About time someone praised our hard working hospital staff

A former Atherleigh nurse herself, she says that although staff were rushed off their feet, some working 14 hour shifts, they did everything imaginable to keep patients happy. Mother of three and a grandma, Alex, who beat breast cancer 36 years ago and cervical cancer 10 years later, has been blighted by further health problems for the past 12 years.

She knows when her condition gets bad enough she needs to go to hospital for injections and took herself off to Wigan by taxi to be admitted. She says patients there are treated with respect by everyone from porters to consultants and that treatment is wonderful.

It's nice to hear someone praise the hospital for once. It's usually only complaints that come to light. I'm sure the hard working staff too will be delighted that someone has taken the trouble to thank them publicly for their efforts.

A TYLDESLEY motorcyclist obviously had other things on his mind on Monday.

Keen to be on time for an engineering training course in Ashton he was miffed to miss two early buses so grabbed his motorbike instead.

Only when he got to Leigh did he realise in his haste he had forgotten to put his crash helmet on -- and was zipping along still wearing his woolly bob cap!

But then I know somebody who once cadged a lift home from the pub on the back of his mate's Honda wearing a makeshift skid lid on his bonce. The crash hat was concocted from a big tin ashtray and a Holt's beer drip mat borrowed straight off the Cart and Horses tap room bar! Daft, but happy, days!

It's funny what names we get dropped on us...

I HATED my Christian name as a child because people always said "that's a boy's name". After all the years I've grown accustomed to it.

It's funny what labels we get lumbered with. Dale Winton was named after the handsome 50's cowpoke from "Wells Fargo" Dale Robertson, Chelsea Clinton after Joni Mitchell's song Chelsea Morning and tennis ace Martina Hingis after another ace Navratilova.

While writing about Leigh's Apple Dance Centre I spotted one of the young dancers had the most unusual name of Cosette Staunton.

Am I right in thinking that her mum or dad is a big fan of the wonderful "Les Miserables" and named their daughter after the orphaned child in the greatest musical of all time? I wonder...

TV host Dale Winton . . . named after a 1950s telly cowboy

Silly TV mating game

WHY do only young bigheads and silly old buffoons appear on Blind Date? What about the middle-aged singles, do they not count in the love seeking mating game? Come on Cilla, give 'em a chance and us a break.

Strange items to collect

I'VE heard of oddball collections, but a chap featured on Collectors' Lot during the week was the cream of the crop. He saved banana labels! How's that for an anorak? He's been at it for four years and has amassed over 1100 different stickers. OK they're colourful, but that's about it. For anyone really interested the "Royal Fresh Banana" is hard to find, so if you've got one it might be worth a couple of bob.

If anyone hoards anything more unusual let me know. Unzip a collection.

We are fools to ourselves

THE Leigh and Wigan areas are listed high on a heart disease death register.

Sad to say we have one of the highest totals in the North West.

The British Heart Foundation charity, now celebrating its 40th year, is to study premature deaths from the disease and is looking for local families with a history of problems to volunteer their DNA.

A gene library is to be set up for the study at Leeds University.

We're fools to ourselves in this area -- figures show that 26pc of men drink more than eight units of alcohol a day and our women are among the biggest drinkers in Britain. Twenty nine per cent of them also smoke -- a key trigger to the disease.

We're also poor fruit and veg eaters, some people eating only nine portions a week instead of the recommended 35.

Not me. I love my vitamin C. I even ate school cabbage.

Any willing volunteers should ring BHF on 0800 052 7154. They might be able to prolong their own lives and make a difference to the community.

Have a nana!

ANYONE remember magazine editor and panellist on Have I Got News For You, Ian Hislop, almost declaring himself a banana after defending a libel case? It seemed ridiculous at the time, but now it is possible. As usual America has gone one better than our NIMBY, the Not In My Back Yard champions of development. Californians have coined the acronym BANANA -- Building Anything Near Anyone Not Allowed. Sign me up.

What price?!?

PARENTS beware -- a spanking new Nike trainer hits the shops next month.

The Shox will be at the top of the must-have list for all trendy teens -- and a snip at a mere £130! The shoes feature four springs made from the same foam-like material used to cushion engines in Formula One racing cars. They'll be handier then for muggers making a quick getaway. Pity most of them will never see the tracks they should be used on.

WEAKEST Link quiz fiend Anne Robinson surprised me with the question: "At what age did Nigel Short become a grandmaster in 1980?" The answer for the Leigh born chess genius was 14. Now that's fame!

Health tip - enjoy a good wine!

THE world's oldest man Antonio Todde toasted his 112th birthday in Italy this week with a glass of red wine -- the secret of his long life he says. I should be in for a long retirement then.

