.uk

MONDAY MAY 7 MAYBE BLUEBELLS Starts at 1pm at Oakwell Hall top car park (WF17 9LG, SE217271) 6.5 miles – moderate No dogs please Contact: Kathleen 01924 471473 kathleenoshea5@aol.com

Watch out for your neighbours!

Behind scenes at Bagshaw CURIOUS folk will have an opportunity to take a peek behind the scenes at Bagshaw Museum in Batley.

Guided tours of the stunning Victorian Gothic building are being run on the first Sunday of the next three months.

As well as going into areas not normally open to the public, the tours will be a chance to learn more about the history of the building which was originally a mansion called ‘The Woodlands’, built by mill owner George Sheard in 1875.

When Sheard died in 1902, no buyer could be found for the elaborate Gothic revival structure which cost £25,000 to build, and so it was acquired by Batley Town Council for a nominal price of £5.

It was converted into a museum by Walter Bagshaw in 1911. It was originally called the Wilton Park Museum but was renamed in honour of its first curator following Walter Bagshaw’s death in 1927.

Tours are being run 1pm-1.45pm and 2.30pm-3.15pm on Sundays May 6, June 3, July 1.

They are free and no booking is necessary – just turn up on the day.

For more information contact Bagshaw Museum, in Wilton Park, on 01924 324765.

Similar ‘behind the scene’ tours are being held at Tolson Museum in Huddersfield on Sundays May 20, June 17 and July 15, at 1pm and 2.30pm.

Sting’s ship rocks The Last Ship Leeds Grand Theatre, until Saturday May 5 www.leedsgrandtheatre.com Review by Janet Black THE LAST SHIP is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance.

With music and lyrics written by Sting, it is fair to say that it has been a long journey bringing Sting’s personal, passionate and political musical home to the North East of England.

Inspired by his 1991 album The Soul Cages, and his own childhood experiences, this musical is a deeply personal project for the famous singer-songwriter who left his shipbuilding hometown of Wallsend when he was just 18 years of age.

It was in September 2011 when confirmation came that Sting was working on a musical – a completely original story – and a first reading took place in Manhattan in October that year, with a further reading in Newcastle upon Tyne in February 2012 and ultimately a full-staged reading for the musical was held in 2013. In September that year the show was officially confirmed.

The Chicago run of the show began in June 2014 and it played for 33 days.

The Last Ship then transferred to the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in New York. Sting joined the cast on stage during the curtain call on opening night when celebrities including Billy Joel, Robert De Niro and Liam Neeson were in attendance.

Sting then joined the cast for a limited run from December 2014 to January 2015.

This is a powerful musical show, a cast full of well known names and terrific singing and story-telling.

AUDIENCES can meet some interesting characters in Alan Ayckborn’s comedy Neighbourhood Watch, playing at the Artspace in Dewsbury until tomorrow night.

Brother and sister Martin and Hilda Massey have just moved into their new home, but soon there is trouble brewing in the neighbourhood when Martin catches an intruder in their garden.

Along with their neighbours they form a neighbourhood watch group. But does this help or make matters worse?

There are laughs along the way in this funny and thought-provoking play.

There are performances tonight and tomorrow (Sat) at Dewsbury Arts Group, on Lower Peel Street off Bradford Road at 7.30pm. For tickets and more information visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/dewsburyarts group.

Singer Jade’s infatuation

By David Bentley FANS of award-winning Batley singer/songwriter Jade Helliwell are eagerly awaiting her latest work.

Her new EP, titled ‘Infatuation’, is released on Monday May 21 and the artist says the project is a blend of UK country and pop.

The 27-year-old performer, who became a global sensation last year after a video featuring her performing with a busker racked up more than 20 million views online, recorded the new material in Essex in February.

The viral video was captured when she was enjoying a night out with friends in Leeds in 2017. She spotted a street musician and asked if she could join him for an impromptu duet.

The busker and onlookers got a surprise when they discovered that Jade was no mere Saturday night reveller.

The singer belted out the Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah, filling the streets with her powerful voice, and a video of the collaboration was soon shared on Facebook.

Since then it has been watched more than 21 million times and thanks to the publicity her album reached number eight in the UK charts Jade quit her job as a teaching assistant at Ravensthorpe Junior School to focus on her music career full-time and has performed high-profile gigs at clubs, concerts and festivals across the country, picking up a string of awards.

She said of the Infatuation EP: “I’m beyond excited to

share this collection of songs.

They range from fun and energetic to heart-wrenching ballads.

“I’ve worked both alone and with amazing song writers Luke Thomas and Sue McMillan on the project.”

Fans will hear the influence of some of her favourite artists, including Kelsea Ballerini and Maddie & Tae, in the songs.

The EP is available for preorder from today (Fri), and fans who commit will get access to an instant download of the lead single, ‘Repeat’.

It is officially released on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and many other digital outlets May 21, with an official launch party taking place in Manchester on Friday May 18.

For more information visit www.jadehelliwell.com.

So, what’s your favourite movie song?

ST MARY’S Theatre Group are busy rehearsing for their latest production Saturday Night At The Movies.

The musical show, which has been written by 18-year-old aspiring performer Lauren Taylor, depicts a group of friends reminiscing about their favourite movie songs.

Well known popular film tunes are performed by the cast, supported by a live rock band.

Chairman Steve Walker said: “It’s great to see our performers developing their skills, from taking part with us as young

performers to writing and directing their own shows.

“We now have several members who have written their own shows and pantomimes which have been tailor-made to fit in with our performers’ and audiences’ tastes.”

Evening shows are at 7.30pm on Friday May 18 and Saturday May 19.

Tickets priced £5 are now available by calling 01924 478394, directly from St Mary’s Social Club or from Jo Cox House (formerly Batley Resource Centre) on Commercial Street, Batley.

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

19

BIRSTALL

Hear Ann across the BBC radio network

UR O OUR Y Y Superstar lyricist Sir Tim TOWN VOICE Rice simply adores his Lots to look forward to many worldwide fans

By Natalie Tai, chairperson of Birstall Chamber of Trade

YRICIST Sir Tim Rice seems to never get fed up with devotees of the musical blockbusters he wrote with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Sir Tim was in New York for NBC Television’s live production of Jesus Christ Superstar, where he admitted there is no limit to his enthusiasm for his 1971 musical. He said: “I never thought it would last this long, I think we both thought that, but it has and the fans are wonderful and know far more about it than I care to remember now, to be honest.”

L

AL MURRAY, Roy Hudd, Elaine C Smith and the Chuckle Brothers have all gone away winners at the Great British Pantomime Awards. Murray won best newcomer for his performance as Idle Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk at the New Wimbledon Theatre, and Al tells me: “I never thought I would win. After all, the Pub Landlord is not that family-friendly, but people seem to enjoy him, which is great.”

WHEN it was announced that Brendan Cole was leaving the show, Strictly fans have been eagerly awaiting news of his replacement.

Curtis Pritchard, 20, looks set to step into 41-year-old Brendan’s shoes, and Strictly bosses are reportedly calling him the ‘perfect fit’. Curtis is the brother of AJ Pritchard, 23, who joined the show in 2016. Plus, more importantly he is less expensive...

