March
The ladies love Rita More than 20 drag queens dressed in full costume gathered to open Alton Tower's new rollercoaster which launches faster than a Ferrari.
Wearing sequined dresses, wigs and high heels, the 'ladies' boarded Rita - Queen of Speed to experience the thrill of being catapulted an amazing 0-100kph in 2.5 seconds.
The ride is open to customers staying at the theme park's hotel - before opening to the general public at the start of April.
A spokesperson for Alton Towers said: "They all managed to hold on to their wigs but I think a few sequins were lost on the way!"
See more on our Alton Towers pages. 28/03/05
Special garden A special garden has been opened in honour of a very special teacher. Schoolchildren at Silverdale Community Primary School in Newcastle under Lyme have been collecting bulbs and plants to create the garden for their headteacher who was involved in an terrible road accident.  | |
David Beech was seriously injured, breaking every single bone in his body but he's recovered and was present to unveil the garden planted in his honour. 24/03/05
Remarkable recovery For twelve months, Amanda Ball from North Staffordshire put on an alarming amount of weight without knowing why. After going to the doctor, she was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst, which turned out to be the size of three footballs. However she received treatment at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire to recover in what doctors said is a one in a million case. 24/03/05
Towers goes to Middle East The Staffordshire theme park Alton Towers, has been sold to an investment firm controlled by the Dubai government. It's among a number of attractions owned by the Tussauds Group which is being bought by Dubai International Capital in a deal worth eight hundred million pounds. 23/03/05
RJ remembered? A memorial to commemorate Reginald Mitchell's 110th birthday could be built soon. The Spitfire inventor was born in Kidsgrove in North Staffordshire and the town council there want to have a monument or a statue to him. They've not decided where it should be, though suggestions include the Reginald Mitchell Memorial school in Butt Lane village, or on Butt Lane itself, near where he was born. It's the birthday anniversary of Reginald Mitchell on 20th May. 23/03/05
See RJ Mitchell Pages
Royal no The forthcoming wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles has not produced an upsurge in pottery memorabilia. | |
Pottery companies are either not producing any ware, or low quantities. Meanwhile the Royal Collection has issued two tankards, handmade in Staffordshire, to mark the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. The English bone china pieces, available in white or blue, have on them entwined letter Cs - for Charles and Camilla. See Royal Collection website21/03/05
Biddulph grows A new head gardener has been appointed at Biddulpgh Grange, the National Trust property in North Staffordshire. Andy Mills will have to care for one of the Trust's most varied and prestigious garden attractions, but says he can cope with being called the area's answer to Alan Titchmarsh. 21/03/05
See Biddulph Gardens pages
Grand winner Philson Run, ridden by Phil Carberry, recorded a famous victory in the John Smith's Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter Racecourse, holding off Toulouse-Lautrec. The 14-1 shot took the £100,000 race after favourite and leader D-Argent lost his rider at the third last fence. 19/03/05
Local TV coming Staffordshire is just one of the places which will be involved in a trial by the BBC of local TV stations. BBC Dircetor general Mark Thompson says the demand for more local programming is already there in the form of listeners' continuing commitment to the local radio network. 18/03/05
See full story
Pot hole shame Staffordshire County Council roads are the worst in the country for cracked surfaces - with 385 miles of road affected. The figures come from the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey. In a regional league table of pot hole shame, Shropshire came second and Birmingham fourth as the worst authorities. 17/03/05 Frightening Marmite Television watchdogs have ordered that an advert for the Staffordshire-made food Marmite should not be broadcast during hours when children's programmes are being shown. The Advertising Standards Authority has acted in response to complaints from parents, whose children were frightened by the commercial, which shows people either running away from or diving into a large brown blob. Speaking on the BBC, Mark Wearing, the plant manager of Burton's Marmite factory, said it wasn't their intention to scare anyone. 16/03/05
See our Marmite Pages - do you love it or hate it?
Club to go? Zanzibar, the former nightclub in Newcastle, could be transformed into more than a hundred new homes. The application comes two weeks after councillors refused an entertainment licence for the club, which also had lives as The Ritzy and The Crystal. 15/03/05
Do you remember The Crystal?
Txt is gd fr u A woman from Stafford says a BBC Radio Stoke competition has changed her life. Donna Lear's winning two-line text message poem was spotted by a record producer when it was displayed on local buses. | |
She says the success has encouraged her to give up her job at an opticians. 15/03/05
See Donna's winning poem in our Text-Competition Pages
Arty monkey An artistic monkey nicknamed "Picasso" is set to have his unique drawings auctioned off to raise money for a Staffordshire wildlife project. Drawings by Toto, a nine-year-old Black Capped Capuchin monkey, are to be exhibited at the Gentleshaw Wildlife Sanctuary in Eccleshall. Staff are also planning to auction off the drawings on the internet to raise money for new monkey enclosures.
