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A BODY has been discovered amid a major hunt for a schoolgirl who fell into the water whilst out on a walk with her dad.

Emergency crews had been frantically searching for the 13-year-old who vanished under the water at Baitings Dam yesterday afternoon.

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A cordon was put in place at the reservoir in Ripponden, West Yorkshire, after cops were called at around 1.20pm on Wednesday.

Search teams worked around the clock in an attempt to find the youngster, with two RIBs (rigid inflatable boats) spotted at the site this morning.

The teenager, from Halifax, had been posing for pictures with her dad when she tragically fell into the 140ft-deep water.

It is understood she hit the water after falling roughly 30ft from the parapet of the dam.

Local resident Sue Ferris helped comfort the girl’s family, who told her that the youngster had a “bright future“.

The 80-year-old said: “She had just got into grammar school, they told me.

“She wanted to walk round the reservoir with her dad because it was half term, but the rest of the family didn’t want to go.

“It was just dad and daughter at the reservoir when she fell in. The rest of the family came after the accident.

“Dad had been taking photographs, according to a witness, and he also heard dad screaming and shouting her name after she fell in – but he did not go into the water.

“He had some kind of heart problem and was clutching his chest soon afterwards and was taken away by ambulance.

“They were very proud of her. She had a really bright future.”

Mrs Ferris, who has lived in the same house overlooking the reservoir for 20 years, slammed officials for a buoyancy aids around the water.

She added: “It is disgraceful that there are no life rings anywhere on the parapet.

“Yorkshire Water added the white metal railings on top of the stone structure some years ago now.

“But it only adds about half a foot to the barrier height and actually helps people to climb onto the wall.

“It gives them something to grip on to.

“All it is doing is helping people to stand on the wall.”

Four West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue crews were sent out to the dam on Wednesday, assisted by Littleborough crew.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service also confirmed they sent officers from their Hazardous Area Response Team.

Speaking on Wednesday, a West Yorkshire police spokesperson said: “Shortly after 1.17pm this afternoon police were called to a report a girl had fallen into water at Baitings Dam near Ripponden.

“Emergency services are currently on the scene, with searches ongoing to locate the girl.”

A PUB dubbed the “cheapest” in Britain has suddenly shut up shop after 500 years.

Locals have been left shocked after the owners revealed a bizarre reason with a notice on the door.

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The Abbey, Derby, posted the handwritten note on the door saying they were unhappy about photos of it being shared online.

The 22-word notice reads: “Closed!!

“Due to someone posting pictures of the Abbey on social media.

Sam Smith has taken the alcohol and closed these premises.”

Samuel Smith’s Brewery owns the pub and it has been suggested the current landlords had broken policies and were dismissed as a result.

The brewery operates 200 pubs across the UK and is known for it’s strict rules from owner Humphrey Smith.

Such rules include a no-swearing policy, no televisions or jukeboxes and a ban on the use of mobile phones or laptops in its public houses.

Just days prior to the closure, a Facebook account with more than 125,000 followers posted 18 pictures of the pub, inside and out.

The Great British Pub Crawl account, a page run by Dale Harvey and his wife, Holly, follows the couple as they attempt to visit every boozer in the UK.

They posted the photos on Saturday, May 17 alongside the caption: “Not every day you are asked to grab photos or a video in a Sam Smith’s pub.”

It’s not clear whether the post was the reason behind the closure.

The pub is one of the last surviving buildings from an extensive monastery, dating back to the 15th century.

The sudden closure has left locals stunned, with many taking to social media to express their disappointment and confusion.

While the brewery has offered no official explanation, insiders suggest the landlords were dismissed for allowing, or failing to prevent, photos of the pub being shared online, a clear breach of company policy.

The closure marks yet another abrupt ending for a Samuel Smith’s venue, following similar shutdowns in Bradford and London, and raises fresh questions about the brewery’s management style and the long-term viability of its rule-heavy model in the digital age.

The Abbey is far from the only British boozer pulling its last pint.