CORONATION STREET’S Jennie McAlpine has said her second baby may end up having a name inspired by the ITV soap. The actress, who announced recently that she is expecting again, already has a son named Albert. “I do like some of the names of the cast, so yes it’s an option and quite historical in a way,” she said.

DID you know that Coronation Street co-stars Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach are cousins in real life? Brooke Vincent has played Sophie since she was 11, while Ellie joined the Corrie cast in 2011 as foster child Faye. A friend tells me about the casting process: “Lots of times we just ask about, and then another family member joins, it’s that simple.”

FUNNY man Bernie Clifton,

HE VILLAGE of Birstall is a credit to the community. The volunteers of Birstall In Bloom have made it look lovely, with tulips and other bright spring flowers in bloom.

T

The cherry blossom is on the trees too, making it really look like spring is in the air. The sun is starting to shine and the rain is slowing making the paths less muddy so we can all get our spring / summer shoes on and enjoy some outdoor activities and fresh air.

We had great success with the recent St George’s Day dragon hunt, with the traders in the village displaying dragons in their windows. Local children loved it and really got involved.

We are lucky to have lots of lovely places to enjoy here in Birstall. For starters we have Oakwell Hall Country Park, which is a haven for dog walkers and ideal for children to play in the grounds to let off steam after being cooped up all winter.

Ann and Sir Tim Rice is to retire his double act with Oswald The Ostrich, but the star is not quitting performing on his own. The TV legend previously said: “Oswald appeared on my debut TV show The Good Old Days, and then we did Crackerjack together.

“I was doing my act with Oswald at a club in 1979, and in the audience was the producer of The Royal Variety Show. He put me in the show and everything took off after that.

“I did an eight-minute spot, and it was a showstopper - even the Queen was wiping away tears of laughter.”

HUGH GRANT has admitted he misses the days of analogue television and has not yet worked out how to use Netflix. The Four Weddings and A Funeral star said he is still old fashioned in his tastes. “Why do we need all this choice, four channels were fine,” he said. The actor will next be seen in A Very English Scandal on BBC One in May, playing British MP and leader of the Liberal party Jeremy Thorpe.

FORMER EastEnders star Glynis Barber reveals she’d consider a return as Glenda Mitchell. “I don’t see why not, after all people do return, but I have no idea what she may be up to now,” she said. “The storyliners could dream up all kinds of good stuff for her, I would think...”

STRICTLY Come Dancing judge Craig Revel-Horwood has spoken out about axed professional dancer Brendan Cole. He said: “I do think that you have to remember we have all done well out of

©Maycon Pictures the show, and why say negative things? You have to have an opinion, but look at where it’s got Brendan. I do feel sorry for him, but that as they say is showbiz...’

FORMER Strictly head judge Len Goodman quit the BBC show last year, partly because he was struggling to juggle the job with Dancing With The Stars in LA. But now his contract is up with the US show and they may now refresh it with a younger, more hip judge.

Something I hear that Len is not so keen on ... oh dear.

EMMA WILLIS fully plans to return to The Voice UK in 2019, and hopes the current coaches join her. Emma has been fronting the singing contest for a number of years both on BBC One and on its new home on ITV. As yet no contract has been offered for her to return, but we all wish her well...

ITV HAS released the first PR shots for the new look, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and it sees new host Jeremy Clarkson whizz into his presenting chair in a flash car.

The seven new episodes, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the show, will be shown across one week in May, with members of the public once again getting the chance to win £1,000,000. If it’s a success it will be back for more.

LITTLE BIG SHOTS will be returning to ITV for a third series, it’s been confirmed.

Award-winning actress and comedian Dawn French, is once again the host of the show, which is based on an original US idea.

They have various activities happening during the half term periods ahead.

We also have the Bumpy off-road biking centre which allows bikers to have fun off the road and learn the correct way to maintain and enjoy their motorbikes.

This helps to keep them out of the village and on designated areas. We need to make sure people know this place exists to help direct people who could benefit from their services and keep the roads free from any nuisance bikers.

There are lots of local walks to explore, with woodland areas and parkland all within a mile of the village. After your walk there are a few local pubs too that serve food and nice ales to finish off your day out nicely.

There’s lots to look forward to this summer. The chamber of trade will be holding a meeting soon to discuss future events in the village and to tackle any issues arising.

Hopefully we might see people come together to celebrate the royal wedding – maybe a street party too. It would be lovely to see the streets of Birstall lined with bunting and people getting into the spirit of it all.

Blooming marvellous IRSTALL In Bloom is an informal group of volunteers started 10 years ago by Joanna Cooney.

Joanna was brought up in Birstall but left the area in 1965 before returning in 2006 after a career teaching in the south of England.

B

On her return to Birstall she quickly noticed that whilst there had inevitably been some changes in the village over the years, many things were still the same.

What she also noticed were the many ‘grot spots’ around the village that spoiled the general look of Birstall.

After a brief period as a volunteer with the Batley and Dewsbury ‘In Bloom’ group of gardeners she quickly decided that Birstall needed her enthusiasm and expertise as a keen gardener.

Found by using word of mouth, a group of around eight volunteers was soon established. This group has now grown to over 20 regular gardeners.

By identifying small areas on street corners, a number of gardens were established in the first year. There are now 15 gardens created and maintained by BIB. The market square now has tubs, three-tier planters and barrier planters giving colour to the area all year round.

More ambitious projects have been the ‘Welcome to Birstall’ stones at the old Coach & Six traffic lights and at Birstall Smithies.

One of the most admired projects is the Memorial Garden to the side of Birstall Library. Here every year on November 11 a service is held in remembrance of the fallen in all conflicts since WW1.

The main project for 2018 is the rather unsightly area outside the Tesco entrance in Birstall.

Over the coming months this area will be transformed from a mud patch to a colourful garden, with a barrier fence and hard landscaping.

Each year there is some financial help from local councillors via the Area Committee, but most of the money needed is raised by the volunteers holding an annual race night at the Birstall IDLC. The recent race night held to raise money for 2018 brought in over £1,100.

This will be spent on plants, fertiliser, weedkiller and many other things that are needed to keep gardens vibrant.

Local businesses and the general public also donate money, plants, transport and almost anything that is needed throughout the gardening year.

Birstall In Bloom has entered Yorkshire In Bloom several times and gained Silver Gilt Awards.

Each year Joanna, with the help of the BIB group, organises garden competitions in eight categories, along with a pot competition for local schools.

A very successful ‘Garden Trail’ has been organised for the past two summers, bringing hundreds of people to Birstall on a summer Sunday from as far away as Hull to the east, Sheffield to the south and all areas in between.

BIB are taking a well-earned rest from competitions and garden trails in 2018, but these very popular events will be

back for the summer of 2019.

If you are in Birstall on any Thursday morning you will see groups of BIB volunteers working.

Stop and talk with them – and you are very welcome to join BIB. Always looking to the future, BIB have produced their first calendar for 2018 which sold out before Christmas 2017.

Work is already underway on the calendar for 2019 and will be in local shops in the autumn.

Joining BIB is free and all you need is a trowel and a couple of hours spare each week, or whenever you can.

For further details contact Joanna Cooney on 07792 221149 or mail2joanna@yahoo.co.uk.

You can also follow Birstall In Bloom on Facebook.

