Halifax Courier
‘Anja was quietly brilliant’
Loved ones of a kind and thoughtful Halifax student are on a life-saving mission launched in her memory. Anja Wilson, who studied at Trinity Sixth Form Academy, died aged just 19 because of an undiagnosed heart condition. Now her family and friends...
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DISMANTLING DRUG LINES
Seven men have been jailed for a combined 40 years for their involvement in selling drugs in Halifax. A huge police investigation was launched in November 2023 to dismantle drug lines operating in the town centre and the surrounding areas. The...
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A town where we get things done
A plan to create a 10-year vision to transform Halifax will be discussed. Calderdale councillors will be asked to approve the Halifax 2036 Place Vision. The council says it will be shaped by what local people and organisations have said is important...
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The town is a changing
As the demolition of the old leisure centre at North Bridge gets underway it is impossible not to notice the changes going on in and around Halifax. And for anyone driving in and out of town, the major ongoing £64m A629 improvement works have been...
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HALL’S VALUE TO ALL
Halifax’s Piece Hall has generated an estimated £680m for the local economy during the past decade, according to new figures. That is an annual benefit of £426 for every resident in Calderdale. The figures are included in an economic impact...
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A LIDL LOOK
Plans for a new Lidl store and drivethrough coffee shop in Halifax have been submitted to Calderdale Council. The planning application for the venture on the former bus depot on Skircoat Road is not yet available to see on the council’s website but...
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West Yorkshire Flood Summit renews commitment to flood resilience
Last month, Calderdale Council hosted the West Yorkshire Flood Summit in Halifax, bringing together political and business leaders as well as representatives from partner organisations and community groups. The event marked a poignant milestone – 10...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
FESTIVE FAVOURITES Classic Christmas Movies, Thursday, Sky Arts, 8pm & 9pm Film critic Ian Nathan explores a couple festive favourites, identifying the ingredients that elevated them to iconic status. He begins with 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol,...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
The Man in the Mask: An Orkney Murder, Thursday, BBC2, 9pm In June 1994, residents of Kirkwall in the Orkneys learnt of the first murder in their community in a generation when a lone gunman walked into an Indian restaurant and shot dead Bangladeshi...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
Celebrity Race Across the World, Thursday, BBC1, 8pm For the third leg of their journey, the teams must race from El Zonte on the Pacific coast across the entirety of El Salvador, known as the land of volcanoes, before entering Honduras to reach the...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
Classic Movies: The Railway Children, Thursday, Sky Arts, 8pm Few films linger in the memory like director Lionel Jeffries’ 1970 adventure which was adapted from E Nesbit’s novel and starred Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett, Gary Warren...
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The Celebrity Traitors Finale, Thursday, BBC1, 9pm Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out, Friday, C5, 8pm
What many people believe has been the UK TV event of the year concludes tonight. The ‘regular’ version of The Traitors has already been a massive hit, but from the moment 19 celebrities entered the Scottish castle a few weeks ago and Claudia Winkleman,...
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WATERMARK DEFEND YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW.
