August 2008 Archives

Marketing consultant Rhys Morton will be fulfilling a dream when he attempts to climb Mount Everest in two years time.

Rhys, 35, of Queen Elizabeth Way, Kingfield, was inspired to get to the summit after reaching the Mount Everest in May this year after 12 days of trekking to an altitude of 5.200m.

He has also set himself the challenge of raising a minimum £100,000 for the Woking and Sam Beare Hospices and the British Heart Foundation in sponsorships for the expedition.

TV detector equipment caught 114 people watching television without a licence in Woking between January and July.

They were among 209,000 license dodgers caught nationally this year and risk a fine of up to £1,000.

TV Licensing spokeswoman Joanna Pearce said a powerful database shows exactly which properties are unlicensed, meaning enquiry officers can target addresses where they suspect people are watching TV illegally.

The chairman of Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals Trust and his wife are to repeat their first date when West Side Story comes to Woking in September.

Clive Thompson and wife Joan saw the original production at Manchester Opera House in 1958 and have tickets to the performance at the Victoria Theatre in Woking, which runs from September 2-13.

Three men have been charged following two burglaries in Rose Lane, Ripley.

Gary James, 23, from Ashford, Paul Baker, 23, and Tyrone Toucher, 18, both from Feltham, are charged with a burglary at the house on August 13, where an Ipod, speakers, a pair of glasses, cash, two watches and a bunch of keys were taken.

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood was spotted walking down Old Woking Road in the Byfleet/Pyrford area last week.

Starstruck passers-by stopped the rocker to chat and to take photographs, the Herald has learned.

Ronnie, 61, has been treated for drugs, alcohol, and sex addiction at the Life Works Community Centre in Old Woking, but made headlines recently when it was revealed he was cheating on wife Jo, 53, with a 20-year-old Russian, Ekaterina Ivanova.

Did you see Ronnie? Email the newsdesk or call 01932 573211.

The future of a derelict superstore in Woking is secure after Focus DIY announced it will reopen at the Lion Retail Park in Maybury by the end of the year.

The company will move into its former premises in Oriental Road after closing down more than a year ago and is set to share the retail space with an Argos store.

Paul Webster, president of Woking Chamber of Commerce, said: "I'm sure residents of Woking will be delighted to have one of the major DIY stores back in operation near the town centre."

The sight of children falling through the air may have made some mums cringe but it was all part of the fun in Woking Town Square on August 6.

The challenging 11ft drop from a platform into a stunt airbag was a thrill for young people taking part in a Playday event, which was devised to give them something more daring to do than swings and roundabouts.

A trapped deer was rescued by Woking firefighters in the early hours of Monday morning (August 11).

A call was received at 6.16am that the animal was stuck in a lock on the Basingstoke Canal near a pitch and put golf course off Gole Road, Pirbright. Two fire engines were sent from Woking to rescue the deer and it was taken out safely by 6.36am.

As students look forward to starting university, retired people are planning their own new journey of discovery.

The thriving Woking Area University of the Third Age held an enrolment day on August 11 to start the new year, offering monthly meetings from next month and courses ranging from poetry to jazz appreciation.

The non-profit organisation, known as U3A, is open to anyone no longer in full time employment and is not a true university, with no exams and little homework.

Woking and Sam Beare Hospices are fielding teams for the Adidas Women's 5K Challenge next month and need runners to join them.

The run takes place in Hyde Park on September 7 and is open to women of all ages and abilities who can take the challenge and run or walk the distance.

For a postal application form and more details call Gill Bond on 01483 881752. Closing date for entries is August 8.