• Brian Patten
• Pete McCarthy
• Doris and the Dinner Ladies
• Nick Hornby film
• John Lyons
• Peace Artistes
• Jill Robinson
• Michael Gray talk: Bob Dylan
• John Morrison
• Glyn Hughes
• Hepton Singers
• Simon Fletcher

• Workshop: learn the didgeridoo
• Storytelling: The Iliad
• Tony Langham
• Choirs: Street Music Festival
• Cragg Vale Gamelan
• Gay Abandon
• Rhona Cameron
• Photographs: Mike Barrett
• Exhibitions
• Open gardens
• Open Studios

Sponsored by Bombardier Beer who pride themselves on their association with eccentric ideas the event was a great success.

Tasters of dock pudding were sold, Hebden Bridge Band were in excellent form, as ever and the press were in attendance as never before.

Apart from a frying pan catching fire - quickly extinguished with a cloth - (well a tea shirt bearing the Bombardier logo) everything went to plan.

Jane Cox of Hebden Bridge (alias Lisa Dingle from Emmerdale) awarded 1st prize to Trevor Whitworth - third year on the run

Two young ladies called Hannah and Stephanie won the junior section."

Pete Keal has forwarded to the Mytholmroyd Net a letter he has received from Calderdale Environmental Health Department

"Since taking over this closed landfill site in 1998, the Council has made significant improvements and has undertaken detailed investigations into the site.

I am writing to advise you that the investigations are nearing completion and indicate that it will be necessary to undertake further engineering works on the site. The Council has successfully bid for spending approval to carry out a programme of engineering works at the site over the next four or five years.

Copies of this letter have been sent to members of the local community who live in the vicinity of the site, and will be followed by further information as the programme of works is developed and implemented. I hope to maintain a good standard of communication and would be pleased to learn of any views you may hold on how you want to be kept informed.

Please contact Robert Turner on Halifax 392357 if you wish to discuss any aspect of this letter directly. I look forward to hearing from you."

Pete's storytelling sessions will take place on Sundays 21 April, 26 May, 23 June, 21 July, 11 August and 15 September. The sessions will start at 11.30am, 12.45pm and 2.30pm. Pete Keal has been working as a storyteller in schools, libraries, museums, hospitals, theatres, and countryside events for over ten years. He is well known for his lively, dynamic retellings of traditional stories.

Pete Keal said:

"In June last year I spent three days at Eureka telling Animal Stories. Its great to be asked back again this year and I am looking forward to entertaining both children and their adults over the months ahead."

In addition to his work at Eureka!, Pete will be telling stories during Adult Learners' Week in May in Leicester, Stories in the Park in Kettering in June as well as making an appearance during Hebden Bridge Arts Festival

25 years ago Mary Calvert started keep fit classes at the Community Centre (then it cost 10p per lady) and has continued to run classes ever since. She has never taken any money herself and all proceeds have gone to the Community Centre. The total raised has just topped 19,000.00.

The keep fit ladies past and present arranged a surprise party for Mary on the evening of 11th April 2002.

Following the presentation by Richard Marshall of a commemorative plate, flowers and a cake everyone tucked into a buffet supper.

The money is anticipated to attract an estimated four times as much from other public and private sector sources bringing the total investment to more than £1.4 million.

It will be spent predominently on removing eyesores, finding new uses for empty business property and making the village more attractive.

Some will go towards creating the proposed visitor centre dedicated to the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes from Mytholmroyd.

Alan, the chairman of the Royd Regeneration Partnership, said the award was excellent news for the village.

"A lot of people have put in a lot of work over the years and this is just the beginning," he said.

Last summer, Mytholmroyd was made a conservation area because of the large number of 16th, 17th and 18th century farms and older yeoman houses, mills and terraces. It followed a public meeting at which people made it clear that this was what they wanted for Mytholmroyd.

Owners of such properties are now likely to be able to qualify for improvement grants.

Priority is to be given to restoring the many empty and boarded up shops, commercial and other property according to English Heritage.

Nearly a quarter of the shops are empty and Mytholmroyd has lost all it's banks.

Properties by the side of the River Calder, including the former Royal Oak pub, have been cause for concern for a long time. Glaringly visible to people driving through they give the village a poor image. Distinctive buildings in the Mytholmroyd conservation area include the Dusty Miller Inn, the town's old fire station and nurses home in Cragg Road, St Michael's Church, the Methodist Church, Elphaborough Hall, Redacre, Mount Pleasant Mills and terraced cottages in Scout Road.

Alan added that the people of Mytholmroyd had been interviewed for their reaction by Radio Leeds and the results will be broadcast tomorrow (4th March) on Radio Leeds.