Plans for licensed premises in your neighbourhood could be hidden f rom view if new government proposals for secret alcohol licensing notices get the green light. SCAN THIS QR CODE and complete the survey to #defendyourrighttoknow
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
TRAVEL Yorkshire Great and Small with Dan and Helen, Thursday, C5, 8pm James is worried about the practice finances but when he tries to discuss the monetary matters with Siegfried, his concerns fall on deaf ears, so he decides to take on the role of...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
QUIZ The Weakest Link, Saturday, (BBC One, 8.35pm: No one likes to be the first person eliminated, but Romesh Ranganathan is giving some of the disappointed stars who fell at the first hurdle the opportunity to put that right. He hosts a ‘Redemption’...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
Strictly Come Dancing, Saturdy, BBC1, 6.05pm: Last Sunday, we said farewell to the first pro-celebrity pairing to be booted off the show, which probably gave the rest of the participants a reality check – it will have dawned on them that they’re not...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
FACTUAL George Clarke’s Homes in the Wild, Thursday, C4, 8pm For his new series, George Clarke is heading down under to explore some of New Zealand and Australia’s most remote and awe-inspiring homes. He finds out the personal stories behind them and...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
TRAVEL Yorkshire Great and Small with Dan and Helen, Thursday, C5, 8pm Series two opens with Helen Skelton and Dan Walker exploring the untamed beauty of the North York Moors. The pair start in Captain Cook’s boyhood village, Great Ayton, and make...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
GAME SHOW Taskmaster, Thursday, C4, 9pm In the decade since Little Alex Horne first began to torment comedians in honour of his demanding master, Greg Davies, and Josh Widdicombe emerged victorious as the first series champion, the Taskmaster format...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
ANIMALS The Dog House, Thursday, C4, 8pm More abandoned pooches are searching for their perfect homes – and the staff of Woodgreen Pets Charity are on hand to help with the matchmaking. Here, we meet a fluffy Pomeranian called Fox, who was found all...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
The Dog House, Thursday, C4, 8pm The phrase ‘being in the dog house’ often means you are in someone’s bad books, and as such, it is not a very desirable place. However, the same can’t be said of Woodgreen Pets Charity’s 43-acre rehoming centre in...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
The Hotel Inspector, Thursday, C5, 8pm The suburb of Chorlton is fast becoming one of Manchester’s trendiest places to be, so you would imagine that running a cafe there would be relatively straightforward – there are certainly plenty of visitors...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
WORLD WAR II The Michael Palin-24 Hours: The Japanese Surrender, Saturday, C4, 8.10pm Friday, August 15, marked the anniversary of VJ Day, and this documentary explores why Japan was seemingly reluctant to end the Second World War. The conflict in...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
The Gone, Thursday, BBC2, 9pm The luck of the Irish deserted visiting detective Theo Richter (Richard Flood) during his first visit to the small town of Mount Affinity, where he helped police officer Diana Huia (Acushla-Tara Kupe) solve the...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
Unforgivable, Thursday, BBC2, 9pm Writer Jimmy McGovern is behind some of the most hard-hitting TV dramas of the past 30 years, including Hillsborough, Sunday and the prison-set series Time. Now, the featurelength Unforgivable finds him tackling the...
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Golf: The Open Highlights, Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm
Rory McIlroy says he has “unfinished business” at Royal Portrush. Although he shot a record-breaking 61 there as a 16-year-old in 2005, when The Open was last held at the Northern Ireland course in 2019, he missed the cut. Can he get off to a good...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
The Great Plague with Rob Rinder & Ruth Goodman, Thursday, C5, 9pm Last year, Rob Rinder went on a Bafta-winning Grand Tour of Italy with Rylan, and now he’s taking a trip back in time with historian Ruth Goodman. They’ll be exploring some of the most...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
GAME SHOW Taskmaster – The Final, Thursday, C4, 9pm It’s the grand final, and it’s time to find out who has won the trophy in the shape of Greg Davies’ head. The smart money was on Mathew Baynton, but has someone crept ahead at the last minute to...
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Marie Antoinette, Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm
The second season of the historical drama draws to a close, with fans still waiting to find out if there will be a third and final run. As Louis convenes the Estates General for the first time in a century to consider his tax reforms, a riot breaks out...
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Your week FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
Outrageous, Thursday, U&Drama, 9pm Mary Lovell’s 2001 biography The Mitford Girls was the basis for this new six-part drama starring Bessie Carter (of Bridgerton fame). Outrageous follows six aristocratic sisters during their formative years in the...
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Your week
DOCUMENTARY DNA Journey, Thursday, ITV1 & STV, 9pm ITV drama Cold Feet, the saga of a couple who fall in and out of love, turned Fay Ripley and Hermione Norris into household names. It’s been five years since the series ended, but now Fay and...
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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
JUNE 7, 1970: The Who’s “rock opera” Tommy was performed at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. JUNE 8, 1969: Spain closed the frontier with Gibraltar, hoping to cripple its economy after Britain’s refusal to hand over the colony to Spain. ON THIS...
