Latest news with #AlanJones
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Wife begged husband 'don't let me die' after Wirral crash
A woman fatally injured by a careless driver begged her husband "please don't let me die" while laying injured in the wreckage of a crash, a court has heard. Christine Jones, 68, was a minute away from her home in Thornton Hough, Wirral when the vehicle she was a passenger in was struck by a Peugeot 3008 car driven by 62-year-old Ian Ashworth. She had been visiting her mother in hospital before the collision at 21:05 BST on 14 August 2023. Ashworth, of New Heyes in Neston, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, after admitting causing death and serious injury by careless driving at Liverpool Crown Court. Her mother's partner Bryn Jones, 81, who had been driving Ms Jones home from the hospital, was also severely injured in the collisionMrs Jones' husband of 50 years, Alan Jones, rushed to the scene on Thornton Common Road after his wife managed to her phone out of her bag and call him despite her injuries, the court heard. In a statement read at Ashworth's sentencing hearing, Mr Jones said: "I kissed her, promising her she would be ok. She said she was in so much pain."She said, 'please don't let me die'. I remained with her kissing her face and holding hands." Mrs Jones, a great-grandmother, died in hospital from her injuries three days later. Her husband told the court they had met on a school bus when she was 13 and had been saving money for their 50th wedding anniversary celebrations, due two months after the he said the money had to be used for her funeral instead."I visit her grave everyday as I don't want her to be alone", he said. "She was so afraid that evening and even managed to get her phone out of her bag to call me, desperate to see me. "How she managed to do that with those injuries she sustained I'll never know."Ashworth a former Royal Navy engineer, had been driving his Ford Fiesta and crossed into the oncoming carriageway near the Seven Stars pub. Eric Lamb, prosecuting, said neither driver had any recollection of the collision but a forensic expert concluded Ashworth's car "must have intruded into the south west lane". There was "no evidence of loss of control", said Mr suffered a ruptured spleen, which was removed, and fractured vertebrae and ribs. When interviewed by police, he expressed remorse and asked for his apologies to be passed Jones suffered fractures to his upper arm, collar bone, ribs and extensive bruising and was in hospital for more than two weeks. 'Truly tragic' Darren Finnegan, defending, said that Ashworth must have experienced "a momentary lapse of concentration". Mr Finnegan said his client was in hospital for 17 days and now walks with a stick."He has been described as a shadow of his former self," he said. Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "This is a truly tragic case. A life has been lost and another gravely affected."He said there was no suggestion that speed was a factor when Ashworth's car crossed into the oncoming lane. Ashworth was also ordered to complete 10 days of rehabilitation activities and banned him from driving for two years, with a requirement to take an extended re-test before getting back behind the wheel. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Clog making and roof thatching - the people behind craft jobs at risk
Ever fancied a career weaving baskets, making helmets or building rattan furniture?Those are some of the crafts that are falling out of favour, making it on to a list of endangered by Heritage Crafts, a charity which supports and promote traditional crafts, has identified 20 more crafts at risk of vanishing from the UK. Research found that rising operational costs, a lack of structured training, and mounting market pressures are placing unsustainable strain on crafts that depend on expert hand skills. Crafts such as cut crystal glass making and fabric flower making are just some that have been classified as "critically endangered".This means there is a shrinking base of craftspeople, limited training opportunities, low financial viability or there is no mechanism to pass on the skills and craft that was added to the list this year is thatching, both Welsh and Irish vernacular. Master thatcher Alan Jones and believes continuing the craft is important if people want to live a sustainable lifestyle. He said: "In these days of high tech, people appreciate hand made because someone has put their heart and soul into it. Quite literally and that's valuable. "It's valuable because of heritage, it's a part of our story and where we came from and how we got to where we are as a society and part of a timeline for keeping the traditions going. "Mass product isn't necessarily better. Hand made has a bit of heart to it."Priya Pannochia has been working with Alan as an apprentice and believes her generation is "less and less interested in these old crafts". She said: "A lot of these ways we are learning here is