Telephone 01924 472178

BOLLANDS (BIRSTALL)

Funeral Directors

Prepaid Funerals Funeral Flower Service Available Contact Robert Edmond 24 hours

18 KIRKGATE, BIRSTALL, BATLEY, WF17 9PB www.bollandsfuneraldirectors.co.uk

20

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

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Friday May 4, 2018

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In Focus

TIGER

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Flexible homecare to meet individual needs For more details Tel: 01924 403450

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Nawaab

PC DOCTOR

BYO DRINK FREE CORKAGE BUFFET £12.95 SPECIALIST IN LARGE GROUP BOOKINGS OPEN 7 DAYS

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Curtains, Blinds, Wallpapers & Accessories 18-22 Market St, Cleckheaton T: 01274 851151

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MALCOLM’S AERIAL SHOP

80 Town Street, Earlsheaton, WF12 8JL

• SKY TRAINED AUTHORISED ENGINEERS • AERIAL / SKY 2ND ROOM £39 • TELEVISION / PC & LAPTOP REPAIRS Open 7 Days until 8pm - Est 20yrs

FREEPHONE 0800 074 8967 or 01924 450999

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imagine@createbespokekitchens.co.uk www.createbespokekitchens.co.uk

Car Boot Sale The Area’s Biggest and Best Car Boot Sale every Sunday at Dewsbury Rams, Owl Lane, Dewsbury OPEN AS USUAL DURING GROUND DEVELOPMENT WORK Price £12 per car, opens at 6.00am, ring 01924 465489 for further details

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21

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Northern Domestics Repairs to most makes of domestic appliances.

Competitive rates Tel: 01924 467472

Your Local Quality Butcher

5kg Chicken £25 2.5kg Chicken £13

Electrical

See instore for more details

ANYTHING ELECTRICAL

ALARMS, OUTSIDE LIGHTS

128 Huddersfield Rd, Mirfield

Electrical Cookers Repaired Supplied & Fitted, No Job Too Small, 35 Years Experience, Same Day Service Available

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0113 285 4563 or 07801 063911

McFaddens

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Quality Cars for over 50 years

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FENCING BLUEHILLS &TSPROPERTY FARM SHOP & PLAY BARN AllREPAIRS type of fencing,

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PLAY BARN OPEN 7 DAYS

BIRTHDAY PARTIES OUR SPECIALITY www.facebook.com/ThePressNews

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Birkenshaw BD11 2DU T: 01274 682007

gates, decking, flagging & patios etc All types of property repairs, general handyman work.

Any Odd Jobs Big or Small

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01924 402578

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FLAT ROOF PROBLEMS?

Fibre Firm Ltd

• GRP ROOF SPECIALISTS • GARAGES • DORMERS • BALCONIES • NEW ROOFS & REPAIRS

LAWNS CUT & TIDIED SMALL TO MEDIUM Call Steve for free quote on 07533 209056 or 01924 795385

info@fibrefirm.co.uk www.fibrefirm.co.uk Furniture

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Call Martyn 07703 858245

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Motorcycle Lessons & More

Obtain your HGV or PCV Licence With Ease Use The Professionals Over 30 Years Experience All Aspects Of Driving

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Friday May 4, 2018

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TIM PRYKE PLASTERING No Job Too Small Quality Workmanship!

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Pubs and Clubs

GOMERSAL CRICKET CLUB

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FREE • 80-100 FUNCTION people ROOM HIRE • Kitchen use available • DJs, Bands, Entertainment organised • Low drinks prices

WORLD LEADING DESIGNER DRESSES FROM THE UK AND USA 31 Low Lane, Birstall WF17 9EY

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Tel: 01274 874100 / 07422 510043

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS! Contact 01924 470296

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clubsecretary@gomersalcc.com Pubs and Clubs

Plumbing & Heating

Garages

DENCROFT GARAGES Concrete Garages & Sheds Dismantle & Bases Garage re-vamps Garage Doors 230 Bradford Rd, Batley Tel: 01924 461996 dencroftgarages.co.uk

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UP+OVER DOORS fitted, repairs,

remote supply only

from £295 PENSIONERS DISCOUNT AVAILABLE All major debit/credit cards available

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Let Dave do Your digging All gardening & Maintenance work Free estimates 20 yrs experience No job too small Please call 01924 527852 07875 052983

joIN US AT THE

Millbridge CLUB

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One of the area’s friendliest clubs.

TOP CLASS TURNS • BINGO - SNOOKER

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Free quotes 01924 506616 www.kitchenbedroom.co.uk Joiner

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Keith Thackray Elite Mobile JOINERY

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Any joinery work undertaken Kitchens supplied & fitted or fitted only Decking, windows & doors Kitchen & bedroom fitting Over 28 years experience For a free estimate call 01924 901762 07710 503538

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Elite Mobile Valeting Services

25 yrs experience Director: Jason

• Cars • Caravans • Motorhomes • Vans • Carpets & Upholstery • Driveways • UPVC Windows 07717 805900 4theelitevalet@gmail.com

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CARS • BIKES • VANS CALL: 01924 497069

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Friday May 4, 2018

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SIMPSON DENNIS (Roofing Services)

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Doors, Conservatories and so much more Unit 10 Woodroyd Mills Cleckheaton 01274 874800

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23

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Michael Harfords Security Ltd, Dewsbury.

Many happy returns, and all the best for the next 15 years.

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Classified Marketplace 24

Friday May 4, 2018

Turn your unwanted items

Public Notices

into cash £££s

1) Ring Angela on 01924 470296 (9.30am-4.30pm). Have your advert ready and you can pay by debit card (30p surcharge).

2) Call into the office at 31 Branch Road, Batley WF17 5SB and pay by cash, cheque or debit card (30p surcharge).

3) Post your advert and include your name and a contact number, along with cheque for payment.

ADVERTS must be no longer than 50 words.

(We cannot accept the following items: Motor vehicles, caravans, livestock. All listings will stay in Marketplace for a maximum of two months. If you wish to amend your listing, or cancel when sold, contact or call 01924 470296.

NEW Car or van roof rack, adjustable. Two four-foot horizontal bars, clamp-type fasteners, good condition, £10.

Gomersal area, tel 01274 876814.

Lightweight portable commode, new, £15.

Gomersal area, tel 01274 876814.

Karrimor Panther rucksack. 65-litre, aluminium frame, padded shoulder straps. Ideal for camping and hiking.

Very good condition, £20. Tel 01924 407400. (2127) Heavy duty aluminium ladder. 10 rung x 3, with stabiliser.

Buyer collects, £80.

Tel 07939 599381.

(2128) Electrolux Flymo Minimo lawn mower.

Little use, in good condition, £20. Tel 01924 519750.

(2129) Two handcrafted wooden walking staffs with bone handles. £20 each.

Tel 01924 724627.

(2130) Pair of curtains with tiebacks and valance. 90” x 90”.

Latte colour, unused, £35. Tel 01924 724627.

(2130) All glass display cabinet. 16” deep by 5’ 6” high, £15. Tel 01924 470866.

(2131) Market stall, suitable for carboot etc.

Approx 5ft wide x 10ft long, £85.

