Monday 8th March 2010 Award for York’s Shambles
It may be known as the ‘The Shambles’ but the famous cobbled street in
York is also now officially Britain’s most picturesque street
according to the results of a recent competition. ‘The Shambles’ was
awarded the title in the Google Street View Awards. The historic
street in the ancient Viking city of York is lined with 15th Century
buildings and is one of Yorkshire’s most popular tourist destinations.

Ian Addyman, who owns a shop on The Shambles, told the press: "There
is a real feeling of community amongst shop owners and I think we all
feel privileged to work in such a beautiful place. The shops here are
all strikingly different and unique. Most people say that if you visit
York, then at some point you will walk down The Shambles. It has been
the backdrop for many a jigsaw, chocolate box and railway poster and
once you visit you will see why." North Yorkshire

Friday 5th February 2010 North Yorkshire village terrorised by pheasant
After hundreds of years of being hunted, it seems the pheasants may be
hitting back at their tormentors. Residents of Newsham in North
Yorkshire claim they are being harangued by a rogue pheasant. Reports
say the pheasant waits silently in the bushes before ambushing its
unsuspecting prey, which include cars, dogs and prams. There are even
claims the bird has chased school children alighting from their school
bus.

A Newsham postman told the press: "It's a crackpot, I've only seen it
a couple of times. I wouldn't like to cross it, put it that way."
Despite the claims of the villagers the local police say they have
received no complaints about the pheasant. North Yorkshire

Wednesday 20th January 2010 Yorkshire hotel is Britain’s best
Rudding Park, near Harrogate in Yorkshire has been voted as the best
hotel in the UK by international travellers. The hotel received the
accolade at Tripadvisors annual awards. The vote places Rudding Park
at the top of a league of 25 top UK hotels, not one of which was from
inside London! In the poll, visitors praised the hotel’s "faultless
service".

Rudding Park chairman Simon Mackaness was delighted with the award and
told the press: "This is a phenomenal achievement and I am delighted
that Rudding Park is favoured so highly among our guests. To be voted
number one in the UK and to be rated number six among the world's best
hotels is an accomplishment we have aspired to since purchasing
Rudding Park 30 years ago."

Rudding Park, which also features an 18-hole golf course and a holiday
park, is owned by Mr Mackaness and his family North Yorkshire

Thursday 31st December 2009 Britain’s most generous granny
A 90-year-old from Malton in North Yorkshire has a mammoth task each
Christmas, she has a family numbering almost 200 and that’s a lot of
presents to find. Despite her advancing years and being in a
wheelchair Mrs Edith Abbey prides herself in personally selecting
individual gifts for each and everyone of them.

Mrs Abbey gave birth to ten girls and five boys and her surviving 14
children range from 49 to 72 years of age.

Mrs Abbey told the press: "I try to keep up with all the people but it
is a bit of a job. I don't spend a fortune as it is the thought that
counts. Although it was difficult when they were all growing up I am
grateful for all the children and the others. I enjoy the fact I have
such a large family." North Yorkshire

Wednesday 18th November 2009 RAF may close bases
Proposals currently being considered by the MOD could lead to the
closure of two RAF bases in North Yorkshire. Both RAF Linton-on-Ouse
and RAF Leeming are under threat from the plans that seems to offer
some comfort to RAF Valley. The Anglesey base has a “leading role” in
the future of Hawk aircraft training according to the MOD.

The proposals come as the MOD faces what they describe as “challenging
times”. They are part of a routine review of budgets and defence
spending, designed to ensure taxpayer’s money was put the the best
possible use. North Yorkshire

Thursday 1st October 2009 Celtic fringe apparent with UK mammals says York University academic
Scientists using DNA testing have discovered distinctive British populations of small mammals that they call a “Celtic Fringe”. A recent scientific paper, published in the Proceedings B journal, notes that voles, shrews mice and stoats in the northern and western areas have different DNA from their counterparts in other areas of the British Isles. These Celtic populations may have arrived here after the last Ice Age, 19,000 years ago. Scientists are speculating that the original Celtic people arrived at the same time, earlier than often supposed.

Lead author of the report, Professor Jeremy Searle of the University of York’s Department of Biology, said: “We believe this study of the distribution of small mammals can help us to understand why humans in the British Isles form a Celtic fringe. This study represents a novel example of the way that study of animals can help to shed light on human history.” North Yorkshire

Thursday 17th September 2009 Viking hoard on show in York
York’s long association with the Vikings continues with a display of a Viking hoard discovered in a field near Harrogate in 2007. Known as the Vale of York Hoard the collection includes 617 silver coins, some of them from the Middle East and Asia. It lay hidden for 1,070 years, hidden by an owner worried by the political upheaval of the time it was buried, probably about 927AD, the date of the newest coin in the hoard.

Part of the hoard is on display at the Yorkshire Museum in York from 17 September to 1 November, and will then return to London until the museum closes for refurbishment. The entire Vale of York Hoard is then scheduled to return for the museum’s reopening in August 2010. North Yorkshire

Tuesday 18th August 2009 500lb bomb empties North Yorkshire villages
A 500lb wartime bomb has been discovered in a field by enthusiasts trying to excavate a WWII plane that crashed there in the war. The field is close to the villages of Allerston and Ebberstone and both will need to be completely evacuated today to allow bomb-disposal experts to detonate the unexploded ordinance safely.

A 300m cordon around the bomb will be extended to more than a kilometre prior to the detonation. Buses will take the residents to the village hall at Snainton which is about two miles away from the bomb site. North Yorkshire

Wednesday 12th August 2009 Diamonds are a pig’s best friend
The owner of a Kune Kune pig called Ginger now faces the onerous task of sifting through his animal’s dung for a few days after the animal bit a diamond off a visitor’s ring. Mrs Moon was enjoying a day at Easingwold Maize Maze in North Yorkshire when she put her hand into Ginger’s pen to pet her. The animal snuffled her hand and when she pulled it away she realised the naughty pig had bitten off the ring’s diamond.

Ginger’s owner Paul Caygill has been up to his elbows in the proverbial a few times already but so far drawn a blank. It’ll all be ok though, he insists. The reason for his confidence?

“I’ve got the children on it as well so hopefully we’ll find it!” North Yorkshire

Friday 17th July 2009 Police release Dick Turpin e-fit
North Yorkshire Police have issued an e-fit of the notorious Dick Turpin, the highway man who was executed in York in 1739. The e-fit was commissioned for a ‘Wanted’ poster that will appear at York Castle Museum.

The picture shows the former butcher, with his face badly marked by small pox, during an exhibition in the Castle’s prison. It was in one of these cells that Essex born Turpin spent the last night of his life before facing the gallows. The picture has been put together using descriptions of the criminal, just in the same way as an e-fit is generally made during a criminal investigation today. North Yorkshire