There was much pride in Manchester this week at news that the world's biggest passenger plane – the Airbus A380 – is to make a daily stopover in the city, giving Manchester airport bragging rights as the first regional airport to land the "superjumbo".
The Manchester Evening News reported that the Emirates airline will use the 517-seat plane for daily flights to Dubai and onward destinations from September. The announcement is being hailed as a historic coup by ever-competitive airport bosses, who have spent almost £10m on upgrading the airfield and terminal to accommodate the huge aircraft.
The jet is already an eye-catching fixture at many of the world's biggest international airports – such as Paris, Sydney and Heathrow – but it will be the first time the plane has been based at an airport not connected to a world capital (I'm letting Sydney off as it's a mere stone's throw from Canberra by antipodean standards).
The Emirates president, Tim Clark, said: "Manchester has been one of the strongest performers in our growing network of regional gateways, not only in the UK but globally. Our customers value our commitment to a regional network at a time when other airlines are abandoning them. This is a ground-breaking announcement for the airport and its global standing."
The A380 will replace the existing Boeing 777, used for Emirates flights from Manchester, boosting capacity by 75 seats a day. It will also introduce the carrier's first-class cabin, which includes another world first: onboard shower spas. Return fares will start from £539 in economy and £2,309 in business class.
Anyone with £3,087 to spare can travel in style in first-class and relax in a massage-equipped private suite, incorporating a work desk, an electronically controlled mini-bar and in-flight entertainment system.
Andrew Cornish, the airport's managing director, said: "This is a historic moment for this airport and the region we serve. The A380 is as iconic as Concorde and her introduction into Manchester by one of our most important carriers, Emirates, will provide a daily reminder that regional airports can support successful long-haul services."
Emirates, which has been flying from Manchester since 1990, says the plane is the most environmentally friendly in the skies and generates less than half the noise of others on take-off.
And the bride wore ... shackles?
A headline that just begs you to read further: "Leeds sex swap strangler to marry murderer".
The Evening Post goes on to reveal how the fact that a notorious double killer is getting married behind bars – to a lesbian murderess – has raised the hackles of a local MP.
Strangler Douglas Wakefield, 61, was switched to New Hall women's prison in Wakefield in the 1990s after undergoing a sex change. Two years ago, he met lesbian lover Thelma Purchase when she began her own 30-year sentence. Now, the pair have been granted permission to hold a civil partnership ceremony in the jail chapel.
The revelation has angered Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, West Yorkshire, who said: "It is incredible that this can be allowed. The criminal justice system is becoming a joke."
Wakefield was jailed 36 years ago for strangling his uncle, beating him with a hammer and stabbing him 48 times with a garden fork in Gipton, Leeds.
The father-of-two is infamous as one of the most dangerous men in Britain after killing an inmate at Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight, known as one of the UK's toughest jails. He has twice taken officers hostage and has clocked up more than 1,000 hours in solitary confinement.
Wakefield, who now uses the first name Tai, has been married twice – once behind bars. He underwent the £11,000 NHS-funded gender reassignment operation in the 1990s after he started wearing earrings and decorated his cell with lace curtains.
His bride-to-be, Purchase, 45, was jailed for a minimum of 30 years after suffocating a disabled man to get her hands on £70,000 he had left her in his will. The pair will have to pay for their wedding costs – £345 – from money they have saved.
A Prison Service spokeswoman told the paper: "We cannot comment on individual prisoners. Prisoners are entitled to apply to the governor to register a civil partnership in prison under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, so long as certain criteria defined under the act are met."
One great Yorkshireman honours another
Two of Yorkshire's most famous sons gathered in Skipton last week for the unveiling of a larger-than-life statue – though one of them was cast in bronze.
And Dickie Bird, retired doyen of Test cricket umpires, couldn't resist adopting his iconic finger-raised pose as he celebrated the launch of a sculpture remembering his great friend and adopted son of Skipton Freddie Trueman.