A string of beloved pubs are closing their doors, with punters and landlords alike left heartbroken as pressures in the hospitality industry hit boiling point.

In East London, the historic Gun pub in Homerton has shut down after 160 years of service.

Once a bustling local favourite, the venue was brought back to life in 2014 following a major revamp by landlords Nick Stephens and his partner Hanna-Sinclair Stephens.

Despite surviving the Covid crunch thanks to a heroic crowdfunding campaign that raised over £30,000 in a single day, the couple say the pub has now become “unsustainable”.

“It was hugely popular, but we just couldn’t keep going,” Nick said.

“The capacity was only 90 — the numbers just didn’t add up anymore.”

Meanwhile, in Nottingham, The Emerald, a vibrant Indian pub and sports bar, has also called time, just two years after opening.

Dubbed a “labour of love” by its owners, The Emerald quickly became a community favourite for curry lovers and cricket fans alike.

But behind the scenes, soaring costs and the departure of a key business partner created what they described as “emotional, financial and operational strain”.

In a heartfelt post, they thanked loyal customers:

“The Emerald was always more than just a pub—it was a cultural space… Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”

Social media lit up with tributes from heartbroken regulars. One wrote: “It was more like home to us.

Watching India win the World Cup there was unforgettable.”

And even award-winners haven’t been spared, a Midlands pub, hailed as the region’s best and a finalist for Desi Grill of the Year 2024, has also gone under, despite its short-lived success.

The wave of closures paints a grim picture for the UK pub scene, already battered by the pandemic and now facing soaring prices for rent, business rates and barrels.

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I am a photo fellow at the L.A. Times, and recently spent three days photographing for the Motel California project at the Skyview Los Alamos. What immediately struck me was how tucked away in the hills the motel was, even with its close proximity to the freeway. While only two hours away from L.A., I felt like I was in a totally different place.

The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way.

I captured the iconic yellow “Motel” sign by the pool, the turquoise Moke shuttle, and lots of unique fixtures. Having three days to photograph an assignment is rare in daily news, so I felt lucky to be able to spend more time in certain spots of the property and reshoot in different lighting situations. Good light is critical to making a good photo, so I made the most of golden hour during my visit. All of the pops of orange, yellow and teal around the property complemented warm light well. I loved that most of the plants were succulents and cactuses, giving the place a desert feel on the Central Coast. When I look at all the photos as a whole, I feel the sense of calm and warmth I experienced while I was there.

— Juliana Yamada, photography fellow

Ramsey 29 motel in Twentynine Palms. Owner Ashton Ramsey took over a motor lodge that dates to the 1940s.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Rocky details at the Pearl. (Megan Morello / For The Times)

Decorative brick from the Mojave Sands Motel in Joshua Tree. (David Fouts / For The Times)

The Atomic Bombshell Room at the Trixie Motel.

(David Fouts / For The Times)

Rooms 13 and 14 at the Skyview Motel.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

The Skylark Hotel sign in Palm Springs.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Alamo Motel sign in Los Alamos, from left. Peach Tree Inn sign in San Luis Obispo. Motel Capri sign in San Francisco. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Skyview Motel sign, from left. The River Lodge sign in Paso Robles. The Pacific Motel sign in Cayucos. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times; Jacob Tovar / For The Times)

The Mojave Sands Motel sign.

(David Fouts / For The Times)

The Sea & Sand Inn’s no vacancy/vacancy sign in Santa Cruz.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Surfrider Malibu as seen from the Pacific Coast Highway.

(Al Seib / For The Times)

The entrance to the Norman restaurant at the Skyview Motel.

The pool viewed through decorative pool-side furnishings at the Skyview Motel. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Wallpaper inside the Trixie Motel.

