community yearbook 2018

OCTOBER

Newbury Weekly News

Thursday, 25 January, 2018

Red sky at . . . noon FORECASTS that the end of the world was nigh– heralded by a red sun– proved unfounded. Monday was warm – hot all living in. In the end, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Ex-hurricane Ophelia, coming up from the Azores, dragged tropical air with it, as well as

Cold Ash man is UKIP leader COLD Ash has been placed on the political map after a former

resident and Kennet School pupil was named UKIP’s new leader. Henry Bolton grew up in the village and attended Kennet in Thatcham. The former soldier, Thames Valley Police officer and security consul- tant to the UN and the EU was elected UKIP leader at the party’s conference in Torquay. Following his victory, Mr Bolton said: “We will rebuild and revi- talise our party together, resume our core task and moral responsi- bility regarding Brexit and hold the Government to account.”

even, for October– yet misty. By mid-morning, strange stormclouds had darkened and taken on an unusual quality. People began to remark on the‘funny weather we’re having’. And then things began to get really weird. The sky darkened further, but the clouds had an amber look to them.

tonnes of Saharan sand and dust from wildfires in Portugal and Spain. High in the atmosphere, their particles caused the shorter wavelength blue and violet light to scatter, leaving us seeing every- thing through a longer wavelength filter of red and orange.

The sun was an intense ball of deep orangey-red. Sometimes marbled by cloud, but mostly, too bright to look at. It got darker still, lights came on and the world looked like a sepia photo- graph – only one we were

Festival curator Emma Milne-White with Martin Bell on the opening night Ref: 42-2117D Weekend book trip THIS year’s popular Hungerford Literary Festival weekend (October 13 to 15) was inspired by the theme of Journeys. Festival curator, Hungerford Bookshop owner Emma Milne-White said: “It’s been great fun developing the theme of Journeys . At a time when our world seems in such a state of flux, it seemed an appropriate choice – and books, as we know, are a great way to discover other lives and experiences and help us understand the world in which we live.” Martin Bell, one of the outstanding reporters of our time, opened the festival with a compelling talk about his latest book War and the Death of News , sharing his personal account of war and issued an impassioned plea to put the substance back into our news. Among the hightlights, Sonning Common travel writer and historian Tom Fort took us to more tranquil territory on Saturday morning hopping on his bike to discover the essence of village life for The Village News: The Truth Behind England’s Rural Idyll . In the main event on Saturday evening, Alas- tair Sawday, founder of the hugely- successful Sawdays Guides , talked about his travel experi- ences and encounters with remarkable, and often eccentric, guests and hotel owners as depicted in his hugely enjoyable memoir T ravelling Light . The final stage of the journey featured maverick climber Jules Mountain – a cancer survivor who conquered an Everest avalanche. Wanting to prove to himself that his illness was no barrier, the author decided to climb the mountain on what turned out to be the deadli- est day in Everest’s history. His inspirational story of survival, resourcefulness and dedica- tion , Aftershock rounded off the weekend’s

Henry Bolton

Murderer kicked ‘friend’ to death AN electrician from Newbury brutally

Diner’s double NELSON’S Diner in Newbury was celebrating after winning two top awards. It triumphed in the International Restaurant and Bar Design Awards in the Fast/Casual category and scooped Best World Cuisine, South, in the Food Awards England. Director of the diner Shelly Francis said of the Restaurant and Bar Design award: “There were 945 entries from across the globe and in our category

murdered his friend of 10 years in a row over money. Gary Crossan kicked Malcolm ‘Raggie’ Wright to death, then tried to cover his tracks. Crossan is now facing life in prison after a jury convicted him of murdering Mr Wright in Peterhead, Scotland, earlier this year. After the trial at the High Court in Aberdeen, jurors took 35 minutes to convict Crossan of murdering the 56-year-old by punching him , kicking him and stamping on his head.

there were over 27 entries– and we won. Little old us. It just goes to show little people can achieve great things.” ‘Puppy farmer ’ sent to jail

in Ireland where they had been neglected and mistreated. Buyers often received trembling, sickly dogs in need of urgent medi- cal treatment. Moorey, who was well known in Lambourn where she has family and keeps horses, was arrested following a joint 14-month investigation by the Hungerford police team and the RSPCA.

A WOMAN was jailed for eight weeks following a police probe into a series of cruel ‘puppy farm- ing’ offences. Helen Kay Moorey, aged 55, adver- tised on various websites and duped buyers into believing the border collies she was selling were the home-bred offspring of her own pets. In fact, police said, they had been illegally imported from puppy farms

Gary Crossan, left, murdered Malcolm ‘Raggie’ Wright

He was also heard repeatedly demanding: “When am I going to get my money?” Alan Cameron, prose- cuting, said: “He was a man who did not care if his friend lived or died – a man who is a murderer.”

emotion as the majority verdict was read out. During the trial, the court was shown mobile phone camera footage that Crossan took of himself, taunting his victim while he lay dying on the floor, on January 26 this year.

Thirty-six-year-old Crossan showed no

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