Bury Football Club have named former Gigg Lane favourite Alan Knill as their new manager. Knill made 144 appearances for Bury as a central defender between 1989 and 1993. He joins the club from Chesterfield FC, where he held the post of assistant manager since being sacked as Rotherham manager in March 2007.
Plans to introduce a congestion charge in Greater Manchester are under threat after another local authority voted against the scheme. Last night Bury joined Stockport and Trafford councils after councillors passed a motion objecting to the proposal. If one more of Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities join the rebels, the scheme’s only chance of progression would be in a public referendum.
The 25th Bury Beer Festival will be held at the Met on Market Street in Bury on November 16 and 17 2007. Organised by the Rochdale, Oldham and Bury Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, the event will feature over 60 cask beers. Opening times are Friday 12 pm to 4 pm (entrance £1.50), 6 pm to 11 pm (£4), and Saturday 12 pm to 11 pm (£2.50).
The annual World Black Pudding Throwing Championships take place this Sunday at the Royal Oak Pub in Ramsbottom. Contestants from all over the world will throw black puddings at a pile of Yorkshire puddings set on a 20ft high plinth. The winner is the one who knocks over the most Yorkshire puddings.
The popular theory is that the contest dates from the Wars of the Roses when both armies ran out of ammunition and started a food fight.
Bridge Street will be closed to traffic for the day, and there will be live music from local bands, children’s rides, and food stalls. The event begins at midday and the winner announced at 4pm.
The East Lancashire Railway is celebrated its 20th birthday yesterday with a re-enactment of the first train journey on the heritage line. A plaque to mark the occasion was unveiled at Bolton Street train station in Bury.
TV presenter Steve Berry was in Bury last Friday to officially open a caravan park at Burrs Country Park. The site was acquired by the Caravan Club in 2005 under a 60-year lease fro Bury Council and has since undergone a £1.3 million redevelopment programme. New facilities include a toilet block, disabled toilets, a baby and toddler room, and an enclosed vegetable preparation area.
Bob Black, Chairman of the Caravan Club said ‘We are very proud of this jewel of a site. Burrs Country Park Caravan Club Site will make a significant and positive contribution to the local tourism economy, providing the equivalent of over 80,000 ‘bed nights’ per annum for caravanners who will spend over £620,000 off site, in the locality this year. I think that the location with all it has to offer, combined with its proximity to the hundreds of thousands of caravanners that live in the North West, means it’s a terrific destination for weekend, as well as longer breaks.’
Bury and District Agricultural Society will be holding their Annual Show at Burrs Country Park on Sunday July 1. Entertainment and attractions will include the Band of the Fusiliers Association, the Pennine Bernese Mountain Dogs, a display by the Rossendale Dog Training Club, arts and crafts exhibitions, and displays of vintage cars and other vehicles.
Entry is £5 for adults and £3 for seniors and children aged 12 – 15. A free bus service will operate between the park and Bolton Street station.
A program to upgrade track on the Metrolink between Bury and Altrincham will mean that sections of the line will close between May 29 and September 12. The closures will take place in stages and can be viewed on this map. Replacement bus services will be offered. Trams between Eccles and Piccadilly station will be unaffected by the work.
Several hundred FC United hundred chartered a steam train on Saturday to watch their team win promotion to the UniBond League. They boarded the Rammy Rattler at Heywood station on the East Lancashire Railway and made the short journey to Ramsbottom, where they saw their team beat Ramsbottom United 2-1.
FC United was formed in 2005 by Manchester United supporters disgruntled with Malcolm Glazer’s takeover.
Bury’s Lancashire Fusiliers’ Museum have raised the necessary £1.4 million needed to fund their move to a new home at the Arts and Craft Centre on Broad Street in the town centre. Now that the target has been reached, the Heritage Lottery Fund has released an additional £2 million that should enable the new museum to open in late 2008.