Chief reporter JACK TOLSON takes a look back to the Chronicle archives of 1999
EMMA IN TEEN MAG DINGHY WARNING
A SCHOOLGIRL who had a lucky escape when her rubber dinghy was swept out to sea has put pen to paper to warn youngsters of the dangers of playing with inflatable toys.
Coastguards had to be scrambled to rescue Emma Sharp when she ended up drifting off the coast of Scotland during a family holiday last summer.
Emma wrote to teen magazine Mizz to ask for her own graphic account of her ordeal to be published as a warning to other teenagers that playing with inflatables on the beach can be deadly.
And this week, her dramatic story was published in the magazine which is read by hundreds of thousands of girls.
Emma, of Monk Bretton, said: “I want to stop others making the same mistake I did.
“There have been other incidents recently and people are still being silly and taking risks.
“I would tell anyone going on holiday not to bother with inflatables.
“I hope the article puts people off.”
CONKER-CRAZY KIDS DRIVE RESIDENTS BONKERS
NATURE-loving Barnsley folk are being driven nuts by kids going bonkers for conkers.
The start of this year’s horse chestnut season has sparked numerous complaints to the council that kids collecting the nuts are trampling through cemeteries and private gardens.
Steve Wilson, community leisure officer responsible for trees in the borough, said: “The trees are not the problem, it’s the kids.
“The number of complaints varies but it has been a good season for the tree this year - the trees are full of conkers.
Raymond Levitt says kids have caused hundreds of pounds of damage in their quest to get conkers from a tree which overhangs the garden of his home in Worsbrough Dale.
This week alone, collectors caused £200 of damage to his garage roof.
He said: “You will never stop kids trying to get conkers, but they do make your life a misery.”
GREAT GRAN JOAN REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
PLUCKY great gran Joan Coates was on top of the world after abseiling down the side of the highest building in Sheffield.
Her daring feat was watched by other brave, if nervous, charity-raising volunteers who clapped as she went over the top of the Grosevenor Hotel on Sunday to begin her hair-raising descent.
Joan, 75, who achieved world-wide fame for her love of rollercoasters, raised over £200 for Marie Curie - dedicating her challenge to her younger sister, Margaret, who died of cancer.
Joan had to climb an eight-foot high steel ladder attached to the outside of the building from the 12th floor to reach the top.
“This part was a little daunting but I really enjoyed it and I would have done it again if they had asked me,” she said.
Joan, from Cudworth, has never abseiled before.
But when she saw an advert in a local shop window asking volunteers to abseil for charity, she was undaunted and determined to have a go.