THE Derby garage owner who put the price of his petrol up to a ridiculous level when we were all struggling during the blockades last year has got his comeuppance. He's gone bust. The customers he charged £1.99 a litre for unleaded and £2.50 for super unleaded have deserted him. Good. Some forward thinking businessman he was.

SCIENTISTS have got the go-ahead to use cloned human embryos to find cures for diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons. The Lords have voted 212 to 92 to allow the controversial work to produce stem cells for medical research. It's got to be better than experimenting on live animals.

PEOPLE have been asking me how the diet's going. Well, it's not -- yet. I've actually put a bit more on eating up the Christmas goodies, and because of a sale of McVitie's blackcurrant and strawberry cheesecakes at More Reasons. I can't resist them. I've even been asked if I want the kitchen painting pink with yellow blobs. Cheek. But have I given up? Not on your life. Let all us failures resolve to start on February 1.

How about trying out a Pod?

MY experiences of caravanning are not among the happiest times of my life.

I find no joy in living in cramped conditions in a tin box.

Why people leave their comfortable homes for life in a field for weeks on end in the pouring rain I cannot comprehend. It's just not for me.

However, I can see the advantage of the new little Pod, a mini caravan, which can be towed by a motor bike, get down country lanes and even be parked in the garden. It went on sale this week.

The 8ft x 4ft 3in cocoon offers a wealth of facilities including an almost double bed, cooking and washing, seating for four and cupboard space.

It could save companies millions. In these tight times I have visions of them cutting the cost of hotel bills for overnight stays for businessmen. They could hitch one to the back of their company vehicle and kip in the car park of businesses they have to see. I don't think so.

But it is ideal for one for a short stay -- a bit too close for comfort for two for my liking.

For people with half a life they could hitch it to one of those diddy Smart cars and look a real picture.

The biggest killer of all

SERIAL killer doc Harold Shipman has been elevated to the league of Adolf Hitler in a new TV ad aimed at stopping youngsters smoking.

The advert to be screened on National No Smoking Day (March 14) for the Cancer Research Campaign uses images of Shipman, Jack the Ripper, Hitler, mass murderer Peter Kurten -- and a pile of fag ends with the slogan "The Biggest Serial Killer of All".

It is the work of clever 12-year-olds in a national competition.

I hope it gets the message across to the numerous teenagers who amble up to and away from the Railway Road campus of Wigan and Leigh College with a fag in their hands -- many of them girls.

They may think it's big now, but boy will they regret it one day.

I've done my bit in the past, but I can't stand the smell of them now. They're banned from the house.

What put me off totally was cleaning windows and paintwork that ran the colour of nicotine and thinking what lungs must look like after years of puffing away.

That's enough to turn anyone off for life -- apart from the outrageous price.

I'M litter picking again - this time its schools under the microscope. On Friday at lunchtime the playground at St Mary's High, Astley, was awash with rubbish. I couldn't believe how much there was.

The juniors at St Ambrose next door certainly put the seniors to shame. Either the little ones are taught not to drop their empty bags or they tidy up after themselves. Admittedly, it is a much smaller area, but it's time the seniors were made to discard their trash in baskets -- or put on an after school rota duty to pick up every piece of paper disposed of during the day. That'd teach them not to blight the area.

What a horrid thing to do

A DESERTED husband stuck raunchy photos of his teacher ex-wife around the school where she works.

He put up numerous A4 posters of her in scantily clad clothing for all to view. In court he admitted causing harassment, alarm and distress. I should think so too. How cruel can you get? Has anyone done anything so horrible to you? Let me know.

Joan is a local heroine

FOR nearly 40 years Joan Elsby has helped to feed the elderly of Astley and Tyldesley.

Now almost 79 Joan, who walks with the aid of sticks, still dedicates her time to running the Astley Luncheon Club.

Great grandma Joan organises meals and trips for 24 pensioner members -- and wants more.

She started at Tyldesley in 1962 when it cost 1s 6d for a three course meal, and even cooked the food at home for 20 years before carting it to meetings.

She forged relationships with with the police and local schools which are still strong today.

While running Tyldesley in 1971 she started the Astley Club which is still thriving under her leadership. Sadly Tyldesley was forced to close -- but she certainly has some tales to tell about her experiences over the years.

No one can have done more for the elderly of the village than Joan and her team.

If anyone deserves a gong for helping the community she does.

Band battle not fantastic

I HAVE to admit I'm getting old. The TV battle of the fantasy bands on Friday was awful.

I could relate to T Rextasy, The Fabba Girls, The Counterfeit Stones, the Beatles and Bee Gees copyists, but who the heck was Achtung Baby?

I discovered they featured Leigh's Ivan Meredith as U2 guitarist The Edge -- and they won the Best Music award. I honestly don't know whether they were any good or not, but the rest weren't.

The best look went to the Beatle copyists, so why did Stayin' Alive win the overall award? Silly.

I think they must have been cast offs from Stars in Their Eyes.