Latest news with #CraigJones
Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Times
‘The spirit of the game is amazing' — fans await Lionesses in Basel
There were barely two minutes left to go of the semi-final when Craig Jones promised his daughter tickets to Basel on the off-chance England managed to turn around their seemingly inevitable 1-0 defeat by Italy. It was not a promise he planned to keep. Yet Michelle Agyemang's equaliser in the 96th minute, followed by Chloe Kelly's goal in extra time, meant Jones, 35, a man of his word, spent the rest of the evening hastily booking tickets and hotels for Leona, nine, and her best friend Sofia, ten. He and his neighbour Jamie Smith, 48, split the 12-hour drive from their hometown of Grimsby in a car plastered with England flags. The dads and daughters will be straight back into the car after the match this evening to make it back in time for work on Monday. • England v Spain live: Lionesses Euro 2025 final updates RAJA LÄUBLI All worth it, according to the girls — who claim they 'never gave up hope' of seeing the Lionesses make it to the final. Leona, who plays in defence, explained she loved watching the women's team because they 'could do things the men can't'. 'They're not always rolling around on the floor,' she said. The families are among thousands of fans who have made it to Basel through any means necessary. Clad in England cowboy and bucket hats, bandannas, flags, crop tops and football shirts, they piled onto the Swiss trams this morning, informing fellow passengers that it was indeed 'coming home'. Among them was 16-year-old Imogen Bownes from Nottingham, who has been saving up for months through her part-time job as a waitress. 'I paid for most of it except for the hotel,' she beamed. Bownes travelled over with a group of fellow sixth formers she met through going to WSL games. Her friend, Alanna Modi, 17, said she wanted to be at the final to 'celebrate women's sport and witness the impact again of England winning the Euros'. 'After the last Euros there was so much more support for grassroots girls' teams and there's more around than there used to be,' she said. 'All my male friends now are pretty supportive, they enjoy it, they know some of the players.' It is a world away from the one Jo Fox, 44, grew up in. 'This is the stuff you dreamed of as a kid,' said the former Arsenal academy player. 'What you see now, the crowd, the people, the spirit of the ladies' game is amazing. I never imagined I'd see this in my lifetime.' Some fans have had to ditch long-made plans to make sure they were in the stands to cheer England on. One woman had arrived in Portugal this week with her wife and daughter but abandoned them to fly to Basel instead. Presley Paterson, 11, was supposed to be playing a dancing giraffe in her year six play, but was only too happy to miss the last few days of primary school to travel around Switzerland. Meanwhile, her mother Jessica, 37, a head of year at a secondary, told her new boss during a job interview in April that she would only accept the role if she could be guaranteed the time off. 'I said look, I'm going to the Euros on these dates. Otherwise I'm not taking the job, just so you know.' Presley said she was 'crying' during the quarter-finals when it looked like England were about to be knocked out by Sweden. 'And then we scored, and I started crying even more.' A superfan of Lotte Wubben-Moy, Presley said she had a few tips for Sarina Wiegman, the England manager, who has not yet played the Arsenal defender. If she has to, she says, she will 'march onto the pitch and talk to her'.
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Plesiosaur has Waitaki link
New Zealand's largest fossil is gaining worldwide attention and it has its roots tied to the Waitaki district. Tūhura Otago Museum's dinosaur exhibit has been ranked the second-best in the world by TripAdvisor with a 96.5% approval rating from visitors, in large part due to its Matakaea Shag Point plesiosaur fossil. The fossil was found near Shag Point, which puts it within the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, further enforcing the region's reputation of geological significance. Geopark volunteer Craig Jones worked on the plesiosaur when he was a research assistant for late University of Otago palaeontologist Emeritus Prof Ewan Fordyce. He described the fossil as "quite an impressive beast". It was discovered while Mr Jones was completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Otago. Due to its size, it had to be cut into blocks so it could be transported back to the university. That was where Mr Jones came in. "My job was to cut away as much of that excess rock as possible so they could be moved more easily into position. "What you see at Otago Museum is the thinned piece of block that I worked on." Even after he removed the excess rock, Mr Jones believed the fossil still weighed "three or four tonnes, at least". "I was quite fit after moving those rocks all day." Mr Jones also began reassembling the blocks. "It was quite a job to stick everything together because some bits were lost, because there was some crumbling at the edges. "While we didn't expect to get the whole thing assembled, we got a reasonable amount. "At least three-quarters of the body, I never got on to the tail, and I got most of the neck and I did some preparation on the skull." The skull was the most important part as there were barely any complete plesiosaur skulls in New Zealand, he said. "One of our great taonga is our marine fossils. It's almost as important as the marine mammals and marine birds." Mr Jones was proud of his role in such an impressive fossil. "Every day for a year, I worked intimately on that specimen. "There's still a lot of chips and bumps and probably annotations on the under sides of those blocks that I made. "It is always a joy to go back and look at it." After a long career with various scientific institutes, he is happy to have landed in Waitaki. "This is the centre of New Zealand's greatest fossil-collecting areas so it was great to come back." He has been volunteering with the geopark as a technical adviser. "Much of material that [the geopark] is based on is stuff I collected during those few years with Ewan. "I've worked at GNS Science for 16 years so I've got a pretty broad base of geoscience knowledge."
