Archive

  • Summing up final success

    JASON Butterfield, an accountant with Blackburn-based Waterworths, is celebrating after gaining third place in the North West in his chartered accountancy finals. Jason has specialised in auditing since joining the firm as a graduate trainee. Converted

  • Harmful water

    WITH reference to your Opinion column (LET, February 22), lead in the water supply is caused by the nature of the water that is being supplied. Its acidity should be reduced by the water company to a level that will not cause this trouble. Soldered joints

  • New arson strike

    ARSONISTS who may have struck twice in as many nights have brought terror to a council estate. And police fear it may be "third time unlucky" if the arsonists strike again. In the latest incident in the early hours today, a family with four young children

  • Parent study event

    A STUDY day about parenting open to anyone involved in working or caring for children is set for March 23. Blackburn Diocesan Board of Social Responsibility has organised the event which will be led by Michael Quinn. More information is available from

  • Grand Irish night for all

    A ST Patrick's Dance takes place at King George's Hall, Blackburn, on March 16. It features showband Jordan and Finians Rainbow together with an Irish Disco with Sean McSherry. And the Blackburn school of Irish Dancing give their own "Riverdance" performance

  • Veterans want to take a cue

    ARMY veterans who meet every afternoon are appealing for a pool table to be donated. The retired men who are in the 70s and 80s spend their days at the hut in Scott Park in Burnley chatting, playing dominoes and cards. Secretary John Moran, 75, said:

  • Gulf War syndrome search on

    LANCASHIRE servicemen and women who believe they are suffering from Gulf War Syndrome are being urged to come forward. The Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen's Families Association is offering help to put their case for compensation. The Ministry of Defence

  • Police nominate Good Samaritan for bravery award

    A GALLANT nurse who has helped save two people's lives is poised to be rewarded for his heroics. Daring Dino Christodoulou has been nominated for a bravery award by police after he fearlessly came to the aid of a woman shot in the stomach at point-blank

  • Yo ho ho, treasure clues in library

    PUPILS hope to strike gold in a treasure map competition. The challenge to design a chart was thrown out to Year 7 pupils in the run-up to a children's book fair at Hollins High School, Accrington. The week-long fair started yesterday and the school library

  • 'Support scanner appeal' request

    BURNLEY'S health trust has been asked to support the East Lancashire SuperScan appeal. Chief executive David Chew told trust members, clinicians had welcomed the idea and the opportunity of using the new equipment. He said the board had been asked to

  • Women's work has a future

    THE future looks bright for women in the workplace, but men are likely to lose out. According to a new report, the British workforce will no longer follow the pattern of full-time permanent jobs. It will be forced to adopt more flexible practices such

  • Mental health plan is agreed

    FEARS that mental health service provision might be taken out of Burnley's control appear to have been allayed. Last October, the East Lancashire Health Authority made public its plans to review who holds the contract for Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale

  • Bravery award for axe attack bobby

    A BURNLEY bobby who tackled robbers armed with a baseball bat and axe is to receive a bravery award. PC Sean Cunningham, 29, was off duty when he went into a Spar shop in Melville Street, Burnley, in the middle of a robbery. He disarmed a man with a baseball

  • Goal! But don't get steamed up

    SOCCER sponsors can watch Accrington Stanley and get all steamed up . . . but the windows won't. On cold days, officials and guests were having trouble seeing the game through the steamy windows of the sponsors' lounge. But the answer was found when club

  • School reunion

    OLD girls from the former Blakey Moor school in Blackburn are holding their annual reunion later this month. It will be the 14th reunion and will take place on Tuesday, March 12, at 7pm at the Red House Motel in Blackburn. The event is being organised

  • Garden growing from sneak look

    A SNEAK look at school plans for the future led mum Lynn Schofield on a fund-raising mission to create a community garden at her daughter Aimee's school. Lynn was working as secretary to the governors at St Paul's school, Hoddlesden, when she saw blueprints

  • Bigot Blunt

    ON BEHALF of every long-haired, earringed, unemployed person, I would like to reply to John Blunt's comments (LET, February 21). Does this right-wing bigot understand what it is like living on £46 per week on the dole? Does he know what it is like working

  • All clogged up!

