AN East Lancashire landmark has a famous 'brother' - 3,000 miles away in America!

Darwen Tower will next year celebrate its 100th anniversary, but unbeknown to many people in the town, a similar structure built by the same family is the pride and joy of a South Carolina city.

Richard James Whalley built the Darwen Tower to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign in 1897.

And years later, his grandsons, William and John Whalley, built a lighthouse at Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island.

The tower, famous in the States as a symbol of the PGA Heritage Golf Classic Tournament, was completed in 1970 and was the first lighthouse to be built on the Atlantic coast in 150 years.

William, who still has relatives in Darwen and Blackburn, said: "The lighthouse is one of America's most recognised symbols but for the Whalleys it is a commemoration of our heritage and legacy of our grandfather." The lighthouse is 93 feet high, 20 feet wide and hexagonal.

But unlike Darwen tower, the structural frame is made of steel and exterior skin of plaster.

William, who closed the Whalley Construction Company when he retired in 1992, is trying to arrange a celebration to mark 100 years of Darwen Tower in September 1997, when he plans to visit the area with family and friends.

He his also awaiting a reply from the Queen's secretary after he wrote to her asking if the Royal family could become involved in the celebration.

Barbara Butler, of Brinscall, is writing to Mr Whalley following a story in the Evening Telegraph last week about the planned celebration. Her grandfather, Richard Robinson, helped build the tower - at the age of just 11.

He later went on to become a stone mason.

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