POLICE have called on villagers to play their part in the hunt for missing teenager Christopher Webster. The 18-year-old has not been seen since he left Mytholmroyd Working Men's Club at 10.45 pm on Saturday in a "confused" state.

Extensive searches of land next to the River Calder, the Rochdale Canal and other possible hideouts have so far proved fruitless. But Insp Chris Long, of Calderdale Police, said there had been a possible sighting of the former Calder High School pupil on New Year s Day.

"Someone in a blue fleece jacket was seen on a bench in the memorial garden in Mytholmroyd but that person had left when officers arrived," he said. "Obviously we hope that this could have been Christopher. But I would urge everyone in the village to check their garden sheds or out-buildings and see whether Christopher has taken refuge in there."

Officers yesterday checked an old air raid shelter at Scout Road - but this was filled with water and had been for some time. And checks with a friend of Christopher s in Plymouth have also drawn a blank.

It also emerged that Christopher, of Caldene Avenue, Mytholmroyd, has not used his mobile phone since his disappearance and the phone s battery is now dead.

Police were today meeting members of the Calder Valley Search and Rescue team with a view to widening the search. And police divers were also hoping to start their search of the River Calder today, said Inspector Long. He also called on any of Christopher s friends - who might be protecting him - to put their misplaced loyalties to one side. "Christopher s family are now very anxious to hear from him, as are we," said Insp Long.

AN underwater search is expected to begin today as police continue their search for an 18-year-old man. Christopher Webster has not been seen since he left Mytholmroyd Working Men's Club at about 10.45pm last Saturday.

Calder Valley moorland rescue teams have been searching nearby countryside, but police think Mr Webster, of Caldene Avenue, Mytholmroyd, may have slipped into the River Calder.

Insp Graham Helliwell, of the Halifax division of West Yorkshire Police, said: "We feel if he'd been out on the moorland, because the weather has been so nice and sunny in the last few days, there have been a lot of walkers out who would have come across him.

"Either he's crashed out in someone's lounge and is drinking tea and playing computer games, as we hope is the case, or he's slipped into the river or he's got very cold and has curled up somewhere and could be in someone's garden or caravan."

Insp Helliwell said search and rescue teams were carrying out co-ordinated searches in gardens and outbuildings.

Mr Webster lives with his mother, Carol Mayes, and stepfather David. Mrs Mayes said: "We're at a loss as to why he'd go anywhere when he was so near home. The club's only 200 yards from our house. If anyone knows where he is, please call us or the police." Mr Webster is white, 6ft tall, with short, straight dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue fleece jacket, blue shirt, black jeans and white trainers.

Anyone who has information about where Christopher is should call the Calderdale Police helpdesk on 01422 337077.

A MISSING Mytholmroyd teenager could have had his drink spiked on the night he disappeared. Police said Christopher Webster was behaving "extremely out of character" at Mytholmroyd Working Men s Club on Saturday evening, before he was asked to leave by staff because of his "erratic behaviour".

The 18 year old has not been seen since leaving the club alone at 10.45 pm - although his home, at Caldene Avenue, was only 200 yards away. Insp Graham Helli-well, of Calderdale Police, said the possibility Christopher' s drink had been spiked was being investigated.

On the evening of his disappearance, the former pupil of Calder High School, Mytholmroyd, had been in a "confused" state of mind, he said.

"This was completely out of character. He did not usually get too carried away," said Insp Helliwell. "There is a line of inquiry that his drink may have been spiked but nothing definite."

Police divers were today hoping to start their search of the River Calder after footprints - very similar to those made by Christopher' s Fila trainers - were spotted nearby. Inspector Helliwell said the initial search would be concentrating on the section of river near the back of St Michael' s Parish Church in Mytholmroyd, and the West Yorkshire Police helicopter could also be used. Christopher s mother, Mrs Carol Mayes, agreed her son was not usually boisterous when he had been drinking alcohol. She said he had been with a couple of friends on the night although she was still unaware of exactly what had happened at the club.

Police were also hoping to visit Mytholmroyd today to check an old air raid shelter at Scout Road for possible clues. And they were wanting to speak to one of Christopher 's friends who went to work in Plymouth over the New Year.

Anyone who has information about Christopher's whereabouts should call the Calderdale Police helpdesk on 01422 337077.

He is 6ft 3ins tall, with short, straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a mid-blue fleece jacket, blue shirt, black jeans and white trainers.

Work is starting next month on exciting Regeneration Projects for Mytholmroyd, including a new health centre. For more details, and details of other projects in the pipeline, click here