    CLOG maker Rick Rybicki is very particular about his art. He chops down trees to get the raw material to hand carve the soles. He hand picks the leather, dyes it and irons in wax for the uppers. Then he carefully hand sews the leather to create the perfect

  • Council smoke cloud may be cleared

    REFORMED smoker councillor Jack Grime says Hyndburn Council is being "courageous" over the controversial issue of smoking at work. Coun Grime said: "I have been a smoker and I have seen the light in more ways that one." He spoke out as Hyndburn Council

  • Seeing stars at the double

    ASTROLOGER Brian Jackson sees stars of the earthly variety as well as the heavenly type when he casts his predictions. He provides the horoscopes for pop sensations Simply Red. From his home in the tiny village of Winewall, near Colne, Brian, 48, looks

  • Friends mourn choir stalwart

    THE inquest on a Ribble Valley driver killed in a road accident earlier this week, was due to open today. Former policeman Frank Simpson, 65, of Carr Croft, Rimington, died when his VW Golf estate was in collision with a lorry at the Pendle Road junction

  • Town misses out on big fair rides

    A FAIR owner whose attractions have visited Darwen for a century claims townsfolk are being deprived of major rides by Blackburn Council. Arthur Silcock, whose father before him set up Silcock's travelling fair, opened for business again in Darwen last

  • Digging into our ancient industry

    THIS is not so much an example of Freethy's England as of Freethy's Wales, but my journey this week began as a result of a family photograph, writes RON FREETHY My grandfather was a copper miner at Coniston and later an iron miner in Cumbria and his picture

  • Eyres set to return against old side

    WING sorcerer David Eyres rebounds from suspension as Burnley endeavour to rejuvenate their Second Division campaign in tomorrow's big Lancashire derby against Blackpool at Turf Moor. A last-gasp Tony Ellis goal secured Blackpool a point at Stockport

  • We help to lift couple's mortgage misery

    A COUPLE who admitted to being "financially naive" were left in mortgage misery and faced paying £37,000 to cover debts of just £6,000. Layton and Jillian Cooper, of Sycamore Grove, Darwen, were left owing thousands after taking out a second mortgage

  • Heath's top of the pops

    FANS' choice Adrian Heath is back at the top of the Turf Moor managerial hit parade today. And after a fortnight as the undisputed number one - Brian Flynn is on the slide out of the Burnley hit list. The Wrexham manager dramatically ruled himself out

  • Former court clerk is made law firm partner

    FORMER St Mary's College pupil Paul Garner has been made a partner at Blackburn law firm Cunningham Turner. Paul, 37, who lives in Lammack with his wife, Margaret, worked at Blackburn magistrates and progressed to court clerk before qualifying as a solicitor

  • Mild taste of Betty's pies

    THWAITES brewery has raised a glass to Baxenden-based pie-makers, Hollands. The Blackburn brewery will supply Thwaites Best Mild for Hollands' new beef-in-ale pies, part of the Betty Turpin-inspired "Betty's Kitchen" range. Thwaites marketing manager

  • Our town's share just isn't fair

    A TOWN is getting short-changed when it comes to cash allocations, according to councillors. The Labour-dominated Nelson committee claims Colne and Barnoldswick are getting more cash per head of population than Pendle's largest town. But leading Liberal

  • The shivering side of the street

    SOME old people are missing out on cold-weather payments, while neighbours down the road are getting help. And now a campaign to change the system - which is based on people's postcodes - has been launched by Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson and

  • Ross is confident

    CONFIDENCE is the key to any striker's effectiveness. When he has it, goals follow (see under Shearer A, Blackburn Rovers). When it deserts him, he heads the way of the dodo (see under Fleck R, £2.15m move from Norwich to Chelsea - three seasons, four

  • College alive and well

    AS ITS principal for the past 15 years, I have found some of your recent news items about Accrington and Rossendale College to be mildly bewildering and wholly incredible. Let me set the record straight. The college is flourishing and has just recorded