The Craven Herald reports that 200 people joined Bird and Fred's widow, Veronica, for the ceremony in Skipton's Leeds and Liverpool Canal basin.
Mrs Trueman, married to Fred for 36 years, unveiled the statue with assistance from the sculptor, Graham Ibbeson. She said: "It's overwhelming. It's the first time I've seen it in bronze – last time it was in clay. It's caught Fred so well – the fluency of his action especially.
"You can feel him releasing the ball and there's that slight grin on his face as he knows he got a wicket. It's wonderful to think it will act as a focal point for tourists, cricket fans and people living in Skipton and the Yorkshire Dales."
The £90,000, larger-than-life-size bronze, which has been more than three years in the making, was sponsored by Northern Rail, with a contribution from Craven district council.
Barnsley-based sculptor Ibbeson, who has also created a statue of Dickie Bird in Barnsley, said he was pleased at the decision to locate the Trueman statue in the canal basin and not Skipton High Street.
"This is the perfect place for Fred – it's almost a Fred Trueman piazza," he said. "People can stand back and see him against an open sky. High Street is far too busy."
Bird, who played against Fred in his early days in the Yorkshire League, said: "Graham has captured Fred so well – his action and especially that characteristic flapping shirt sleeve. If Fred had been here now, he would have felt very proud."
The unveiling was also a chance to buy bottles of Fred Trueman Yorkshire Ale, created to mark the ceremony by the Skipton brewery Copper Dragon.
Fred, who lived in Flasby, made his Yorkshire first-class debut in 1949 and went on to play 459 games for the county, notching up 1,745 wickets. In 67 Test matches for England he took 307 wickets, and retired in 1972 for a career in the media. He died in 2006, aged 75.
An exhibition of Ibbeson's work, including items used in making the Trueman bronze, has opened in Craven council's museum and gallery in Skipton town hall. It runs until the beginning of May.
Tallest tales from the Northern press
Even though it's April Fool's Day, I've resisted the urge to swindle the gullible among you with a devilishly worked tale of Northern nonsense (in fact, I ruled it out because the email gets sent out well after noon, and I'm a purist). Instead, here's a roundup of some of the tall tales told by the Northern media in recent years.
In 2008 the Liverpool Echo tantalised readers with an artist's impression of the proposed bridge to the Isle of Man. The paper said: "Tourism and business chiefs on the island have given an early thumbs up to the ambitious plan for the 82-mile-long structure."
If the premise alone wasn't enough to set alarm bells ringing, how about the inspiration for the bridge: "A campaign has started on the island to name the structure the Alf Priolo Bridge after a distinguished 19th-century Manx engineer."
(Write all the letters in Alf Priolo down on a piece of paper …)
Last year Yorkshire Water uploaded a video to YouTube showing a "crocodile" submerged in sewer systems underneath Leeds. It turned out to be a viral ad urging Yorkshire folk to stop dumping stuff down the sink.
Sheffield Wednesday fans were chagrined to find that the mysterious Polish technology company Olaf Pyroild SA was not in fact launching a bold and money-spinning takeover of the Owls.
And one surefire April Fool's Day prank that turned out to be true: Alan Shearer taking the reins at Newcastle United.
Mark Smith recommends
Nantwich Jazz & Blues festival, Cheshire, 1-5 April
The Blockheads are the headline act at this year's booze-soaked musical extravaganza in the south Cheshire market town of Nantwich, which is where I still like to call home. I'm missing out this year – ending a decade-old unbroken stint – but I urge you to go in my stead.
Tickets for the headliners, who perform in the town's civic hall, sell out fast, but the real fun to be had is at the dozens of free gigs dotted around the many pubs and cafes throughout Easter weekend (Nantwich is one of those innumerable towns that claim to have the highest number of hostelries per capita, or per square inch, or some such).
The Salt City Jazzmen are positively guaranteed to get your foot tapping (Dick Wharton, you are missed always), as are the blues/soul/funk outfit Jimmy Mack, but for a full list of performers and venues, visit www.nantwichjazz.com.