(David Fouts / For The Times)

The toilet paper at the Hotel Wren is marked with its initials. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Folded toilet paper at the Skyview Motel. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

A view of a room inside the Ramsey 29 motel in Twentynine Palms.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A detail of a patio pillow at The Pearl Hotel. (Megan Morello / For The Times)

A detail of the shower handle in a room at the River Lodge. (Jacob Tovar / For The Times)

A room inside the Crystal Pier Hotel in Pacific Beach, San Diego.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Wigwam Motel buildings in San Bernardino.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A room at the Skylark Hotel.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Hotel del Sol is a boutique hotel in San Francisco aiming to rise above its roots as a budget motel.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A room at Glen Oaks Hotel in Big Sur.

(Nic Coury / For The Times)

Situated on Market Street, Beck’s has a front-row seat to the main artery of San Francisco. The motel still offers free on-site parking, with a walkable location that provides ample access to public transportation, including the historic F-Market line.

(Megan Bayley / For The Times)

A decorative room at the Madonna Inn.

(Nic Coury / For The Times)

Old-school keys from the Hacienda del Sol, from left, in Borrego Springs, the Skylark Hotel in Riverside and Glen Oaks Resort Adobe Motor Lodge. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A gathering space at the Haley Hotel in Santa Barbara.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A view of an outdoor space connected to a room at the Pearl Hotel.

(Megan Morello / For The Times)

A detail of a bedroom door at the Mojave Sands Motel. (David Fouts / For The Times)

Two robes hang in a room at the Surfrider Malibu. (Al Seib / For The Times)

Happy guests at restaurant-bar Ponyboy at the Pearl Hotel in San Diego.

(Megan Morello / For The Times)

Cocktails served at the Trixie Motel in Palm Springs. (David Fouts / For The Times)

The cocktails at Ponyboy at the Pearl Hotel in San Diego. (Megan Morello / For The Times)

A guest’s dog wanders near the pool area of the Pearl in San Diego. (Megan Morello / For The Times)

A rabbit hops away at the Mojave Sands Motel in Joshua Tree. (David Fouts / For The Times)

The outdoor shower at the Skyview Motel. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

A wooden outdoor patio chair at the Mojave Sands Motel in Joshua Tree. (David Fouts / For The Times)

The Surfrider Malibu is located across Pacific Coast Highway from the Malibu Pier and Surfrider Beach, famous for its surfing, and is close to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

(Al Seib / For The Times)

A view of the pool from inside the property at the Trixie Motel in Palm Springs.

(David Fouts / For The Times)

The pool at the Skyview Motel is seen through a window at the Norman restaurant.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Pool-side textures on the grounds of the Pearl Hotel. (Megan Morello / For The Times)

The pool steps at the Trixie Motel. (David Fouts / For The Times)

The cactus garden at the Trixie Motel.

(David Fouts / For The Times)

Denise McKinney says she has probably somewhere close to half a million matchbooks tucked away inside her Riverside home.

She’s been collecting for years and will typically pick up whatever strikes her fancy, no pun intended. She has specialties now, like matchbooks with animals on them or matchbooks that advertise radio and TV stations, but she says her biggest collection by far is books from Southern California, including vintage motel matchbooks.

The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way.

The president of the Angelus Matchcover Club says she likes matchbooks because of how they reflect a region’s history. She’s grabbed books that tout Route 66 attractions or places from her Orange County hometown.

Matchbook collectors Olivia Frescura, Robert Donnelson, Denise McKinney and Cheryl Crill.

(Amanda Villegas / For The Times)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the motel, a concept that originated with the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo (later renamed the Motel Inn). Though it didn’t become widely known until after World War II, “motel” is essentially a portmanteau for “motor hotel,” or a lodging place where the rooms could be entered through the parking lot rather than through a central lobby.

To get travelers in the door, motels used gimmicks to stand out among the stiff competition, like neon signs and themed decor, but also promotional materials like free postcards and pocket-sized matchbooks. With the 100th anniversary in mind, we wanted to look back at some of Southern California’s motel history as seen through collectors’ matchbooks. These books represent just a small fraction of the thousands of motels that have operated in the region but are a great place to start.