Jenny Smith, who runs the sanctuary, said: "He just loves to pick up his crayons and paper and draw. We have tried to encourage other monkeys to do the same but they haven't got Toto's artistic flair. They just try to eat the crayons." 14/03/05 Stoke Question Time Three of Stoke's best known figures were put on the spot by one hundred and fifty schoolchildren today at a special version of Question Time at the City Museum theatre. Mobile phone tycoon John Caudwell, the city's mayor Mike Wolfe, and pop star Robbie Williams' mother Jan, were part of a five-strong panel put together by BBC Radio Stoke to answer questions on a wide range of subjects, including the regeneration of Stoke. 11/03/05
See full story with audio
Pupils protest ends The school's head at a school says the pupils who staged a lock-in are going to be severely disciplined. Dozens of children at Sir Graham Balfour school in Stafford walked out after hearing that they were going to be stopped from wearing the fashionable charity arm bands. Teachers were concerned some pupils were selling them but keeping the money. The pupils also locked themselves in a tennis court for a while. 09/03/05
A cleaner Stretton People in the East Staffordshire village of Stretton have got so fed up with graffiti that neighbourhood wardens there now have their own kit to deal with it. The 120-pound box - which has come from the council - includes several different kinds of cleaner. 03/03/05
Goodbye Black Hole Rollercoaster lovers said goodbye to one of Alton Towers most famous rides this weekend. They were given the chance to ride the Black Hole one last time. Alton Towers says the ride's simply reached the end of it's life span.  | |
It was bought second hand from Germany in 1988 and was the first ride at the Staffordshire theme park to take place in complete darkness. It'll be replaced by Rita - Queen of Speed which opens on April the first. 05/03/05
For pictures and more reports, see our Alton Towers pages
Slimming for life A man from Lichfield who used to weigh sixty stone - and successfully shed half his body weight - says his life has changed dramatically. Twenty-seven year-old Chris Meddings was so large at one point that firefighters had to use a crane to lift him out of his house so he could be rushed to hospital. He has since had a gastric bypass operation at Heartlands Hospital in 2002; and now he's on the Atkins diet to get down to his twenty-five stone target. 04/03/05
Hospice fear The South Staffordshire hospice which was asked to remove its collection boxes from their local Tesco store says the move could prove disastrous. Staff at Saint Giles Hospice in Lichfield say on average they gather £70,000 from their in-store boxes each year. But Tesco has decided to support only one charity a year at all their stores nationwide. Rose Vakis from the Lichfield council for Voluntary Services told the BBC that the move will be devastating for the hospice. 03/03/05
Elton arrives City fathers are welcoming the announcement that Elton John is to play in the city as a coup for the revitalised image of the area. Sir Elton will play at the Britannia Stadium, the home of Stoke City FC, in June. The announcement comes after Wolverhampton Wanderers abandoned its plans to bring him to Molineux because of fears fans could damage the pitch. 01/03/05
See Gig Guide for details
February
Staffordshire man Britain's brainiest David Edwards, the teacher from Denstone who won "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", has just been crowned the cleverest man in Britain. He won a competition run by MENSA. 25/02/05 Jonathan is Tommy The Staffordshire-born star of stage and screen, Jonathan Wilkes, has started touring in the new stage version of the rock opera, Tommy.
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The music was brought to life in 1969 by the Who, and resulted in a major album and film - but this is the first stage version. Tommy started out in Birmingham this week, and comes to Staffordshire (Hanley) in May. 21/02/2005
See more about Jonathan Wilkes
See Staffordshire dates for Tommy
Clarice Cliffe goes for thousands A colourful plate designed by the Staffordshire ceramics artist Clarice Cliffe - and bought for just £1 at a car boot sale - has reached nearly £2,000 at auction. Its anonymous vendor snapped up the dish - a Latona Dahlia charger - at a sale in Manchester. Christie's specialist head of British decorative art Joy McCall said the item was made in Stoke On Trent between 1929 and 1931.
The vendor told Christie's: "I spotted the dish sitting underneath an old teapot - I was attracted to its bright colours. "I had a hunch it could be worth something, but kept quiet. I think a fellow car-booter also did, because they offered me £100 for it there and then. "However, I felt I should go home and read up on it first. Obviously now I'm really pleased I did." The decorative plate was one of around 300 items to go under the hammer at the London auction house's Clarice Cliff sale this weekend. 20/02/2005
See our Pottery Expert's Pages
Missing man safe A backpacker feared killed in the Asian Tsunami has turned up safe and well. The family of Paul Foster from Walsall Wood in Staffordshire hadn't heard from him since mid-December when he was in China. He was heading for Thailand and his sister thought he might have died in the Boxing Day disaster. But he's now phoned home to say he was trekking in a remote area of northern Laos and was unaware of the earthquake. 17/02/2005
See our Tsunami pages
World War Two in South Staffs A nationwide series of events to mark 60 years since the end of the Second World War was launched today at eight locations across the country - including Brownhills in Staffordshire. The £10million, year-long, "Their Past Your Future" programme aims to teach people more about the conflict, and its enduring impact on the world.