Possible local delivery. Tel 01924 470866. (2131) BEDROOM Jay-Be foldaway bed with headboard. Never been used, £40. Tel 01924 441997. (2125) Modern wood wardrobe (H) 66” x (D) 21 1/2, £25 ono. Tel Batley 01924 479647.

(2104) DIY 80 Aluminium tiles, sil-

ver, 4 1/4 inch square.

50 plain, 30 patterned.

Still packaged from new, £8. Tel 01924 472043. (2118) Howden Joinery 700 worktop jig with pegs, in superb condition, £30. Tel Mr Smith 01924 441978 (Batley) (2102) Steel up-and-over garage door within steel frame. As new, with all hardware.

Door 6’5” wide x 6’11” high with frame 6’11” wide x 7’3” high, £80 ono. Tel 07756 164491. (2092) ELECTRICAL Dehumidifier in good condition £50. Tel 07816 132472. (2109) Vax cordless vacuum cleaner with tools & charger. Very good condition £50. Tel 01924 359464. (2110) FASHION Pair Redwing deck boots, UK size 10.

Brand new, unused.

Best offer gets them.

Tel 01924 460710.

(2114) FURNITURE Top quality two seater dark brown leather sofa in excellent condition. Hardly used.

Cost over £400 when new. Sell £100. Tel 01484 606221 after 6pm. (2119) Two-seater & threeseater Ambassador leather settees in dark green. Button back and arms, similar to a Chesterfield. Fair condition, £300. Tel 01924 430629/ 07543 992634. Buyer to collect. (2112) Sofa bed, brand new, never used. Room needed, £300. Tel 01274 861904. Buyer collects. (2113) GARDEN Black & Decker Lawn Rake, Black & Decker garden shredder, Bosch Lawnmower. All in good condition, £20 each. Tel 01274 876854. (2120) Sturdy wooden planter boxes. (1” thick wood) 46” long x 12” wide x 7” deep (2 for £25),

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

ITEM bands

Up to £7: £8 - £25: £26 - £50 £51- £100 £101-£200 £201-£500 £501-£1450 £1,451 plus 56” x 12” x 7” (2 for £30), 60” x 12” x 7” (2 for £30). Ideal for salad crops, bedding plants etc. Delivered locally. Tel 01484 606221 after 6pm.

(2119) Hoselock hose pipe wall fitted £25. Tel 07816 132472. (2109) HEATING Modern gas fire little used £100. Tel 01924 467496. (2105) Dimplex 2kw convector fan heater, coal effect, used three times, central pump failed, as new condition, £75 ono. Call Jim on 01924 402697.

(2106) KITCHEN Hi Sense white fridge freezer, slimline, water dispenser. Brand new, still got tape on, £150.

Tel 01924 430629/ 07543 992634. Buyer to collect. (2112) MAGAZINE Robert Carriers kitchen cookery/ recipe magazines. 48 magazines in three bound volumes.

Excellent condition, £15. Tel 01484 606221 after 6pm. (2119) 16 x magazines.

House and Garden, Country Living, House Beautiful etc.

2017–2018 editions.

All in good condition, £10. Tel 01484 606221 after 6pm. (2119) MISCELLANEOUS

Cost per item

£1 £2 £3 £4 £5 £7 £9 £11 Adam black modern fire surround, including coal effect electric fire.

Good condition £150 ono. Tel 01924 430629/ 07543 992634. Buyer to collect. (2112) Casino Blackjack shoe and 400 playing chips plus portable tabletop gaming board. All new, £20 ono. Tel 01274 876814. (2111) Large fish tank fits in corner, includes pump, heater, LED light, £55 ono. Tel 07816 132472. (2109) OUTDOOR/CAMPING Camping trailer (Camel make SWTT71) 4ft x 3ft with new plastic cover. In good condition, £120. Tel 07788 940454. (2126) Crusader Denver 390 porch awning, 390cm (W) x 240cm (D) x 235250 cm (H). Steel frame, pegs & fibreglass poles. Two side doors with full mesh, three roll up front panels, ripstop polyester.

Only used once, bargain £75. Tel 07818 481725. (2108) SPORTING 36-hole golf trolley battery and charger.

Nearly new, £20. Tel 07505 115934. (2124) WANTED Wanted: French marble or black slate clock. Condition immaterial. Tel 01924 467915. (2122)

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

25

CRICKET with Mike Popplewell

Winning start for Hanging Heaton LAST season’s All Rounder Bradford Premier League champions Hanging Heaton kicked off their new campaign in style with a defeat of Woodlands at Bennett Lane.

And they can expect a similar outcome tomorrow when they go to last year’s Premier Division strugglers East Bierley.

Against Woodlands it was the newly-introduced Duckworth Lewis Stern system that decided the outcome when, after bowling out their visitors for just 96 off 38.3 overs, Hanging Hanging Heaton were 93 for three when rain brought proceedings to a halt.

Tom Chippendale (5-35) and David Stiff (4-16) did the damage with the ball for Hanging Heaton.

Skipper Gary Fellows hit a crucial 31 at the top of the order for Hanging Heaton but it was a quick-fire 23 off 13 balls from Ben Kholer-Cadmore that saw them home.

The D/L/S system, which involves calculating comparative runs scored against wickets lost, has been introduced for use in the Premier Division only this season and it will be interesting to see how it works.

Had the old rules been in place at Bennett Lane the home side would have had to settle for just bonus points but under the new system they were deemed winners and duly qualified for the 10 points for the win.

Every year the issue of point-

scoring is raised, and various adjustments have been made to determine the fairest way to distribute the points.

It has to be said that the system in the Premier Division this season provides the answers to a multitude of questions, but captains may start needing calculators in their pockets to manage their strategies whenever the weather looks like interrupting the game.

Perhaps they will also need a print-out of the weather forecast in their pockets.

For example, Cleckheaton looked to be having the better of things with their score on 229 for eight at New Farnley, John Wood and Nick Lindley joint top-scoring with 71, but the home side reached 133 for three in 34 overs and were ruled winners.

The system clearly worked well for New Farnley, who would have had to settle for just five bonus points instead of the 19 they actually won.

New Cleckheaton skipper Mally Nicholson will be hoping for better luck this week when they take on Pudsey St Lawrence at Moorend.

Promoted Scholes came unstuck in their opening league game at home to Townville, being bowled out for 99 chasing 145 for eight.

And they too will be hoping for a change of luck on their visit to Bradford and Bingley tomorrow afternoon.

WELL HIT: Premier Division Champions Hanging Heaton got off to a winning start against Woodlands last weekend

JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE SHAW CROSS SHARKS UNDER-10s took on Normanton Knights on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts had a slow start but came back strongly in another encouraging team performance. Francis Appleyard was awarded opposition man of the

FOOTBALL

match while Dannyaal Raja claimed parents’ player and most improved.

The coaches’ award for defence went to Edan Gleadhill, with Ben Tranter picking up the coaches’ award for all-round performance on his return from injury.

Great teamwork came from Liam

Littlewood, Teddy Dawson, Seb Jeffers, Bailey Woods, Ellis Peake, Harvey Cavanagh, Alfie Law, Charlie Tilford, Casey Hirst, Ethan Brereton, Finlay Gaal, Harry Lamb and Karsten Glover.

Tomorrow afternoon the young Sharks travel to Farnley.