very natural in other parts of the world. "It feels more to me like living in harmony with nature and knowing how to do things for ourselves. "If one day I need to know how to make a fire, I know how to make one. If I needed to build a shelter, I know how to build one. "So I feel that this is very important in general to remember these old ways and the crafts involved." Some crafts classed as endangered include:Armour and helmet making Flax, hemp and nettle processingHazel basketmaking Lace making Lute makingOrgan building Quilting (in a frame)Welsh double cloth weavingCut crystal glass makingFabric flower making Glove makingRake makingRattan furniture makingThatching Clog making, which sees the clogs made by hand, has also been classified as critically endangered. Geraint Parfitt, one of only two makers in Britain who still creates clogs entirely by hand in his workshop at the National Museum of Wales, St Fagans, said he's happy there is recognition that these skills are being lost, but "it's sad that the list has to exist in the first place".As the clogs are made to measure, Geraint draws around the person's feet. "I then use a stump of straw and I cut it whole in my hand using three knives and then I do all the leather work, cut it and sew it by hand. "People come back for an extra fitting to make sure everything is right and then I put them together and that's it. Simple," he said it could take up to 10 hours of his working time but it can take up to six months before the clogs are ready due to working in the museum and speaking to the public. "I do think people are starting to appreciate the old form but the challenge is to make a living out of it because people are not willing to pay for the time it takes to do these things," he said."They are willing to pay £50 an hour for their car to be fixed but not for me to make their shoes."Daniel Carpenter from Heritage Crafts said the list underscores the need for investment and support to safeguard skills for the next generation. "Reversing this decline would represent not just the continuation of skilled trades, but also a significant boost to the UK's cultural heritage and countless opportunities for future innovation," he said.
Montreal Gazette
6 days ago
- General
- Montreal Gazette
‘Our voices will not be silenced': Montreal Irish community remembers 6,000 who died in 1847
By Dozens of members of the Irish community and community leaders walked 2.1 kilometres on Sunday to remember and honour the 6,000 Irish immigrants who died of typhus during the summer of 1847 and are buried in a mass grave in an industrial area on Bridge St., southeast of Montreal's downtown core. The location of the largest mass grave in Canada is marked by a 30-tonne, three-metre-high boulder known officially as the Irish Commemorative Stone but more commonly known as the Black Rock. It was placed there in 1859 by labourers building the Victoria Bridge who uncovered bones of those who had perished of typhus. The workers, many of them Irish, planted a boulder dredged from the St. Lawrence River over the burial site. They inscribed it in part: 'To preserve from desecration the remains of 6,000 immigrants who died of ship fever.' (Typhus was known then as ship fever.) Pollution from the nearby railroad and vehicle traffic has coloured the monument black. The 157th edition of the Annual Walk to the Stone, as Sunday's event is known, was organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to honour the dead, those who tried to save them and their descendants. Some participants were regulars: Eighty-three-year-old Montrealer Brian McBrien, for instance, said he did the walk for the first time at the age of three. The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization with roots in Ireland and a significant presence in the Canada and the United States. Sunday's walk, which began following a memorial mass Sunday morning at St. Charles Catholic Church, featured a Montreal police escort and, at the front of the line of walkers, piper Alan Jones. The 75 or so participants, a number wearing green, included Canadian and American representatives of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, representatives of the St. Gabriel's Elementary School community and MNA Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, whose riding includes the monument. Victor Boyle, national president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Canada, presided over brief presentations at the Black Rock. Among those who placed wreaths at the rock were Lori Morrison, president of the United Irish Societies; Danny Doyle, president of the Erin Sports Association; Carol Clifton, a longtime educator and lunch monitor at St. Gabriel Elementary School in Pointe-St-Charles; Kevin Callahan of the Friends of Sinn Féin Canada and Bryan Essiambré, representing the Little Angels charity. 'It is so important that we are here to honour our ancestors,' said Morrison. 