Statue sword stolen and more stories

It’s a year since Bootham Park Hospital (pictured) was shut with only five days’ notice. 

To mark the first anniversary today, hundreds of people are expected to join a march calling for York’s only psychiatric hospital to be reopened.

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Organisers, Mental Health Action Group York, say the march will start with a sunset vigil at York Minster at 18:00, in support of "all those affected by the sudden closure," before a walk back to the hospital.

Bootham Park Hospital was closed on 30 September 2015 after a Care Quality Commission inspection found it unfit for purpose and that patients were at “significant risk of harm”.

It's been announced that a temporary placement at Peppermill Court in York will open on Monday.

Over the last year anyone needing a bed has had to mainly travel out of North Yorkshire to Middlesbrough, Darlington or Hartlepool. 

I've been getting all steamed up this morning learning my "Black Five" class from "Standard 4" and finding out all about "Foxcote Manor" and "Britomart". 

They're all steam locomotives and are part of the Autumn Steam Gala on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

All aboard!

It was a very exciting day on BBC Radio York yesterday as the station took over the Cookery Theatre at the York Food and Drink Festival.

Presenters hosted a day of demos with local chefs, culminating in a cook-off between two teams - presenters Georgey Spanswick and Adam Tomlinson took on Anna Wallace and Jonathan Cowap.

Their task was to make the best chicken stir-fry. 

As you can see from their smiling faces Anna and Jonathan won, (pictured with trophy) retained the title from last year, much to Anna's delight.

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Quote Message: The fact that Adam and Georgey took the competition less seriously and were more interested in entertaining the crowd, rather than tossing the wok, made it easier for us to thrash them again." from Anna Wallace BBC Radio York, Afternoon Show

The fact that Adam and Georgey took the competition less seriously and were more interested in entertaining the crowd, rather than tossing the wok, made it easier for us to thrash them again."

There'll be sunny spells and scattered showers throughout the afternoon, some perhaps heavy and locally thundery with hail.  

The showers will ease later leaving us with longer periods of sunshine.  

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Police have released an e-fit of a "baby-faced" man they want to speak to in connection with an attempted burglary.

The man is described as in his mid 20s, approximately 5ft 11ins tall, medium build and of Asian appearance. 

Police say he "had a baby-face, a thin moustache and dark hair with a low hairline and short back and sides."

North Yorkshire PoliceCopyright: North Yorkshire Police

Police want to speak to the man in connection with an attempted burglary in the Skipton area at around 22:00 on 25 August.  

A pensioner has handed over £1,600 to the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) after being strapped to the wing of a 1940s biplane.

Peter Levett from Ovington, North Yorkshire, took to the skies and completed the stomach-churning wingwalk at Breighton Airfield, near Selby. 

Great North Air AmbulanceCopyright: Great North Air Ambulance

The 63-year-old said: “Since taking early retirement two years ago, I've been ticking things off my 'before I die' bucket list and thought if I'm going to risk life and limb then someone should get some benefit from it"

Great North Air AmbulanceCopyright: Great North Air Ambulance

The daredevil already has plans to take another flight. He said: “They don’t let you do acrobatics the first time and I want to go upside down.”  

Quote Message: Peter has proved that age is just a number and has completed challenges that many half his age wouldn’t consider.” from Mandy Drake head of fundraising at GNAAS

Peter has proved that age is just a number and has completed challenges that many half his age wouldn’t consider.”

Does Britain need a Women's Equality Party? 

Comedian Sandi Toksvig - you'll know her from TV shows like QI - thinks it does.

She's founded Britain's newest political party, The Women's Equality Party. 

Sandi was speaking at York St John University last night and told me she definitely thinks politics has done women "no favours" Here's a little of what she said:

All activity at a site on the island of Kos for missing Yorkshire toddler Ben Needham has stopped.

It is unclear if or when the search will resume. A police briefing planned for midday has has been delayed.

It's understood "a lot of activity is going on behind the scenes".

