Chronicle chief reporter Jack Tolson delves into the Chronicle archives from 2007.
RAY’S LIGHT FESTIVE TOUCH
PLENTY of people spend time and money making the outside of their house visible from the moon at this time of year.
But Wombwell man Ray Mangham, 75, is more concerned with filling the inside of his house with twinkly lights and musical novelties - he has about 4,000 Christmas lights and 647 Santas.
Ray opens his house to the public throughout December for people to see his collection of decorations and toys.
He has a collecting tin for donations to animal charity PDSA and in the last few years has collected a total of £1,200.
Ray said: “I chose PDSA because there’s a lot of people out there who can’t afford to pay vet bills for their pets and they treat animals for free if you can’t afford it.
“Me and my wife Peggy always loved Christmas and decorating the house.
“When I lost her I nearly gave it up but now I carry it on in her memory.
“I like people to come to my house and see it all.
“I like to share it.”
One of Ray’s many Christmas trees is 100 years old, made mainly of metal wire.
FLOODS THE FUTURE, SAYS BBC’S PAUL
SEVERE floods are likely to happen more often in the future, explained BBC weatherman Paul Hudson at Lundwood.
The meteorologist spoke to an audience at Priory Campus, many of whom were victims of the summer storms.
He warned that, due to climate change, flooding is likely to become a regular feature of British weather, and advised what can be done to help.
He said: “It’s basic physics.
“The warmer a body of air, the more water vapour it can hold.
“There are a number of things we can do such as recycling more, changing power supplier and using energy saving lightbulbs.
“If every house used energy saving lightbulbs, you’re maybe talking about taking out one coal-fired power station.”
ARTISTIC DAVE DRAWS ATTENTION TO CIA AGENTS
A COMIC book artist from Barnsley has a new book about a super-powered CIA agent.
It took Dave Golding seven months to do the illustrations for the 64-page comic, The Hunter.
The story was written by a screenwriter who works in Hollywood for television shows and movies.
Dave, originally from Athersley, hopes The Hunter could end up as a feature film.
He said: “With a bit of luck it may end up on the silver screen but these things take some time.
“I did all the art myself and coloured and designed the characters which is rare because there are usually small teams who work on a project like this.”