RACING PREVIEW WITH MIKE SMITH

Fixtures take toll on Sedge Expert Eye can see off the rest T

LIVERSEDGE FC’S hectic fixture schedule took its toll on Tuesday evening as they were forced to abandon their game against Bottesford Town.

Sedge were trailing 5-0 when the referee ended the game early due to a shortage of players. The league has ruled that the result will stand.

It was the second away game for Liversedge in less than 24 hours after they beat Rainworth Miners Welfare 32, after extra time, in the quarter final of the NCEL league cup.

Last week, Liversedge played four games in just six days and this week were expected to play on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday as

well as a game scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday).

Sedge have had 25 games postponed in the league this year, however only nine of those postponements have been at home.

Following the abandonment of Tuesday night’s game Liversedge released a statement on social media, condemning the fixture schedule.

It read: “It seems like making us play back-to-back away games, the second starting less than 22 hours after the first had ended – and that game went to extra time – following on from playing four games in six days the prior week, might not have been the greatest idea.

“Two away night games in two days makes it hard for players to get out of work.

“We’ve had more away games postponed than home games.

“The league have extended the season to May 7, our last game is May 5.

“We didn’t need to play back-to-back this week, the league chose for us to do that.

“Non-promotion and relegation relevant games can actually be played until May 12.”

Liversedge will play their cup semi-final this Tuesday evening.

The winner of the tie will play either Bridlington Town or AFC Mansfield at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane in the final.

Town win final game before merger Evo-Stik North OSSETT TOWN GOOLE AFC

7 2

OSSETT TOWN won their final game before they prepare to merge with Ossett Albion next season.

Town and Albion’s merger was ratified by the FA last week, with the new club set to play under the name of Ossett United.

Town were able to end their time in the EvoStik North on a high after a number of poor results in recent weeks.

Nicky Boshell opened the scoring with seven minutes played.

And the score remained at 1-0 until just after the half-hour mark.

Boshell then scored two goals in as many

minutes to complete a first-half hat-trick and put Ossett firmly in control.

Two goals in three minutes at the beginning of the second half from Martin Pembleton and Corey Gregory put Ossett 5-0 ahead.

Goole hit back with two goals in quick succession as Derry Robson and Declan Howe struck for the visitors.

With five minutes remaining an own goal from Terry Barwick and a fourth from Boshell rounded off a superb win.

Elsewhere, Albion lost their final game before they merge with Ossett Town as they were beaten 2-0 by Scarborough Athletic.

James Walshaw put Scarborough ahead midway through the first half before James Beadle sealed victory with three minutes to go.

Albion finish the season in 15th, level on points with Ossett Town in 16th but with a superior goal difference.

HE all-powerful Ballydoyle operation has a terrific record in the Classics and will again be a key contender when Guineas weekend comes to Newmarket.

Aidan O’Brien will bid for an incredible ninth 2,000 Guineas having won five since the turn of the century and has the two market leaders in GUSTAV KLIMT, the 9/4 favourite and SAXON WARRIOR who is next best in the betting with Carrigill’s at 9/2.

But only one favourite has won the 2000 Guineas since 1999 and that was George Washington back in 2006, and I see value in EXPERT EYE who is still priced in double figures.

Following a fantastic victory in the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, the world was laid out at his feet before Sir Michael Stoute and his team came crashing back down to earth as the favourite finished last in the Dewhurst.

Stoute and his team had hopes EXPERT EYE would bounce back on his reappearance in the Greenham Stakes where he was ultimately held off by JAMES GARFIELD, but he pulled hard early on to be forgiven for that defeat.

While he is going to need to come on plenty for that, the class he showed in the Vintage is hard to forget and he still has the potential to be a top miler.

It’s the turn of the girls on

Sunday and in the 1,000 Guineas Middleham trainer Karl Burke can strike a blow for Yorkshire with LAURENS. This likeable filly cut out the running for much of the Fillies Mile at Newmarket and showed fantastic battling qualities to hold off September in the dying strides.

She tasted defeat just once last season, losing out by half-a-length to home favourite Polydream in the Prix du Calvados. LAURENS is the highest-rated British entrant in the field but looks like she’s still open to plenty of progression.

As usual the big boys have some serious ammunition on show, and Godolphin’s WILD ILLUSION and the O’Brien trained market leader HAPPILY could both have a big say in the matter along with Willie McCreery’s LIQUID AMBER. But the fact that Karl Burke decided to dodge the Nell Gwyn last month, instead choosing to send LAURENS to Newcastle for a racecourse

gallop should not be overlooked. PJ McDonald, who rode during the first two days of the Craven Meeting, turned his back on Newmarket to put the filly through her paces, illustrating the confidence both trainer and jockey have. Considering the progression LAURENS made last season and the fact she’s triumphed in Grade One company over course-and-distance, her current price looks extremely generous and this daughter of Siyouni looks worthy of a sizeable eachway wager.

Elsewhere on the Newmarket cards over the weekend KYLLAND ROCK can follow up his winning seasonal debut at Musselburgh in tomorrow’s (Saturday) 2.20, and DEFOE can again hit the back of the net at 2.25 after a comfortable victory in the John Porter at Newbury last month.

On Sunday look for Charlie Appleby’s classy WUHEIDA in the 2.20 as she looks unbeatable if she runs to her mark of 117, while Richard Fahey’s EASTERN IMPACT can take advantage of a mark that has slipped 7lb since June in the 6f handicap at 2.55.

• CARRIGILL’S NAP (Stake returned as a free bet if selection does not finish in the top 4): EXPERT EYE, Saturday, Newmarket, 3.35.

• AUGUR’S BEST BET: LAURENS (E/W), Sunday, Newmarket, 3.35.

26

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

RUGBY LEAGUE

Trojans stay top with latest victory

Struggling Sharks fall into drop zone

NCL Division One

SHAW CROSS SHARKS dropped to second bottom in the NCL Division One table after suffering their fifth-straight defeat.

The Sharks have narrowly avoided relegation for the past two seasons and look set for another battle near the bottom in 2018.

The win was only Skirlaugh’s second in the league this campaign, with Shaw Cross still searching for their first win since the opening day.

Reece Dean led Skirlaugh to a big win at Leeds Road, landing six goals and taking man of the match.

Dave Wilson gave Skirlaugh an eighth-minute lead with a try and Callum King added another.

THORNHILL TROJANS YORK ACORN

20 8

THORNHILL TROJANS maintained their place at the top of the league table with a comfortable win over York Acorn on Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans took the lead inside three minutes and remained in front for the rest of the game to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Joss Ratcliffe plunged over for a try in the corner after collecting a pass from brother Jake to give Thornhill an early lead.

The hosts continued to test the York defence but wasted an opportunity to increase the lead.

Danny Ratcliffe made a break but his final pass out to the supporting Liam Morley went to ground.

The Trojans’ dominance finally told for a second time as Morley offloaded to Luke Haigh and the Thornhill hooker nipped over for the try.

Acorn hit back through a wonderful piece of individual brilliance from full-back Matt Chilton.

The York player blew the Thornhill defence wide open with a dummy and darted through the gap and over the whitewash.

In the run up to half time substitute Nick Mitchell broke through the defensive line and found Joel Gibson who accelerated away for a try which he then converted.