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Plesiosaur proving a global hit
New Zealand's largest fossil is gaining worldwide attention, and it has its roots tied to the Waitaki district. Tūhura Otago Museum's dinosaur exhibit has been ranked the second-best in the world on TripAdvisor, with a 96.5% approval rating from visitors, in large part due to its Matakaea Shag Point plesiosaur fossil. The fossil was found near Shag Point, which puts it within the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, further enforcing the region's reputation of geological significance. Geopark volunteer Craig Jones worked on the plesiosaur when he was a research assistant for late University of Otago palaeontologist Emeritus Prof Ewan Fordyce. He described the fossil as "quite an impressive beast". It was discovered while Mr Jones was completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Otago. Due to its size, it had to be cut into blocks so it could be transported back to the university. That was where Mr Jones came in. "My job was to cut away as much of that excess rock as possible so they could be moved more easily into position. "What you see at Otago Museum is the thinned piece of block that I worked on." Even after he removed the excess rock, Mr Jones believed the fossil still weighed "three or four tonnes, at least". "I was quite fit after moving those rocks all day." Mr Jones also began reassembling the blocks. "It was quite a job to stick everything together because some bits were lost, because there was some crumbling at the edges. "While we didn't expect to get the whole thing assembled, we got a reasonable amount. "At least three-quarters of the body, I never got on to the tail, and I got most of the neck and I did some preparation on the skull." The skull was the most important part as there were barely any complete plesiosaur skulls in New Zealand, he said. "One of our great taonga is our marine fossils. It's almost as important as the marine mammals and marine birds." Mr Jones was proud of his role in such an impressive fossil. "Every day for a year, I worked intimately on that specimen. "There's still a lot of chips and bumps and probably annotations on the undersides of those blocks that I made. "It is always a joy to go back and look at it." After a long career with various scientific institutes, he is happy to have landed in Waitaki. "This is the centre of New Zealand's greatest fossil-collecting areas, so it was great to come back." He has been volunteering with the geopark as a technical adviser. "Much of material that [the geopark] is based on is stuff I collected during those few years with Ewan. "I've worked at GNS Science for 16 years so I've got a pretty broad base of geoscience knowledge."