  • Worms bread and butter to Garry

    ENGINEER Garry Lomas faced a bleak future when he was made redundant three years ago. But millions of worms have turned his career prospects upside down. Garry, 40, of Old Meadows Farm, Burnley Road, Bacup, has never looked back since starting a worm

  • 5 YEARS AGO: Gas cylinder 'bomb'

    AN ARSONIST, who torched a garage containing a gas cylinder early today, put the lives of firemen and police officers at risk. The liquid petroleum gas cylinder was like an unexploded bomb, said sub officer Kevin Murray at Darwen fire station. Fire officers

  • 10 YEARS AGO: £5,000 wage raid

    RAIDERS battered a factory manager to the ground and then escaped with £5,000 wages he had just brought from the bank. Police immediately sealed off a wide area around Tunstead Needlefelt, of Chatterton Mill, Ramsbottom, and put checks on the motorway

  • Footy for the girls

    A GIRLS' festival of football will be held at St Mary's College, Blackburn, on Saturday, March 9, from 10am to about 2pm. In addition to games, tournaments and prizes, competitors can also take advantage of professional coaching. Converted for the new

  • Help is at hand

    HELP and support for people affected by Parkinson's Disease is on hand in East Lancashire. The Blackburn and Darwen branch of the Parkinson's Disease Society open their season of monthly meetings on Tuesday at the Ardley Centre, Bent St, Blackburn, at

  • Gemma of an award!

    HARD work and perserverance has paid off for 12-year-old Gemma Collins. Gemma, a pupil at Park High School, Colne, was presented with the Young Achiever of the Month award for her consistently good work and excellent progress in science lessons. The Foulridge

  • A first-class delivery

    ROYAL Mail workers did a first-class job when they planted more than 200 trees. The delivery workers from the Royal Mail office in Canterbury Street, Blackburn, visited the Tower View Day Centre in Marsh House Lane, Darwen, to help create a nature trail

  • Nice to see you, salar

    HELLO, salar! And welcome back after all these years! Salmo salar - or the king of fishes, the Atlantic salmon - has been spotted in the Calder for the first time in at least 30 years. According to many anglers it probably much longer since salmon were

  • Harmful water

    WITH reference to your Opinion column (LET, February 22), lead in the water supply is caused by the nature of the water that is being supplied. Its acidity should be reduced by the water company to a level that will not cause this trouble. Soldered joints

  • Ronnie goes for JobCentre goal

    FORMER Rovers and England star Ronnie Clayton proved a winner with JobCentre staff. Ronnie was guest star at the official opening of the new centre in Cardwell Place, Blackburn. Also in attendance were Employment Services district manager Bernard O'Donnell

  • Well done, Bill

    THERE is a moral standard measured by a yardstick known as "common decency" and, in an age when excess so often seems to prevail, it is encouraging to see the ordinary citizen fight back - and win. So take a bow, Hyndburn councillor Bill Goldsmith, who

  • Defeat shows true value of the Lords

    IN ITS already-vulnerable position the government needs defeats, from whatever quarter they come, like a hole head. But its sizeable and embarrassing setback in the Lords last night - where four former ministers joined Tory rebels to help peers reject

  • Oasis followers besiege agency

    ROCK fans besieged an East Lancashire ticket agency earlier today when word got out they had got hold of just 10 tickets for next month's Oasis concert. Eager Oasis followers snatched up the small allocation of "returned" tickets minutes after the Just

  • We're not bust - hotel

    STAFF at Stirk House Hotel, Gisburn, have slammed rumours that the well-known hotel has gone bust. They believe the gossip may have started after a small number of staff were made redundant recently. But today a spokesman for the hotel said: "There's

  • Handywork help plea

    AGE Concern in Hyndburn is on the look-out for old or unwanted tools to help equip volunteer handymen. The charity has teamed up with British Gas to launch a handy person service which covers the cost of carrying out minor maintenance and repairs around

  • JP brings ban on sexy ad

    A COUNCILLOR has won his personal battle to have a steamy advertisement banned from television screens. Bill Goldsmith, a member of Hyndburn Council, was so angry about the advert for Accurist watches he wrote to the Independent Television Commission.