Thornhill sealed victory early in the second half as George Woodcock made the initial break and fed the

SHAW CROSS SHARKS SKIRLAUGH

24 44

The Sharks hit back with a Ryan Chalkley effort before Skirlaugh took a 30-4 lead with tries from Harvey Gotts, Matty Harling and Mike Johnson – all goaled by Dean.

Thomas Stuckey pulled a try back before tries either side of the break from Carl Puckering and Johnson made it 38-8.

Two tries in seven minutes by the home side reduced the arrears to 18 points as Chalkley and Paul March went in and the former goaled both.

A Connor Myers try and Dean goal kept the home side at arms length before a late Joe Halloran effort for the Sharks.

Tomorrow afternoon the Sharks host Leigh Miners Rangers at Leeds Road (2.30pm).

Leigh sit fourth from bottom after two wins and three defeats from their opening five games.

Three in a row for Celtic NCL Division Three

DEWSBURY CELTIC MILLOM

TROJANS ON TOP: Luke Haigh scored for Thornhill as the Trojans stayed top of NCL Division One PHOTO: Dave Jewitt ball inside to Jake Wilson.

Wilson had the line at his mercy and could have gone over for the try but opted to pop the ball to his captain, Danny Ratcliffe, who strolled over the whitewash.

The game lost its intensity as both sides were guilty of a number

HW FOOTBALL

Navigation steer to the top of the table WITH title rivals Linthwaite in District Cup action, Navigation moved back to the top of the Heavy Woollen Sunday League Premier Division following a 3-2 home win against third-placed Mirfield Town.

Paul Smith, Rob Johnson and Oliver Fisher netted for the leaders, with Liam Royal bagging a brace for Mirfield.

Navigation are a point in front of Linthwaite who have three games in hand, with Mirfield a further two points adrift.

Elsewhere, Luke Thompson hit a double as Roberttown Rovers were held to a 2-2 draw by Birstall Cricket Club, who replied through Joe Lyttle and Reece Scholes.

Deighton WMC lead the Championship by six points after they won 5-3 at mid-table Wire Works, who replied through a Nolan St Hilaire brace and one from Dom Harris.

NCL Division One

Hanging Heaton Cricket Club climbed to second place after Tom Ramsden (two), Joe Jagger, Callum Wheatley plus an own goal saw off the challenge of Mount Pleasant in a 5-2 win.

Muhammad Omar hit both goals for Mount.

Substitute Tom Hirst bagged two late goals as bottom side Overthorpe Sports Club won 5-0 against Scholes Athletic, with Dom Simpson, Danny Stocks and Dean Vernon hitting the others.

Snowdon are five points clear at the top of Division One as they were awarded the points following opponents Birstall St Patricks’ failure to raise a team.

Clifton Rangers Reserves need to win their two games in hand to clinch the title.

Clifton Rangers Athletic moved off the foot of the table with a 32 win over fellow strugglers Wike Horse, whilst St Ignatius enjoyed a 4-0 win over Inter Batley.

of errors.

York reduced the difference to 12 points as Ryan Gallagher crossed for an unconverted try.

It proved to be the final points of the game as the Trojans saw the game out to secure another important victory.

24 22

DEWSBURY CELTIC made it three wins in a row but were made to work hard by Millom who were looking for back-to-back wins.

The result moves Celtic into fourth in the NCL Division Three table, with four wins and two defeats from their first six games.

The Green and Whites have already matched their points tally from last season after they only

managed three wins and two draws from 22 games last year.

However, things are looking much more positive for Celtic this campaign after a number of strong performances.

Celtic, who led 6-4 at the break, eventually scored five tries.

Liam Walmsley, George Senior, Danny Thomas, James Walker and Danny Crabtree all crossed. Goals were scored by Will Copley and Dom Senior.

Millom replied with tries from Ricky Donaghue, Ethan Kelly, Lee Postlethwaite and Dane Kelly plus three Postlethwaite goals.

Send your news and photos to: Email: sport@thepressnews.co.uk Tel: 01924470296

Dewsbury Moor go third Free tickets for businesses who DEWSBURY MOOR 14 WIGAN ST JUDES 12 back the Rams NCL Division Two

DEWSBURY MOOR made it four in a row with a hard-fought win over Wigan St Judes.

The Maroons moved into third in the league table, level on points with Askam in second and two points behind Stanningley in third.

However, Moor have played a game fewer than Askam and two

fewer than first-placed Stanningley.

It took 20 minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Moor’s Jacob Flathers scored a try.

Judes hit back six minutes from the break with a Joey Brady try and Ben Fisher conversion.

Man of the match Aiden Ineson drew the sides level at half-time with a penalty and added another on the hour. A Ben Jones try and Fisher goal two minutes later gave Judes the lead again before Luke Adamson went in with 11 minutes to go and Ineson converted.

Late defeat for Thornhill ‘A’ Yorkshire Men’s League

THORNHILL TROJANS ‘A’ 34 STANNINGLEY ‘A’

35

THORNHILL TROJANS ‘A’ lost by the narrowest of margins as a drop goal in the final seconds proved decisive on Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans had fought back from 18-34 down with three tries in the final 10 minutes to level proceedings.

However, with a draw seemingly inevitable a last-gasp drop goal saw all the Trojans’ good work come to nothing.

As the final whistle sounded tempers flared, leaving Thornhill’s Steve Smith injured on the ground.

Thornhill trailed 6-16 at the break with an early try from winger Declan Kaye and conversion from Sam Ratcliffe.

The game sprung into life in the second half as Adam Johnson and Declan Tomlinson both crossed.

But for all the good work in attack, Thornhill leaked tries in defence and soon fell 34-18 behind.

Three tries in quick succession in the closing minutes from Johnson, Tomlinson and one in the final minute from Kaye put the hosts back in it. Ratcliffe converted Kaye’s try from the touch line to level proceedings.

As Stanningley lined up their drop-goal attempt Smith bravely tried to charge down the kick but was unable to stop the ball sailing between the posts.

RAFFLE WINNER: Rams fans Allan Gill and Ady Marsh present Carole Hemming from the West Riding with her family ticket LOCAL businesses have been given the opportunity to win a family ticket to watch the Dewsbury Rams at each of their home games this season.

Any businesses that put up posters advertising Dewsbury’s home games in their offices or shops will be entered into a prize draw.

Each prize draw will be for a family ticket to watch the Rams at the Tetley’s Stadium.

A family ticket provides entry for two adults and two children.

The first winner of the match ticket prize was the West Riding at Dewsbury Railway Station.

Any businesses interested in displaying posters and earning themselves an entry into the prize draw should call 01924 465489.

ThePress

Friday May 4, 2018

27

BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP

Fev hammer Bulldogs Betfred Championship

FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 50 BATLEY BULLDOGS 12 at the LD Nutrition Stadium BATLEY BULLDOGS were unable to build on their win over Toulouse the previous weekend as they were hammered by Featherstone on Sunday afternoon.

Luke Briscoe levelled Martin Offiah’s modern record for tries in consecutive matches as Batley fell victim to his 15th week on the scoresheet.

But it was Shaun Robinson on the opposite flank who proved most clinical. He bagged a hat-trick to help Featherstone rack up 50 points.

