The threat of escalating violence in the inner cities may have driven some out, but WENDY GEE discovers that South Africa has some hidden treasures... THERE were two schools of thought as family and workmates waved me off for the 11-hour flight to South
MIAMI - a city full of sandy beaches, blessed with golden sunshine and the setting of one of the most famous police shows of the 1980s... Before jetting off to the most famous city in America's sunshine state, that was the image I had. And, I wasn't disappointed
THE best youth sailors in the south head off to Sydney later this month to consolidate Britain's growing reputation as a nation of world-class yachtsmen. The Volvo RYA GB youth team compete in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships which are
SEVERAL of the region's top offshore sailors have been drawn to Australia this Christmas for the Telstra Sydney-Hobart Race, which in 1998 claimed the life of Emsworth sailor Glyn Charles. Many of them, including Andy Beadsworth and former W60 Silk Cut
JOBS are being axed at Aldermaston's AWE base as part of a massive series of changes at the site. About 300 voluntary redundancies have already been made at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. And the company is hoping to lose another 100 workers before
A BUILDING worker seeking £900,000 damages from a Tadley company has come away without a penny from London's High Court. Lawyers for 52-year-old Norman Breeze had blamed two accidents - which happened six months apart - for a "serious personality change
Lady Cricket will bid to give Martin Pipe his first success in the Pertemps King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, it was announced yesterday. The champion trainer saddled Challenger Du Luc to finish second to See More Business in 1997. "
An already thin programme of matches for tomorrow was cut still further when Southampton called off their first and second team matches with Portsmouth. This was much to the disappointment of Portsmouth's director of rugby, Nigel Morgan, who stated that
NEW Brockenhurst signing Jimmy Sheppard will getting Boxing Day off after making his debut at Downton tomorrow. As part of the deal with Lymington & New Milton, the 35-year-old midfielder cannot play against his old club in the New Forest derby at
American internet giant AOL is pushing ahead with its plan to bring US-style unmetered access to the high street with a new deal with Woolworths-to-B&Q retailer Kingfisher. AOL UK will distribute copies of its AOL software through more than 2,000
TODAY'S principal arrivals: Elektra, ro-ro, 0730, 40; Seahawk, ro-ro, 1000, 30; Goodwood, car carrier, 1300, 201 link; Ville d'Antares, container, 1800, container terminal; NYK Sirius, container, 2200, 207; Nike, general cargo, 2200, 36. Today's principal
IF YOU had to cast former TV prankster Jeremy Beadle in a pantomime, surely it would be as the chief baddie. After all, he's got the beard - or did have, the last time I checked - and the mischievous-stroke-evil sense of humour (just ask the dozens of
A HAMPSHIRE-based insurance giant has splashed out more than a quarter of a million pounds - on Christmas presents for its hard-working staff. Every one of its 1,800-strong workforce at Skandia Life Assurance, with headquarters in Southampton, has received
CHRISTMAS has come early for a Southampton school after it won more than £1.5 million for a new music, art and sports block. St George Catholic School for Boys, in Swaythling, has had to make do for years with cramp-ed music and art rooms and inadequate
ROD Finch, one of the leading lights of Hampshire distance running, is getting his appetite back for the big time. After an emotionally and physically painful year 2000, the Aldershot-based Army man has his sights set on 3000 metres selection for the
High-powered Wall Street golden boy Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) stumbles into a hold-up in his local convenience store and, in a rare moment of courage, tries to talk down the agitated gunman. The next morning, after a surreal conversation with the would-be
With his tough tackling and snapping, snarling style, Chris Marsden is hardly renowned as one of the gentlemen of the English game. But if he were not such a gentleman, then he might well have been playing against Saints instead of for them tonight. Marsden
Saints might just do old boss Dave Jones a favour if they can win at Coventry tonight. Sky Blues boss Gordon Strachan is under pressure to halt his side's Premiership plummet during a crunch run of three successive games against sides around them in the
Tracie Beardsley discovers that it's not just the weather that's warm in Barbados. The Bajan people offer hospitality and friendliness that makes this idyllic holiday destination all the more special... It looked more like a ramshackle garden shed than
STEVE CLARIDGE is demanding 90 minutes of consistency from his players as they face a tricky Christmas programme. Neil Warnock's Sheffield United, Southampton's FA Cup opponents in two weeks' time, provide Portsmouth with a stern test at Fratton Park
NUTS about a nut - that's pensioner Ray Pratt. Ray, 71, became nut-crazy after coming across a rare three-segmented walnut five Christmases ago and has been obsessed with finding out about it ever since. Roy Vickery, curator of flowering plants at the
SANTA was a special guest as staff and pupils at the Basingstoke school gutted by fire in a suspected arson attack celebrated the last day of term. Beech Down Primary - which was left with only two school rooms standing following the dramatic blaze last
LOW-INCOME families are to be hit hard as residents in Basingstoke brace themselves for a large council tax hike. Council taxpayers already forking out £785 a year to live in Basingstoke could soon be asked to pay an extra £40. People in the borough are
GO BALLISTIC has been confirmed a definite starter in the Pertemps King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Richard Phillips' charge, who scored over hurdles on his last run at Cheltenham earlier this month, held an alternative option in the Ericsson
Basingstoke Town look set to be handed home advantage in the long-running Hampshire Senior Cup third round saga against Newport. After three postponements on the island due to a waterlogged pitch, the Hampshire Football Association will assert their right
An already thin programme of matches for tomorrow was cut still further when Southampton called off their first and second team matches with Portsmouth. This was much to the disappointment of Portsmouth's director of rugby, Nigel Morgan, who stated that
Sweden has joined the growing number of countries to which Hampshire's oldest independent brewery is now exporting its ales. Forty-two kegs of George Gale and Co's IPA ale has just been brewed and packaged for the Swedish market and will give Swedes their
SOUTHAMPTON has been given the grim Christmas present everyone dreaded as shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft announced it would be making up to 650 of its workers redundant. As families across the city prepared for Christmas, the devastating news was broken
ENGINEERS are working against the clock to re-open one of Hampshire's busiest roads that has been closed for more than a week due to flooding. The county council is hoping to complete emergency work to the A31 at Ropley by this afternoon, in time for
A CONVICTED paedophile who preyed on Hampshire youngsters at a beauty spot is starting a life sentence today. Neil Scorer was put on probation in July 1998 by an Old Bailey judge but only a year later the predatory child abuser was molesting children
THE Beatles split up 30 years ago. Well, we're pretty sure they did. After all, it says so in all the books. But you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Most groups that gave up the ghost that long ago would be either completely forgotten or little
SAINTS chairman Rupert Lowe has slammed what he calls: "press tittle-tattle" linking manager Glenn Hoddle with a return to Tottenham. Spurs chairman Alan Sugar's sale of his controlling interest in the White Hart Lane club to ENIC, sparked the almost