'It is a testament to our resilience as a people — and our voices will not be silenced.' A fungal infection in Ireland in 1845 caused half the potato crop to rot in the earth; in 1846 it wiped out almost the entire crop. Potatoes were the main source of sustenance for much of the population and estimates place the death toll in Ireland of the Great Hunger or the Great Famine, as it was also known, at about one million. A million or more chose emigration and about 100,000 headed for Canada, then a colony of British North America. British traders shipping lumber from Quebec City and St. John's were happy to have impoverished emigrants to pay low fares and serve as ballast on the return trip to Canada. Typhus, meanwhile, was raging though Ireland. The disease, which causes severe headaches, high fever, rashes, delirium and death, is passed to humans through lice. It was rampant also on the ships that carried the emigrants, crammed in the holds below deck. Some of those who died en route are buried around St. Andrews, N.B. Overwhelmed Canadian officials intercepted thousands of ill travellers at Quebec's Grosse-Île, known then as Quarantine Island and now a national historic site with more than 5,000 graves. Men, women and children 'deemed in good health' were allowed to continue their journey to Montreal — and many brought typhus with them. The local population showed great compassion. John Mills, Montreal's mayor at the time, commissioned the construction of more than 20 large 'fever sheds' for ill newcomers in the neighbourhood that is today Pointe-St-Charles and, with the Grey Nuns, led efforts to care for them. Many, including Mills, lost their lives to typhus. The Mohawk community also came to the assistance of the sick. Many priests fell ill after leaning in to hear the last confessions of the dying. More than 1,000 orphans were adopted by Quebecers. In 2023 the Black Rock Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation became the new owner of the Black Rock. The site, which had previously been the property of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal, is a small patch of greenery in the median of a heavily travelled street near the base of the Victoria Bridge linking Montreal and the South Shore, not far from the Bridge St. Costco. With support from the City of Montreal, the space is to be transformed into a park.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE He's the mysterious young protégé of Alan Jones who vanished in a cloud of innuendo. Now in London with an heiress girlfriend, he answers the question everyone in high society has been asking...
Just a few short years ago, Jake Thrupp was a rising star in Sydney 's eastern elite. As the enigmatic protégé of veteran broadcaster Alan Jones, the young producer was an endless source of gossip for society scribes, whose innuendo-laden dispatches always noted how he was 'by Jones' side constantly'.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Bizarre rumour about Ben Fordham confirmed as radio rival Wippa reveals odd item he found in 2GB host's office
A bizarre rumour about Ben Fordham has been confirmed by the 2GB host after his radio rival Wippa made the shock claim on his Nova show Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie on Wednesday. Co-host Wippa, 45, revealed that Ben, 48, has a 'fold-down bed' made of mahogany in his office. 'I think I'm allowed to say this...' the radio host began, before diving into a description of Ben's workspace. 'You walk into the office, there's a boardroom table, a pretty serious mahogany desk and then there's huge cabinetry - like mahogany cabinetry that's made at the end of the room - with a fold-down bed! 'Is that public knowledge, Tom (Ivey)?' he asked the executive producer. 'Well it is now,' Tom quipped back, describing the segment as an 'Architectural Digest' room tour. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'Get Fordo to do a tour of the fold-down bed,' Wippa joked. Ben confirmed the claim to Daily Mail Australia, joking that he's concerned of a 'security breach' if Wippa is running around the halls of 2GB. Ben said he inherited the office from former Breakfast presenter Alan Jones. He added that 'any mahogany furniture or crystal glassware' was there before he arrived. However, Ben that he had never slept in the much-talked-about bed. In response to Wippa's request for a tour, Ben said he was more than happy to show the bed to Wippa and the Nova crew so that Wippa can 'jump in and have a snooze'. 'If they're happy to promote my radio show, I'm more than happy to give them a tour,' he joked/. 'I reckon Wippa may need the bed at some stage because once his wife Lisa realises that she can do better, Wippa may find himself homeless and in need of somewhere to sleep. 'So please let him know that there'll always be a bed for him at 2GB,' he said. According to Ben, the kitted-out office also has a bathroom and a kitchen. 'If it wasn't for my wife and children, I would just move into the Allen Jones office and stay there. 'But no, I'm needed at home,' he said.