The project has been co-ordinated by the Imperial War Museum, and is thought to be the largest of its kind. The centrepiece is a touring exhibition of historical materials which can be seen at the Forest of Mercia Innovation Centre in Brownhills. 17/02/2005
See our Exhibitions pages
Come on down One of the last remnants of Stoke-on-Trent's steel industry's disappeared from the city's skyline. The 180ft chimney at the former Shelton Steel Works has been demolished.Schoolboy Daniel Hatton got to push the button and explained what he knew about the history of the works. The seventy three acres will now be redeveloped. 14/02/2005
Staffs stations criticised A trains pressure group has named Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford railway stations as amongst the worst in the country for disabled facilities. West Coast Rail 250 wants to see urgent improvements and wants other stations to be looked at too. 14/02/2005
Peak hunting to stop From Friday, hunting with dogs across England and Wales become illegal.
The Staffordshire Moorlands Hunt, which goes out in the Peak District, went out today for the last time.14/02/2005
Miraculous recovery Twelve year old David Elliot from Stafford has been fighting a rare cancer, Histio Cytosis, that attacked his major organs, his face and his brain. It's so rare, it only affects thirty people a year in this country.
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But now he's in remission after taking a life-saving drug from America. Where once he could hardly walk, he's now playing football, despite reconstruction surgery, which means he has almost 200 screws in his face. 14/02/2005
Another championship for Staffordshire The "Dunces of Denstone", Staffordshire's representatives in "Masterteam", the BBC Radio programme for amateur quiz teams, triumphed in the final scoring almost twice as many points as their opponents. The Dunces, who come from a small village near Uttoxeter, beat Grimsby 55-29. See Masterteam website12/02/2005
BAFTA triumph Staffordshire-born actor Paddy Considine is celebrating after the film he starred in last year, My Summer of Love, won the Alexander Korda award for 'Most Outstanding British Film of the Year'. However that meant that Dead Man's Shoes, the film he collaborated on with film maker Shane Meadows (who was born in Uttoxeter), was pipped at the post for the same award. 12/02/2005
See more about Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine
See more on the BAFTAs
Monkey business The first monkeys have arrived at the former Trentham Gardens site. They're in official quarantine for six months after coming over from France and Germany and will live in the monkey park at the re-development. John Lowther, director of Trentham Leisure says they are an interesting addition to the site.
See our Trentham gardens Page. 11/02/2005
See Trentham Gardens pages
Bigger Beer The US company that owns Burton's biggest brewery, Coors, has announced it's to merge with a Canadian firm. The new Molson-Coors company will form the fifth largest brewer in the world. See full story from BBC 10/02/2005
Ghost-friendly? Fearless guides are being sought in Burton to show visitors around the town's ghost walks. They've proved to be so popular that at least two more guides are needed. They'll be braving the night to show tourists some of the town's most haunted venues, such as the NatWest Bank and the Grail Court. 10/02/2005
See our Burton pages
Angels is the Best - mum agrees Robbie Williams' track, Angels, has been commended at the Brit awards. The star picked up his 15th award - this time it was the prize for the Best Song since the Brits were first held, twenty-five years ago. Robbie's mum, Jan, says she's delighted at her son's latest achievement. See more about the Brits and hear Jan's interview. 10/02/2005
Thieves robbing rubbish Staffordshire's Trading Standards Department is warning that thieves are going through rubbish bags looking for paperwork which may give clues to credit card details. See our full report including ways to defeat the thieves. 07/02/2005
In memory A book of condolence has been opened in memory of a Staffordshire RAF sergeant who is believed to have been killed when an aircraft crashed in Iraq. Sergeant Robert O'Connor, from Fazeley near Tamworth, was travelling on an RAF Hercules, when it crashed north of Baghdad last Sunday. The book of condolence has been opened at Fazeley Marina, where the sergeant was living on a narrow boat with his fiancee. Sergeant O'Connor was expected to be back in Fazeley in just a few months time to get married. 06/02/2005
Miracle baby After losing a baby girl born four months too early, both expectant parents Lee Chatterton & Jemma Woods and doctors feared the worst for her twin - amazingly he survived. Little Liam held on for another 10 weeks before being born safe and well - at a small but healthy 4 pounds in the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. Doctors say it's is a very rare case. 04/02/2005
Lovely apples! A Lichfield market trader's been presented with a long-service award after spending more than fifty years on the job. Eighty-four year old Eric Bailey has run his fruit and veg stall since he left the army at the end of the Second World War. 04/02/2005
DIY speed-calming A group of residents are celebrating success - just two months into their do-it-yourself traffic-calming clamp down. At the end of last year, people living in the village of Eccleshall were given speed guns and police training to combat speeding traffic.
Since then, they've caught over 50 people. Police have issued the speeding drivers with warning letters, but no penalty points. 03/02/2005
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