FOWL PLAY: A man's hobby of rearing and breeding ducks and geese was ruined when poultry rustlers made off with ten ducks, two geese and a rare Canadian goose, together worth £66, from a pen on an allotment off Hillgate Road, Bury.

BRA BARMY: "Why should you want to steal ladies' underwear?" a Bury magistrates asked a 17-year-old youth who appeared before him.

"I don't know," came the reply. "Perhaps I'm barmy."

The juvenile was caught red-handed in the back yard of a house in Clifton Road, Prestwich, intending to steal bras and knickers from a washing line.

FA SUCCESS: Bury FC defied the odds in glorious fashion when they came back from two goals down to beat Jack Charlton's Middlesbrough 3-2 in the third round of the FA cup.

PUDDING TITLE: Bury's first official black pudding eating title was won by Yorkshireman Terry Else.

CIRCUS TREAT: Children of employees of Bibby and Baron Ltd and John Wild and Sons Ltd, were given a cheery wave before starting their annual outing in 1976 to the circus. A fleet of five coaches transported more than 200 children, aged between five and eleven, to the Belle Vue show.