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All week we've been visiting category winners from the Yorkshire In Bloom competition and today the category in question is - Large Hotels. 

The Gold winner yet again was in North Yorkshire, Harrogate's Nidd Hall.

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I visited Nidd Hall to take a few snaps of its award winning horticulture and discovered it's set in 45 acres and was built in the 18th century by a wealthy Bradford wool merchant.

I also hear the rumour that Edward VIII met Wallis Simpson at a party at the hotel - so they may well have taken a stroll around the very grounds pictured.

More now on an accident on the A19 Northbound which happened between the A172 and the A684.

Emergency services are at the scene of what's described as a "serious collision" at the Ellerbeck Junction near Northallerton. 

Police say the incident happened shortly before 10am and involved three vehicles. 

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The northbound carriageway has been closed and is expected to be closed for some time - drivers are being urged to avoid the area.   

It’s been a labour of love for an American millionaire who spent years travelling the globe in search of the finest antiques and most meticulous replicas. 

Allerton Castle’s gothic grandeur, painstakingly rebuilt after decades of decay and a devastating fire, and worth an estimated £11.5m has been given as a gift for the public to enjoy.

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We're just hearing of an accident on the A64 on the westbound carriageway in the Copmanthorpe area. Traffic is starting to queue in the area.

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There's also queueing traffic and road closed due to people slowing to look at an accident on the opposite carriageway on the A19 Southbound between A172 (Cleveland Tontine) and A684.

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Southbound traffic has been stopped on the route between Middlesborough and Thirsk for the air ambulance to attend to the accident on the other carriageway.   

A unique glimpse into Victorian seaside life in Scarborough goes on sale today.

Thirty magic lantern slides by William Nowell, showing things like well-dressed donkey rides and fully clothed sunbathing are up for auction.  

The Nowell familyCopyright: The Nowell family

Mr Nowell was the manager of the Great Northern Steamship Fishing Company and a keen photographer. 

The images taken between 1895 and 1902 were found during a recent loft clearance.

The Nowell FamilyCopyright: The Nowell Family

The photos, go under the hammer in Driffield later.

Auctioneer Graham Paddison, of Dee Atkinson & Harrison, said "the pictures showed the gulf between rich and poor in late Victorian England."  

Within the past few minutes South Yorkshire police have confirmed they have been asked to stop digging at a site on the island oaf Kos for missing Yorkshire toddler Ben Needham.

They say work is continuing though as no official stop order has been issued. 

The Senior officer at the site says he will seek a judicial order if told to stop since they say the dig is "important" for Ben's family & for Kos.

Steve PartridgeCopyright: Steve Partridge

Earlier on we told you how a man wass arrested after a sword was taken from a well-known bronze statue outside York Minster.

You can read more on it here.

We've just heard that the A19 in Ellerbeck is blocked and there's queuing traffic northbound between the A684 junction and Cleveland Tontine, because of a multi-vehicle accident which has left debris on the road.  

York's Bootham Park Mental Health Hospital closed suddenly a year ago, meaning people who need round the clock care for conditions like depression and psychosis have had to be treated miles away from home.

Ben is 18, he recently spent two-and-a-half weeks in hospital in Hartlepool because there was no-where nearer to York where he could be cared for.

He told me his story:

World War One, with its brutal trench fighting and poison gas attacks, was not known for its chivalry. Yet 100 years ago, 19 fishing boats were sunk without the loss of a single life, due to the compassionate actions of a German U-boat crew.

In September 1916, a group of fishing steamers were about 20 miles north-east of Scarborough when U-57 surfaced under the cover of darkness.

Scarborough Maritime heritage CentreCopyright: Scarborough Maritime heritage Centre

According to the log of German CO Carl-Siegfried Ritter von Georg, he used one of the steamers as a holding area "to assemble the crews" while the boats were sunk one by one.

Steamers from Whitby and Grimsby were also lost in the attack, with 19 boats sunk in total.

If you want to read a lot more information about this wartime event just click here.