And Berwick Kaler is going to be a snuffer.

The legendary pantomime dame reaches a significant anniversary in December – his 30th panto at York Theatre Royal. To celebrate the anniversary, the madcap dame has been cast for immortality – as a porcelain candle-snuffer.

This is not some cheap trick cooked up by Kaler in the run-up to his popular panto, but a Mulberry Hall-produced, bona fide porcelain figurine costing almost £200.

"Berwick is much loved in York and we wanted to mark this anniversary with something special and a little quirky. When Brontë Porcelain came up with some brilliantly inspired designs, we leapt at the chance to commission the piece," explains Mulberry Hall managing director Adam Sinclair.

Kaler is depicted as Dame Betty Turpin with a rich red costume based on an original outfit of Kaler's.

The figure is a numbered and certificated limited edition of only 300. The edition is priced at £198. To reserve a figurine, contact Mulberry Hall on 01757 268283.



It's not often you hear of Lancast-rians and Tykes standing side by side and fighting a common enemy. But music was the unifying force when firefighters from West Yorkshire and Lancashire tackled a blaze to save the crew on the current nationwide tour of indie band Feeder.

The group were travelling from Glasgow to Lincoln, having played a sold-out show at the Glasgow Barrowlands.

The bus diver noticed smoke and flames coming from the back of their vehicle, pulled on to the hard shoulder and woke the 13 sleeping crew members.

Minutes after everyone was safely away from the vehicle, the fire took hold and the bus was completely destroyed. The motorway was closed while the firefighters from either side of the Pennines fought
the blaze.

The story has an even happier ending – the crew lost all their belongings in the fire, but were kitted out by the Lincoln branch of JD Sports – which the band had worked with previously.



Last week's Ted Hughes Festival held a spooky moment for poet laureate Andrew Motion and an overwhelming one for Frieda Hughes, daughter of the poet.

Motion opened the festival with a talk about Hughes. During his address, he referred to a medium who was in touch with Philip Larkin – at which point technical difficulties interfered with his microphone and the audience could hear only crackling – prompting Motion to wonder
if the spirit of Larkin was making mischief.

Also at the festival was Frieda Hughes. She knew she was there to talk about her father, but didn't realise it would be in a theatre dedicated to him at Calder High School, Mytholmroyd.

A festival organiser said that it was an emotional moment when Frieda arrived to be greeted by a sculpture of her father and a mural inspired by some of his poetry.