As you may or may not know - and if you are a Rovers fan you almost certainly will - Blackburn's motto is "Arte et Labore", which translates as "by art and by labour", and sometimes "by skill and hard work".
Plenty of that on show at the weekend in that fine win over Bolton.
It's a fitting motto for the footballers to wear on their chests, but it also sums up the town itself neatly.
advertisement
It captures very well the qualities which saw the town develop into one of the powerhouses of the industrial revolution.
Without the hard work and skills of the town's forefathers and its workers who toiled so hard in the days when cotton was king, we wouldn't be in the position we are today.
But our motto also lives on as a phrase which remains in tune with modern day Blackburn, of which there is so much to be proud.
It's been skill and hard work, for instance, which has led to Blackburn College receiving a glowing report from the Ofsted school standards inspectors.
And when I say glowing, I am underplaying the achievement.
The Ofsted people have four grades when it comes to assessing a school or college's performance - from "outstanding" to "good" to "satisfactory" and finally to "unsatisfactory".
And they mark on things like effectiveness of provision, capacity to improve, achievement and standards, quality of provision, leadership and management and equality of opportunity.
The Blackburn College report came out well. Very well.
Top "outstanding" marks in fact in every category.
It's a magnificent achievement and everyone who works there, and the students, deserve all the plaudits for their hard work and enterprise: their "arte et labore".
So that's good news from those who look after the future of our town's young people.
What about the news from those charged with trying to keep us all safe?
I did another well attended residents' meeting last Friday - covering Corporation Park and Beardwood.
Yet again, the local constables, community support officers and their sergeant were spontaneously applauded by the residents for their work. You can see why.
As Chief Superintendent Mallaby told the meeting, anti-social behaviour incidents in the wider area of north-west Blackburn are down 20per cent year on year, violence 22per cent, burglary 24per cent, criminal damage 35per cent and vehicle crimes down a whopping 55per cent.
Lancashire Constabulary is top (with Surrey) in the whole of England and Wales, and their Eastern Division (covering Ribble Valley, Hyndburn and Blackburn) top on public satisfaction and public confidence when compared with 13 similar police divisions - like Oldham, Rochdale, Keighley and Halifax.
A few years ago the newsreader Martyn Lewis argued that sometimes the news programmes should concentrate a little more on good news. He had a point, in my view.
The Telegraph is very good at highlighting the great achievements of people in the town, at speaking up for Blackburn.
I thought that I'd do the same this week, inspired by those great reports for the college and the police.
As for the other Blackburn success stories, get your thinking caps on and let the Telegraph know.
We should shout about our successes - it's the least we should do after all that "arte et labore".
Posted by: ioughttobeajudge, Lancashire on 7:03pm Wed 5 Mar 08
Mr Straw,
Burnley has not seen a good past few days. A college student saw his father beaten with iron bars and stabbed to death in front of his eyes by his own bullies.
What do the guilty adolescents (who are in custody) deserve? Well, why not give them a reduced sentence. Let's say, oooh, less than half of what they should get. That would suit the failing prison system very well, wouldn't it?
This horrific atrocity, to me, says much about England's current situation. With crimes like this being committed, what does the legal system do to deter future occurances? Absolutely nothing. At all. Pasted across newspapers: 'Jails are full'. What kind of message is this giving? To me, it says, until we have new facilities in 2014, or whatever, its the perfect time to commit a crime, because the government is saying to judges "Be more lenient".
This is a failing country. I'm glad you think Blackburn is in such a good position, though.
Mr Straw,
Burnley has not seen a good past few days. A college student saw his father beaten with iron bars and stabbed to death in front of his eyes by his own bullies.
What do the guilty adolescents (who are in custody) deserve? Well, why not give them a reduced sentence. Let's say, oooh, less than half of what they should get. That would suit the failing prison system very well, wouldn't it?
This horrific atrocity, to me, says much about England's current situation. With crimes like this being committed, what does the legal system do to deter future occurances? Absolutely nothing. At all. Pasted across newspapers: 'Jails are full'. What kind of message is this giving? To me, it says, until we have new facilities in 2014, or whatever, its the perfect time to commit a crime, because the government is saying to judges "Be more lenient".
This is a failing country. I'm glad you think Blackburn is in such a good position, though.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