The visitors threatened most during the opening quarter hour and Dane Manning came close but he was held up over the line.

As has been the case for Rovers so often this season, Briscoe kick-started them.

This time with a 40-metre break before Robinson crossed in the corner.

Rovers were on their way and didn’t ease up.

Next it was prop Scott Wheeldon to break downfield and receive a penalty.

Fluent passing along the line saw Josh Hardcastle put Briscoe in for the try he needed to equal Offiah’s record.

Hardcastle next used Briscoe as a decoy then raced to the corner himself.

Featherstone had two tries disallowed and with all three scores too wide out for Martyn Ridyard to convert, they were only 12-0 up, despite all their dominance.

MATCH STATS LONDON BRONCOS: Alex Walker 7 Jacob Ogden 7 Michael Channing 7 Elliot Kear 8 Rhys Williams 8 James Meadows 8 Jarrod Sammut 9 Tom Spencer 8 Matt Davis 8 Eddie Battye 8 Jay Pitts 8 Daniel Harrison 7 Sadiq Abebiyi 7 Subs: Matt Gee 7, Ben Evans 7, Will Lovell 8, Matty Davies 7.

Tries: Pitts (20), Sammut (30, 40, 75), Davis (38, 78), Evans (48), Lovell (53), Williams (56, 61), Kear (73).

Goals: Sammut 10/11.

DEWSBURY RAMS: Josh Guzdek 6 Rob Worrincy 7 James Glover 6 Cameron Scott 6 Dale Morton 6 Danny Ansell 7 Lewis Heckford 5 Jode Sheriffe 5 Jordan Crowther 6 Jack Teanby 6 Kyle Trout 5 Lucas Walshaw 6 Aaron Brown 5 Subs: Toby Everett 6, Gareth Potts 5, Sam Day 6, Martyn Reilly 5.

Tries: Ansell (68).

Goals: Glover 1/2.

Referee: M. Rossleigh Half-time: 24-0 Penalties: 3-5 Sin Bin: None Sent Off: None Weather: Cold and windy, but dry Man of the match: Jarrod Sammut (London) Attendance: 675 Match Rating: 3/5.

Sam Brooks was then denied a try as Gareth Hock’s defence-splitting pass was ruled forward.

Hock had more luck soon after when he brushed three men aside to barge over.

Batley came out determined at the start of the second half, but the home side quickly reasserted their dominance when Hock blasted forward and produced an offload to send Robinson over.

The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard in the 50th minute as Lewis Galbraith made a break down the left and passed inside for Dave Scott to score against his former club. Izaac Farrell converted to narrow the gap to an achievable 16 points.

From the restart the visitors were penalised for an incorrect play-the-ball and Featherstone took full advantage.

Tom Holmes went over from close range.

Josh Walters then extended the lead with a flourishing finish before Holmes added his second try after collecting Misi Taulapapa’s pass.

Robinson completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute after Lilley and Holmes combined.

Batley responded through Dominic Brambani, another former Rover, but the game was already beyond the Bulldogs.

The hosts finished proceedings with Hardcastle completing his brace.

Batley head coach Matt Diskin said: “I thought Featherstone controlled all aspects of the game. I thought we were really poor.

“We’re always struggling to compete really, because financially we can’t touch what they do.”

MATCH STATS FEATHERSTONE: Tom Holmes 9 Luke Briscoe 7 Josh Hardcastle 7 Misi Taulapapa 6 Shaun Robinson 8 Martyn Ridyard 7 Jordan Lilley 6 Scott Wheeldon 7 Keal Carlile 6 Mitch Clark 7 Connor Farrell 6 Josh Walters 7 Richard Moore 6 Subs: Matty Wildie 7, Gareth Hock 8, Sam Brooks 7, Nathaniel Peteru 7.

Tries: Robinson (15, 45, 72), Briscoe (24), Hardcastle (28, 79), Hock (36), Holmes (52, 67), Walters (62).

Goals: Ridyard 5/10.

BATLEY BULLDOGS: Dave Scott 6 Shaun Ainscough 6 Sam Smeaton 6 Lewis Galbraith 7 Jason Crookes 6 Izaac Farrell 7 Dominic Brambani 6 Tommy Holland 6 Alistair Leak 7 Alex Rowe 7 James Harrison 6 Brad Day 7 Dane Manning 6 Subs: Michael Ward 6, James Davey 6, Joel Farrell 6, James Brown 6.

Tries: Scott (50), Brambani (75).

Goals: Izaac Farrell 2/2.

IN VAIN: Dave Scott’s try proved to be of little worth as Batley lost at Featherstone

Referee: J. McMullen Half-time: 18-0 Penalties: 8-9 Sin Bin: None Sent Off: None Weather: Sunny and windy Man of the match: Tom Holmes (Featherstone) Attendance: 2,225 Match Rating 3/5.

Capital punishment for Rams Betfred Championship

LONDON BRONCOS DEWSBURY RAMS

64 6

at Trailfinders Sports Club DEWSBURY RAMS are still waiting for their first win since the end of February as they were heavily beaten by London Broncos.

The Broncos took a while to get into the game, but once they did they dismantled the Dewsbury Rams for an 11-try victory.

The first scoring chance was a 15th-minute penalty awarded to Dewsbury, which James Glover failed to turn into two points from 30 metres out, even though he was straight in front the posts.

Midway through the first half, Dewsbury were forced into a goal-line drop-out.

Jay Pitts was twice held up over the line, but was finally able to ground the ball and score London’s first points.

For the next 10 minutes, it was all Dewsbury.

Three times they were held up over the line, the last of which was a real waste as they had a three-on-one mismatch down the left side, until the Broncos cover defence arrived.

That was pretty much the last that was heard of the Dewsbury attack for 40 minutes.

In the last 10 minutes of the half, London scored three tries – two of them slightly fortu-

HALT: Dewsbury’s Jack Teanby shapes to tackle London’s Jay Pitts during Saturday afternoon’s defeat itous – and 18 points to turn a tight contest into a mismatch.

With half an hour gone, the Broncos hurried a last-play move and Jarrod Sammut’s under-pressure bomb was short.

However, Elliot Kear palmed it to Rhys Williams, who kicked forward to Sammut who ran onto the ball for a try.

Sammut was back as a

provider in the 38th minute, sending Matt Davis over for a try.

And, in the last seconds of the half, Jacob Ogden and Ben Evans made breaks.

The latter’s low pass was shinned forward by Sammut, who won the race to the bouncing ball as it reached the ingoal area.

Nine minutes into the sec-

ond half, Evans crashed over from close range.

Five minutes later, Will Lovell timed his run into the attacking line perfectly and his angled run to the corner was too much for the Rams defenders.

The Broncos’ tactic of aiming kicks at Rob Worrincy finally paid off when the winger, after half a dozen good

catches under pressure, spilled one.

Immediately the ball was fed to the left wing and Williams scored with ease.

He made it a quick double when, on a power play, he was able to go over in the corner.

Sammut, for the only time in the afternoon, failed to add the extras, but it was close, with the ball striking the upright.

There was finally some cheer for the Rams when a grubber from Danny Ansell was misplayed by a couple of Broncos and he darted through to score. Glover added the extras.

The Broncos finished proceedings by scoring three tries in the final 10 minutes.