South Wales Guardian
21-07-2025
- General
- South Wales Guardian
Recent planning applications in the Amman and Towy valleys
Homes and renovations In Garnant, Ammanford, a fresh application has been submitted to construct a new dwelling on a vacant greenfield site at 23A Bryncethin Road. The applicant, E. Evans, represented by Jason Evans of Evans Banks Planning Ltd, plans to build on a plot measuring 0.10 hectares. The proposed materials for the dwelling include a render and brick plinth for the walls, concrete roof tiles, and white PVCu windows. The house will also feature on-site parking. The site is not within a flood risk area, and surface water is to be disposed of via a soakaway. No trees, hedges, or public rights of way will be affected by the development, and the site has been deemed to have no biodiversity concerns. The property will connect to the mains sewer, with provisions for waste and recycling storage. In Llangadog, a fire-damaged semi-detached house at Waunholme is set to be renovated. Applicant Mr Paul Griffiths, via agent Robert Higgins, has submitted plans to reinstate the roof and add a two-storey rear extension to the property. The house suffered major fire damage, with the roof missing and the interior destroyed. No trees or hedgerows will be lost as part of the renovation. In Ammanford, plans have been submitted for a front porch and rear utility room extension to an existing dwelling at 43 Llwynybryn. The applicants, Mr and Mrs Tannuche-Rees, are seeking to add the extensions to previously approved plans. There will be no changes to access, no impact on trees, and the site will be visible from public land. At Wern Fraith Farm, Porthyrhyd, Carmarthen, Jones Bros. (Henllan) Ltd, represented by Evans Banks Planning Ltd, have applied for the approval of details under Condition 19 (Landscape Constraint Plan) and Condition 23 (External Surfaces Schedule) for a development of 38 houses and four flats. The discharge type is full discharge for both conditions. In Mynyddcerrig, Llanelli, Mrs S Sykes, represented by Craig Jones of JCR Planning Ltd, has submitted a hybrid application for the conversion of an existing outbuilding into a single-storey dwelling. The application also seeks outline permission for two additional single-storey dwellings, one of which is to be affordable. The plans include tree planting, bird boxes, and hedgerow management. Parking and drainage are included, with a soakaway and package treatment plant to be used. The materials proposed for the development include render, concrete tiles, PVCu windows and doors, and timber fencing. Roads In Llandeilo, the Thomas family, represented by Craig Jones of JCR Planning Ltd, have submitted a proposal for a new junction/access road to serve a residential development on agricultural land at Llys Trefin, Rhosmaen Street. The 559 sq.m. site will be treated with a multi-layered asphalt system. The site is not in a flood zone, and a soakaway is proposed for surface water. All these applications are currently under consideration, with decisions expected in the coming months. The public can view the full details of all planning applications and comment on them via the local council's planning portal. This is part of the council's commitment to ensuring transparency and public involvement in planning decisions.
The Sun
20-07-2025
- The Sun
Man brutally beaten up by friend, stripped naked and paraded through village while neighbours filmed him
A MAN has been jailed after brutally beating up a friend and parading him naked through the streets. Thug Karl Griffins, 42, received a huge sentence after the horrifying ordeal was caught on camera by neighbours. 3 3 Swansea Crown Court heard that Griffins spent much of the day and evening of January 30 at a friend's house in the Welsh village of Penclawdd. According to prosecutor Crag Jones, Griffins received a phone call and left the flat before returning and locking the door behind him. Then, he told everyone inside that they couldn't leave. Next, the court heard that he took the phones of his friend and his friend's partner and accused them of stealing from them though it was unclear whether he was accusing them of stealing money or drugs. Griffins refused to return the couple's phones and then beat the pair with his friend's girlfriend's crutches. The court heard that he punched his friend in the head, before demanding that he removed his clothes. Reportedly, Griffins told his friend that they were 'going for a walk' and 'paraded him naked around the streets'. Mobile phone footage of the victim near the Penclawdd CK store was recorded during the ordeal, before Griffins returned his friend to the flat. The 42-year-old smashed his friend's TV before calling the police and saying: 'Someone better come and get me, I'm going to kill someone.' Griffins was arrested and told authorities that he had gone to his friend's house after arguing with his mother. Moment riot cops smash shield into man's face and 'knock his teeth out' in clash after migrant 'sexually assaulted' girl He accused the friend of stealing from him and admitted to parading him naked in a bid to humiliate him. Before appearing in the dock for sentencing, Griffins pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes including battery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage and kidnapping. The 42-year-old was then slapped with a 31 month prison sentence, with half of his sentence to be served behind bars. His defence said that no disagreement between Griffins and his friend "could not remotely justify the level of humiliation and violence" caused by his client. He added that it was clear in the video footage that the victim was distressed as "he was marched through the centre of Penclawdd in a state of undress". Griffins' defence said that his client's actions could be explained through him being intoxicated and that he was now facing his addiction to controlled drugs. The 42-year-old has been granted enhanced-prisoner status at HMP Swansea and allegedly hopes that his former friend can forgive him in the future. Griffins has a history of criminal activity, including non-domestic burglaries, supplying Class A drugs and weapons offences. 3
