NEWSPAPERS
Star pupil scoops top reading prize
Newspapers 5
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Dinner lady cooksup a dragonSchool dinner lady Jackie
Clarke is very popular with
the pupils at Langfield School.
But it’s not just her sausage
and mash that they love. They
want news about Desmond,
the dragon that has turned
Jackie into a bestselling chil-
dren’s writer.
Just ten months after her
first book, Dragon’s Web,
Jackie has won the £10,000
prize in this year’s Best
Children’s Writer awards.
Chairman of the judges, Sir
Tom Lewis, declared: “This
book is an outstanding first
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Newspapers 7
novel. It has already sold half
a million copies.”
Jackie, 42, has always
made up bedtime stories for
her four children. “There was
one about a dragon, that
they really liked,” she
explained at last night’s
award ceremony in London.
“My daughter, Millie, per-
suaded me to send it to a
publisher. It was accepted
straight away.”
Jackie says that the award
won’t change her way of life:
“I’ll buy a new computer and
take the family on holiday.
But I’ll keep writing – and I
want to stay in my job.”
Headteacher of Langfield
Primary, James Smith, said:
“We are very proud of
Jackie. She has agreed to run
story telling sessions in
school after she has served
the lunches.”
Clutching her copy of
Dragon’s Web, nine-year-old
Lauren Daniels said: “It’s
brilliant having Mrs Clarke
at our school. Her stories
are fantastic.”
Kylie Brown, 8, added:
“Children from other schools
are so jealous – they ask us
to get them Mrs Clarke’s
autograph.”
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Villagers fear attacks by dangerous animalsAngry villagers are trying to
stop a wildlife park being
built near their homes. They
say that having so many wild
animals living nearby is dan-
gerous. They are also wor-
ried about the noise
and smell that the animals
will cause.
Yesterday, one thousand
people from Weston-on-Avon
marched to Downing Street
to protest to the Prime
Minister. Protest leader,
Jennifer Davies, handed him
a petition signed by 5,000
villagers calling for the plan
to be scrapped.
“We are furious,” Mrs
Davies told reporters. “The
owners of Weston Manor sold
their estate to Global Wildlife
Ltd without telling us. We
could wake up one morning
to find monkeys, snakes, or
even lions in our back gar-
dens. These animals could
attack our children and pets.
We cannot allow this to hap-
pen.”
Janet Simmons, who has
lived in the village all her life,
declared: “As well as the dan-
ger, think of the noise and the
smell. We have plenty of nat-
ural wildlife here. What do we
8 Newspapers
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want with camels and mon-
keys, tigers and wolves,
snakes and sea lions?”
Michael Carpenter of
Global Wildlife later held a
press conference. He
explained, “We run lots of
wildlife parks and have nev-
er had any trouble. There is
plenty of room for all our
animals at Weston Manor
Park. And, there is no danger
of them escaping.”
He added, “Don’t people
realise that the park will
bring jobs and tourists to
the area?”
Ten-year old Joe Jackson,
who lives in Weston, had the
last word. “It will be brilliant
to have a wildlife park here.
I can’t wait for it to open. I
don’t know what all the fuss
is about.”
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Thieves carried out a daring
raid on a city bank last night.
They blasted their way in from
the sports shop next door and
got away with £3 million. The
robbery was discovered by
bank staff when they arrived
for work this morning.
Police have cordoned off the
area around the Southshire
Bank and Morgan’s Sports
shop. They will be taking state-
ments from staff.
Detective Inspector Philip
Jenkins is leading the hunt for
the robbers. “The bank was
holding a very large sum of
money,” he said. “There was
£3 million in the safe.”
10 Newspapers
£3 million seized inbank blast
The thieves’ getaway route
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He confirmed that special
security measures had been in
place. However, he would not
say whether alarms and CCTV
cameras had been switched off
by the robbers. He also refused
to explain how the thieves
opened the safe.
Appealing to the public for
information, DI Jenkins said:
“We believe that this robbery
took place between midnight
and 3.00 a.m. We are now
examining evidence found at
the crime scene. Tomorrow
morning we will be holding a
press conference to report on
the latest developments.
Meanwhile, if anyone saw or
heard anything during the
night, we would ask them to
contact us immediately.”
A spokesman for the
Southshire Bank, Mr David
Snowdon, said: “The police are
currently investigating the rob-
bery at our London Road
branch. I cannot comment fur-
ther until the police have com-
pleted their enquiries.”
Newspapers 11
London Road branch of Southshire Bank Detective Inspector Philip Jenkins
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Schoolgirl spots Scotland’s
legendary monster
Crowds flocked to the shores
of ScotIand’s Loch Ness yes-
terday, following a new
sighting of the Loch Ness
Monster. Suzie James, aged
12, was on a camping holi-
day near the loch with her
family when, she says, she
saw the monster “splashing
about in the water, just a
few hundred yards from the
edge”.
Prehistoric appearance
Suzie added: “It looked pre-
historic. It was a sort of dark
grey, like a huge tube with a
long, long neck, like a
giraffe, a small head and
mouth, and large eyes. Its
body seemed to arch in and
out of the water. I don’t
know if it saw me, but after
a while it just plopped back
under the waves and disap-
peared. I wish I’d had my
camera with me so I could
have taken a photo to prove
I had seen it.”
Other sightings
Scientist Jim McTavish spoke
about the monster’s history.
“There have been sightings
of a monster in the loch for
more than a thousand years.
The first recorded account
was in the 6th century,” he
explained. “Since then, hun-
dreds of people claim to
Nessie pops upto say hello
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have seen it, and some have
taken photographs. In 1930,
a circus owner offered
£20,000 to anyone who could
capture it alive.”
Deep and dark
Professor McTavish explained
that Loch Ness is one of the
largest and deepest lochs in
Scotland: “Depths of more
than 250 metres have been
recorded. It runs ruler-straight
for 60 miles from south-east
to north-west across the coun-
try’s Great Glen.” He added
that the sides and floor of the
loch were exceptionally
smooth and there are also
large underwater caves and
channels. “The perfect hiding
place for a prehistoric sea
monster!” he declared.
Photo of the Loch Ness Monster, taken in 1934 by a visitor to the area
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Next time you go to throw
something in the dustbin, just
wait a moment. Think about
where the bottle, carton or
crisp packet will go next.
It is important that you do,
for the world is facing a major
crisis. We all throw away far
too much rubbish – more than
one tonne per household
every year. And soon there
will be nowhere left for it to
go. And few people seem to
care.
The government is setting
up a think-tank to discuss how
to get rid of the rubbish. But
this is too little, too late.
14 Newspapers
What a load of rubbish!
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