  • Young chance to go places

    YOUNG people interested in globe-trotting can find out how to go about it at a Widen Your Horizons open evening in Accrington. The travel night is on Tuesday, March 12, between 7pm and 10pm at the Information Shop for Young People, in Abbey Street. The

  • 'Gio is the best of the lot' - says Lee

    WHEN you can beat Neville Southall from something like 40 yards, you just have to be something special. And Manchester City's Georgian giant - in football terms - is just that. Georgi Kinkladze, the man with the tongue-twisting name and skills which can

  • Sorry about bins, says council

    PENDLE Council has apologised to local people whose rubbish collection was disrupted by bad weather. Snow and ice put the skids under the usual service and stopped dustbin men from completing many rounds over the last few weeks. Staff are now struggling

  • Getting together

    A SCHOOL reunion last year was such a success, another has been organised for this month. Ex-pupils from St Hilda's School, Blackburn, who were in form 4A in 1949/50 will be getting together at the Spread Eagle, Mellor, on Saturday, March 9, at noon.

  • Robbery hero police get bravery awards

    TWO police officers who confronted a gang of armed robbers are to receive commendations for bravery from Pauline Clare, Lancashire's Chief Constable. PC Christopher Saville, 31, from Barrow, and PC Glen Smith, 26, from Fulwood, will be presented with

  • CRICKET: Lancs pair injury fears

    NEIL Fairbrother today joined Lancashire team mate Peter Martin as an injury doubt for England's last World Cup Group game at Karachi on Sunday. Fairbrother aggravated his suspect left hamstring while batting in a warm-up game against a Karachi Select

  • Emma's best by smiles

    SMILE, you've won! Emma Pickup from Accrington, attended the impressive Guildhall in London, where she was accompanied by her husband and her boss, when she picked up a top award. Emma has worked at the Lynton Dental Practice in Burnley Road, Accrington

  • Public meeting on vandal-hit park

    A SPECIAL meeting has been called in an effort to tackle the problem of young vandals targeting a popular park. Residents are growing increasingly worried about the number of attacks on Rhyddings Park, Oswaldtwistle, and a campaign has been launched calling

  • Police step up IRA terror alert

    A HIGH-LEVEL anti-terrorist briefing has been held for Lancashire's top business people amid fears the county could be the next target for IRA bombers. Police stepped up their bomb alert with the confidential get-together for more than 100 key guests

  • Cold comfort

    SOME old people are missing out on cold-weather payments, while neighbours down the road are getting help. And now a campaign to change the system - which is based on people's postcodes - has been launched by Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson and

  • Fire brigade strike fears

    THE Fire Brigades Union in Lancashire is facing one of its greatest challenges since the national Fire Service strike of 1977. This growing militancy is derived from the county council's intention to reduce the earnings of retained firefighters - who

  • 'We went for stars' - Coar

    EWOOD chairman Robert Coar revealed last night that Blackburn Rovers had been close to signing two top internationals last summer. And he stressed they are still in the market for big names - a fact re-iterated today by manager Ray Harford, pictured top

  • Motoring legend lives on as earliest VW bug is sold

    IT WAS ugly, noisy and cramped. But the motoring public engaged in a long, passionate love affair with the Volkswagen Beetle. Disney even made a film about one called Herbie - The Love Bug - which ran for almost as long as the car itself. And yesterday

  • Sherwood ban

    TIM Sherwood is facing the prospect of a two-match suspension after being cautioned in his last two matches. And that's another stunning blow for Blackburn Rovers boss Ray Harford, whose depleted playing resources have already been further hit by the

  • Salmon are in the pink as river runs cleaner

    BREEDING salmon are thought to have returned to a stretch of river for the first time in more than 30 years. There have been unconfirmed sightings of salmon in the River Calder in recent years, but now there is real evidence that the fish are spawning

  • Claims keyed in at top speed

    ROSE Ragnall was in the pink when she became the first person in the country to benefit from a new computerised insurance service. Rose, from Blackburn, received a magnum of champagne from Guardian UK's business development manager Jon Morrell at Daren