With the Rams’ right-wing defence rather sparse, Kear was able to score.

Sammut completed his hattrick in the 75th minute with a trademark 30-metre scamper, though the defending was hardly testing. He would finish with 32 points.

With two minutes to go, Davis notched his brace when he sprinted unchallenged between the posts.

Dewsbury coach Neil Kelly said: “It was very disappointing the way we fell away.

“We are a better team than that.

“We did have a very good spell in the first half hour but we didn’t build on it.

“We have to learn to keep doing what has already worked for us.”

Saturday 12th May

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Diskin expects big response at Barrow BATLEY BULLDOGS boss Matt Diskin is looking for a big response from his players after they got their “backsides spanked” against Featherstone last weekend.

The Bulldogs travel to Cumbria this weekend to take on ninth-placed Barrow Raiders.

Batley won the reverse fixture against Barrow 32-12 at Mount Pleasant earlier in the campaign but go into Sunday’s game on the back of a heavy defeat at Featherstone.

And Diskin wants his players to improve in all areas of the field after a poor performance last weekend.

“We need to improve all aspects of our game, we well and truly got our

backsides spanked at Featherstone,” he said.

“Our approach to the game, the ability to carry out our game plan and individual effort all needs to improve.

“We made some individual errors that were uncharacteristic and we know things like that won’t happen two weeks on the trot.

“We approach every game with the view that we are going to get a win but going to Barrow is no mean feat.

“It is a game we are looking forward to, we want to get back on the pitch as soon as possible and try and put right some wrongs from Featherstone last week.

“We played well up until last

week’s game, it was a bit of a reality check and now we will dust ourselves down and move forward.”

Barrow have only managed two

wins from a possible 11 games in this year’s Championship.

However, they have claimed notable scalps at Craven Park this year with a win over Leigh and a draw against Toronto.

And while Diskin is confident Batley can come away with an important win, he isn’t expecting an easy game on Sunday.

He said: “It’s a small pitch and it’s supposed to be a real hostile environment, with a passionate set of fans so we are looking forward to experiencing it.

“They have got a big set of middles that carry the ball pretty well and they get to the end of their sets

Batley and Dewsbury look to hit back after losses

Injury-hit Rams ready for Hornets

Hectic start for district’s cricket BOWLED HIM: Hanging Heaton players celebrate taking a wicket in their openingday win over Woodlands last weekend – full cricket round-up on p25

By Ben McKenna DEWSBURY RAMS head coach Neil Kelly is hoping to welcome back a number of key players when the Rams host Rochdale Hornets this weekend.

Kelly revealed that Dewsbury only had 18 fit players for their trip to London last Saturday, where they were beaten 64-6.

The Rams will be hoping to get their season back on track this Sunday after a run of seven straight defeats in the Betfred Championship.

Dewsbury won the reverse fixture against Rochdale 38-6 but Kelly insists his side won’t be taking anything for granted this weekend.

Rochdale have won only one game so far this season but have produced credible performances against Toronto and London in recent weeks.

“We are obviously hoping for a win and given the result over at Rochdale, it certainly gives us confidence that we can get some rewards for our good play,” said Kelly.

“But I have looked at some of Rochdale’s performances and most notably against Toronto and they haven’t been bad.

“The worst thing we could do this week is take a win for granted.

“They have got a workmanlike pack that puts in the same effort every time they play, so that tells us we can’t take it easy this weekend.

“They have got some good wingers and we need to be prepared to match them and beat them all over the park.

“I took 18 fit players to London, and they are the only 18 fit players at the club so that gives an indication to some of the difficulties we are facing at the moment.

“I am hoping that a few players who missed last week’s game will be ok for this weekend.”

Rob Spicer, Paul Sykes, Gareth Moore and Michael Knowles were just a few of the big names missing when Dewsbury travelled to London last weekend.

INJURY WOES: Kelly revealed Dewsbury only had 18 fit players against London The Rams boss admitted that the past couple of months have been difficult as Dewsbury have failed to claim a single point since February.

Kelly felt that his side performed well for the first 30 minutes in London but eventually threw the game away in the second half.

He said: “After 30 minutes against London, I was really pleased with the performance,” said Kelly.

“We were 6-0 down, we were threatening but from 30 minutes onwards what we produced was too fragile, we need to learn to tough it out.

“To go in 24-0 down at half-time after only being 6-0 down after 30 minutes was disappointing.

“I didn’t feel the game had gone away from us at that point, but within five minutes of the second half we just collapsed.

“So we have got every reason to produce a better performance this week.

“There are several players that will be doing fitness tests, so I am hoping for some players back.”

Elsewhere, Dewsbury will visit Barrow Raiders on Sunday May 13 after the original fixture was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

The game will kick off at 3pm and supporters wishing to travel to the game should contact The Amber Ribbon for information.

exceptionally well.

“They stay in the game, they don’t go away, so you need to be disciplined for 80 minutes.

“The team sticks with it, they have found a process that works for them and they don’t get bored with it.”

The Bulldogs will be without a few of their star performers for the trip to Barrow after they sustained a number of injuries at Featherstone.

Michael Ward will be subject to a late fitness test after suffering an injury to his knee against Fev. James Brown will miss the next few weeks as he broke his thumb while Patch Walker is still struggling with a back problem.

THE START of every cricket season is expectantly hectic as league and cup games are crammed into the fixture lists, and last week’s Solly Sports Heavy Woollen Cup ties are replaced with Priestley Cup encounters this week.

Gomersal’s programme has been hastily curtailed after they followed up their opening-day league defeat at home to Morley with a six-wicket defeat at Huddersfield League side Scholes in the Heavy Woollen Cup. They will be hoping to have skipper Graham Hilton back for the coming weekend when they go to Ossett for a Championship One game, and then to relegated Pudsey Congs on Sunday for their Priestley Cup first-round game.

Hanging Heaton backed up their opening-day league win with a spectacular Heavy Woollen Cup success at home to Raistrick as David Stiff took 5-8 to help bowl out the visitors for 29 and then hit 22 off nine balls to steer his side home by 10 wickets in 3.2 overs.

On Sunday it is Yeadon who enter the Bennett Lane ‘Lion’s Den’ in the Priestley Cup while newly-promoted Championship One side Hartshead Moor return to the Priestley Cup competition, after winning the Jack Hampshire last year, and face a visit from Hunslet

Nelson.

In the other tie involving the district, Cleckheaton will be at home to Morley while Scholes, Woodlands, East Bierley and Batley are amongst those clubs with first-round byes.

Cleckheaton will do well to restrict hard-hitting Nathan Bromby and experienced spinner Dave Nebbard who took the game away from Gomersal in the opening-day league meeting.

Clubs joining Hanging Heaton in the next round of the Heavy Woollen Cup include Crossbank Methodists, 35-run first-round winners over Cawthorne thanks to a fine 65 from James Coulborn, and Birstall, who had a firstround bye, while Ossett are at home to Altofts on Sunday in a delayed first-round game.

The full Priestley Cup first round draw is as follows: Hanging Heaton v Yeadon, Hartshead Moor v Hunslet Nelson, New Farnley v Baildon, Farsley v Bradford and Bingley, Cleckheaton v Morley, Pudsey Congs v Gomersal, Methley v Bankfoot.