Blackburn Cathedral leaders' anger at vandalism (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Blackburn Cathedral leaders' anger at vandalism
8:00pm Friday 30th July 2010 in
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- By Neil Docking » Reporter
CATHEDRAL leaders have called for teenagers to find somewhere else to congregate after a tree was vandalised in the grounds.
The incident today is described as the latest incident of anti-social behaviour at Blackburn Cathedral.
Church leaders revealed they have considered banning youths from the grounds, but feel that would send the wrong message.
Instead, they have asked youngsters if the area, which contains several tombs, is the ‘most appropriate place for them to be’.
A large branch was discovered torn off the beech tree, which is at least a hundred years old and provides a canopy for a tomb, this morning.
Canon Andrew Hindley said the damage showed disrespect to the many people buried beneath the cathedral’s grounds since medieval times.
Canon Hindley said: “This is an ancient burial ground.
“Underneath here are buried the people of Blackburn, all our forebears.
“Really the place is not being treated with the respect it should be.
"We do find trees with damage on the site, but this is the first major damage.
“I will refer it to the police. This is totally unacceptable.”
Canon Hindley said Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council had to clear up ‘huge amounts of litter’ in the cathedral grounds every year.
He said: “We have considered restricting youths from the grounds, but we think it would be impossible to police, and we don’t want to give the impression the church isn’t for young people.
“I do understand that young people need somewhere to go, but we need to ask is this the most appropriate place for them to be?
“We find it increasingly difficult to manage their behaviour.
“It’s very disappointing.
“Large numbers of young people in the grounds, however well behaved, can deter people from coming to the cathedral.
“On the whole when we engage with young people they are not rude to us, they just don’t seem to have a concept of how they should behave.
"We expect a higher standard of behaviour.
“We will be working with the police and the borough council to try and manage these issues further.”
Comments(25)
icannotrace
says...
9:03pm Fri 30 Jul 10
pez63 wrote:Am I missing something?
Sack the mayor,whats the piont in having a mayor if he is going to let the kids run riot when they visit the town centre.
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I think the comment below from Canon Hindley just about sums up the whole problem today with these "youths"
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"they just don't seem to have a concept of how they should behave."
lsm
says...
9:07pm Fri 30 Jul 10
what`s gone wrong this time.
pez63
says...
9:52pm Fri 30 Jul 10
lsm wrote:The mayoral staff switched them off at the mayors command.
whats gone wrong with the cctv not working not long ago you were filming people having sex in the grounds. what`s gone wrong this time.
Scooby
says...
9:59pm Fri 30 Jul 10
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So should one adult stealing from a shop result in all adults being banned from the town centre?
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It's not fair for a whole group of people to be tarred by the actions of one person. The church should understand this concept better than anyone!
useyourhead
says...
10:01pm Fri 30 Jul 10
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they have no respect for themselves, others, the law, thier parents or anything else, for the most part.
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do you REALLY think they are going to demonstrate respect for the dead.
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Good luck with that.
chrislancs
says...
8:26am Sat 31 Jul 10
If you were to have police just walking in the grounds i think this would serve as a deterrent. there is no point in the police actually catching these people who cause the damage and rob people as the courts just let them off and they know it.
If you were to park a car in the area i wonder how long it would be before you got a ticket. Another no go area.
ossy
says...
4:53pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Find something constructive to do with your time......not vandalism.
Davidoff
says...
7:46pm Sat 31 Jul 10
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Though what can you expect from the C of E mob as they lost the plot on any kind of 'moral' guidance years ago. Anything goes at the C of E nowadays. One wonders the whole point in the church is at all seeing that it betrayed it's core value - or teachings - years ago in favour of 'new ideas' but at the same time left those you claimed to help behind.
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So, come out of your cushy cathedral grounds, throw off your attire, all those expensive 'trinkets' you parade around in at your services when the church is (supposdely) not about wealth (coughs profusely on that last comment because of the irony there!) and see the streets, you won't have to go far. Though I do wonder given the sheer hysteria behind all this as it seems how you would cope experiencing a troubled community for more than a day because it seems you wouldn't cope with it and certainly would go home thankful you could do so. Except those in the communities can't, they have to live with it! Go on, I dare you come and see what actually goes on in communities in the region which are truly troubled and plagued by youth menace (not tarrring BTW but 'boredom' long exceeded the excuses lists for sheer terrorism in some communiciaties years ago and mostly caused by tribal tracksuited (please, where is your individuality or do you just follow the pack, sorry, I meant 'peers' and have no mind of you own?) and not the usual places you lot hang out where you get nice tea and biscuits, scones ... Just come and see what people are suffering with in the communities right outside your cathedral grounds. It may even teach you a thing or two or, more importantly, open your eyes to a few things. Oh, and BTW, but do you still have the drunks hanging around the grounds, particularly the crypt as I expect you probably will do as I remember those from my days as a chorister.