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Your week
HISTORY Britain Under the Nazis: The Forgotten Occupation, Thursday, C4, 8pm On May 8, the UK celebrated the 80th anniversary of VE Day, but some may not have realised that in the Channel Islands, the only part of Britain to be invaded and occupied...
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Your week
REALITY Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr, Thursday, BBC1, 8pm As this year’s competition nears its end, the three semi-finalists will need to put on their best performances as they head to Edinburgh to transform Festival Fringe venues – the...
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Your week
DOCUMENTARY Classic Movies: The Story of the Dam Busters, Thursday, Sky Arts, 8pm Director Michael Anderson’s film is one of the greatest British war movies ever made. It focuses on Barnes Wallis’s efforts to invent a bouncing bomb capable of...
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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
MAY 10, 1994: Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first black president of South Africa. MAY 11, 1812: British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot dead by a bankrupt broker, John Bellingham, as he entered the House of Commons. ON THIS DAY LAST...
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WAKE UP WITH BREAKFAST CLUBS
Halifax’s MP and the minister for local transport visited a Halifax primary school to mark the start of new free breakfast clubs in Calderdale. Kate Dearden, who is MP for Halifax, and minister for local transport Simon Lightwood were at St Joseph's...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
DOCUMENTARY The Yorkshire Vet, Thursday, C5, 8pm Martin Paterson from the Huddersfield animal hospital heads into wartorn Ukraine. In between helping people, he also visits a homeless animal shelter to see the effects the war is having on the...
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When will our pool be ready?
Work on a new swimming pool and leisure centre for Halifax may not start until later in the year, councillors have heard. The new £35m facility is due to be built by Calderdale Council on the site of the current one at North Bridge, which has been...
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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
APRIL 12, 1992: Euro Disneyland opened in Paris. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Gatwick was the worst airport in the UK for flight delays the previous year, an investigation found. APRIL 13, 1668: John Dryden was appointed the first Poet Laureate. ON THIS...
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Your week
RACING ITV Racing: Grand National Live, ITV1/STV, race starts 4pm: Britain’s most famous race returns and ITV1/STV brings us all the build-up from Aintree, as we wait to discover which horse succeeds last year’s winner I Am Maximus. Ed Chamberlin...
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Your week
MUSIC Eric Clapton at the BBC, Saturday, BBC2, 8.15pm: He was once the bright young thing in the music world, who burst onto the scene as a member of the Yardbirds while still in his teens, gaining further fame with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers...
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Your week
CRIME DRAMA The Madame Blanc Mysteries, Thursday, C5, 9pm There’s good news for fans of the cosy crime drama – not only is it back for a new series, but after a longrunning ‘will they, won’t they’ storyline, romance has finally blossomed for antiques...
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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
MARCH 13, 1985: Russian leader Konstantin Chernenko was buried in Red Square as Mikhail Gorbachev became the youngest member of the ruling Politburo at 54. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A small study found that spending quality time with dogs could reduce...
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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
MARCH 6, 1988: Three IRA terrorists were shot dead by SAS men in Gibraltar. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Scientists uncovered what they believed to be the world’s oldest fossil forest – dating back 390 million years – in the high sandstone cliffs along the...
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ALL CHANGE...
Hospital development plans include the construction of a new multi-storey car park It also includes the extension of the main building with additional wards, a new accident and emergency department and a paediatric emergency department
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Your week
REALITY The Apprentice, Thursday, BBC1, 9pm It’s tomatoes versus potatoes this week as the teams are challenged to turn crops into cash. They have to create a dish for the public, deliver a bespoke corporate order and sell to trade. In the kitchen,...
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Your week
TRAVEL James May’s Great Explorers, Thursday, C5, 9pm During his many years alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, James May embarked on numerous adventures, the kind that many of us can only dream about. But...
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FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEK...
CRIME DRAMA The Vanishings, Thursday, C5, 9pm Promising new Irish crime drama, which has already gone down a storm around the world. We’re one of the last nations to broadcast it, but hopefully it will be worth the wait. The sixparter is inspired by a...
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Your week
REALITY The Apprentice, Thursday, BBC1, 9pm Those packing their best power suits and dresses into their wheelie suitcases this year include a hairtransplant consultant, a motivational speaker, a cosmetic dentist, a former tennis player and a...