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So, I ask again, how can youngsters expect to behave when some in C of E don't know right from wrong, parade around as if money is no object, paid for, living in luxury, driving nice cars. When as most of your teachings and sermons tell us, the public, we musn't 'aspire' to these material things yet you do just the opposite! It's not exactly 'respecting' how the rest in this country have to live is it? Just what kind of message does this send out to people who need and do look for guidance? What exactly is, then, or what is the idea of the church all about. Allegedly. Then ask yourselves why we have problems in this country of the kinds being reported in this report.
your granny
says...
5:47pm Sun 1 Aug 10
your granny
says...
9:05am Mon 2 Aug 10
happycyclist
says...
11:36am Mon 2 Aug 10
Darwenian
says...
12:49pm Mon 2 Aug 10
your granny
says...
12:54pm Mon 2 Aug 10
Arrpi
says...
1:14pm Mon 2 Aug 10
your granny wrote:But if the bottle was empty, then it wasn't a bottle of water. It was a bottle of nothing (or air if you prefer).
And yet I was driving my Rover Metro behind some well to do business man in a BMW who thought it was ok to throw an empty bottle of water out of his window. It seems that everybody has faults now a days, not just kids. There's no respect for anybody, no manners and no social graces, regardless of age.
Anyway, I agree. Everyone has faults. Every time I go to Asda I have to bite my lip and confine my anger at the hordes of elderly who have no respect for other shoppers and shuffle around as slow as possible, blocking aisles with sideways trolleys, and other such antics.
Joseph Yossarian
says...
1:15pm Mon 2 Aug 10
Oh, hang on a minute....been tried already.
The great religious leaders of the cathedral have ignored what happens on their land for decades.
Perhaps instead of whinging they should spend some of their cash instead. Better streetlights. fund a couple of PSOCs to patrol the area.
Take some responsibility instead of apportioning blame.
Darwenian
says...
1:18pm Mon 2 Aug 10
You've said it all - BMW drivers of all ages are generally amongst the most arrogant and irresponsible cretins on the roads. Many of them treat public roads like their own private race tracks.
Darwenian
says...
1:28pm Mon 2 Aug 10
Joseph Yossarian
says...
1:34pm Mon 2 Aug 10
Yours every Sunday down at the CofE......
defective typewriter
says...
6:45pm Mon 2 Aug 10
your granny
says...
8:56am Tue 3 Aug 10
Arrpi
says...
1:01pm Tue 3 Aug 10
your granny wrote:Well... I do appreciate that in age things to tend to wear out etc. But I'm also rferring to how a lot of the older generation reprimand us young ones for being ignorant but at the same time they block aisles and paths etc with trolleys at all angles while they figure out for 10 minutes whether to buy salad cream or mayonnaise! It happens quite often.
Arrpi, the only thing full of air (or nothing if you prefer)is between your ears, and may god strike us down for becoming elderly. The very thought of our biology slowly wearing out and us becoming slow, deaf and forgetful. Stick to your BMW driving on the South Coast. While we are at it, if your soft buggers had put up a better fight we would not have been over run by the Normans.
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And I do actually live in Blackburn but I still consider Kent my main home. And I don't drive a BMW, although I did very recently drive a Land Rover Freelander for a couple of years I gave it up. I 'm now a bus person, which leads me to the way old people behave on buses...
Darwenian
says...
1:34pm Tue 3 Aug 10
I think you'll find that it's by no means only elderly people who block supermarket aisles with their trolleys.
Arrpi
says...
1:58pm Tue 3 Aug 10
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It's just like how it's not just young people who act so horrendously in the Cathedral grounds. I've seen middle age men/women (and some that could be either) urinating, screaming racial slurs at the public, and trying to kick pigeons. Some of these happened in broad daylight in the afternoon while many of us were heading home from work.
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It's a real jungle out there.
your granny
says...
3:51pm Tue 3 Aug 10
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‘DISRESPECT’: Canon Andrew Hindley surveys the damaged beech in the cathedral grounds
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pez63 says...
8:08pm Fri 30 Jul 10