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Your week
DRAMA The drama series comes to a conclusion as a man dies on a bus following a violent coughing fit. However, the chances that it was natural causes seem much slimmer when the police try to establish the victim’s identity, and discover he had...
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Your week
HISTORY First of a new two-parter in which the very watchable Reverend Pat Allerton travels from the south to the north of England to discover the secrets of our country’s greatest architectural gems – its cathedrals. He begins with a return visit to...
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Your week
NOSTALGIA In this look at the sweets and snacks that defined the 1980s, Anne Hegerty and Cheryl Baker’s bubble gum-blowing skills are put to the test, while John Sergeant remembers the sweet cigarette, and Sarah Cawood recalls the starry ad campaign...
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Your week
REALITY TV If you’re already completely hooked on The Traitors and feel like you can’t wait for the next instalment, the good news is that there is a companion show. Ed Gamble and his guests will discuss the latest developments in the Scottish castle,...
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Your week
DRAMA This intense four-part drama, based on the novel by Alice Hunter, is set in a family home nestled in an idyllic English town. Beth Fairchild (Annabel Scholey) has prepared a surprise birthday party for her husband, local doctor Tom (Jack...
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Your week
REALITY Ghosts star Kiell SmithBynoe did an admirable job of holding the fort during series 10, but now Sara Pascoe is returning from maternity leave to host the Sewing Bee Celebrity Christmas Special. She’s joined by four famous contestants – singer...
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Your week
MUSIC Sweet dreams are made of this – an entire evening dedicated to the work of Dave Stewart and, in particular, Annie Lennox, who turns 70 on Christmas Day. The opening programme features numerous clips from the BBC archive featuring the Eurythmics...
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Your week
GAME SHOW Gladiators recently made a comeback on the BBC, and now ITV1 is breathing new life into another former Saturday night favourite. You Bet! originally ran between 1988 and 1997 hosted by Bruce Forsyth, Matthew Kelly and then Darren Day, and...
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Your week
DANCE It’s the quarter-finals, which as seasoned Strictly watchers will know, means it’s also the musicals special. So, as in Movie, Halloween and Icons week, the remaining dancers get a chance to raid the dressing up box and get into character, but...
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Your week
DRAMA The much-anticipated third and final season of the Norwegian drama begins. Seven years have passed since the Alexander Kielland disaster, and the oil industry has undergone many changes, with new start-ups appearing. It is the late 1980s, when...
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Your week
COMEDY He’s taken a step back from comedy in recent years to concentrate on straight acting, but Henry dives straight back into the genre with this new four-part series in which he meets some of Britain’s finest exponents of all things funny. Future...
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Your week
MUSIC A repeat showing of Volume 1 of this programme can be seen later in the evening, after Jools Holland, at 10.50pm, but ahead of that, music fans are being treated to an all-new second collection of cover versions, culled from the BBC archive and...
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Your week
MUSIC Robert Smith and his colleagues celebrate the recent release of their latest album by having an evening of programmes dedicated to them. It begins with clips culled from the BBC archive. After that they can be seen performing a selection of...
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Your week
TALENT Emma Willis, pictured, presents the final of the talent show, as the remaining contestants battle it out to win a record deal with Universal, a huge cash prize and a holiday. Coaches Will.i.am, Tom Jones, LeAnn Rimes and McFly duo Tom Fletcher...
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Your week
MUSIC When Florence Welch – aka Florence + the Machine – released her debut album Lungs 15 years ago, a year after attracting the attention of BBC Music Introducing, the record immediately announced her as an artist of huge courage, theatricality and...
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Your week
QUIZ There was a time when a programme’s title spoke for itself, but these days, the trend seems to be to tag the presenter’s name onto them, as if we wouldn’t tune in without being enticed by a celebrity. However, McIntyre has truly earned the right...
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Your week
DANCE Lights, camera, action – it’s the first big theme night of the competition. Yes, it’s time for Movie Week, in which the remaining competitors and their pro partners take to the floor again, performing routines inspired by or paying tribute to...
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