War veteran in fight to restore Blackburn wartime EWS sign (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Fantastic! I never knew the significance of these letters - good luck to Mr Atwood, hopefully it should be a relatively simple "okay" from BwD. I can't see this costing more than a few hundred pounds, including the cost of the blue plaque (plenty of companies produce etched metal plaques - the original (stolen) memorial plaque at the Peel Monument in Accrington was replicated and refitted within the last 18months).

good luck pal with it we owe alot to these lads who thought in the war

Well done! shame the thought of paying for it yourself even crossed your mind though the council should be paying for this. People who contributed to the war have paid enough

chris283 wrote:
good luck pal with it we owe alot to these lads who thought in the war

What the f**k are you on ?

same-old-story wrote:

chris283 wrote:
good luck pal with it we owe alot to these lads who thought in the war

What the f**k are you on ?

Why the abuse?

It's history . . . you know, like the market clock tower!

This is the sort of history that should be preserved because it encourages questions.

"What's EWS mean?" Is a great excuse for a short local history lesson for any unsuspecting child (or adult, come to that).

I didn't know what it stood for, either -I always thought it was Early Warning Shelter.

Of course it should be preserved , just like the signs that used to be on the side of The Dog Inn on revidge !! Oops forgot they,ve gone !!

I well remember seeing these signs as a child, but I don't think it should be repainted. Better to try to find a way of preserving it as it is.

there was an EWS sign on the blakewater bridge at the old kirks bobbin works at plane tree , at the far end of cob wall. i don't know if it is still there or not. i agree that these signs should be preserved.

why wait for the council?nobody else seems to

same-old-story wrote:

chris283 wrote: good luck pal with it we owe alot to these lads who thought in the war

What the f**k are you on ?

same old story.....me is thinkin your on summat. lets write SOS on't wall just for you nob ed

Paint it yourself you silly old man.

ossybsting wrote:

same-old-story wrote:

chris283 wrote: good luck pal with it we owe alot to these lads who thought in the war

What the f**k are you on ?

same old story.....me is thinkin your on summat. lets write SOS on't wall just for you nob ed

The mis-spelling of fought does not deserve the abuse. Typographical errors are easy to make.

armdec1 wrote:
Paint it yourself you silly old man.

Why are you so rude?

Lankygirl asks: 'Why so rude.'
The rude comments are there because they can be.
However, the writers of the comments are obviously not old enough or have sufficient knowledge to be respectful.
Thankfully, there are no incendiary bombs falling these days. To be truthful, Blackburn was only hit twice by bombs but places like Manchester, London and Bristol were not so lucky and these areas were dependent upon people from outside to attend to the fires in the dark and smoke of an air raid's aftermath. Clear signs to the sources of emergency water for the fire tenders' pump crews were literally a life saver.
From the safety of a keyboard latter day, swivel chair heroes can call someone a 'silly old man' or believe that two asterisks will make an obscenity less of an obscenity.
That scenario just painted, illustrated a time when this country was almost on its knees, Europe was defeated and America was debating whose side to be on. The British Isles were facing a foe that would think nothing of shooting anyone who made the wrong sort of comment; because freedom of speech was anathema to them. That freedom still exists and can be abused without the fear of a bullet. As I said, Lankygirl, they are rude because they can be and millions died so that they could.

brok wrote:
Lankygirl asks: 'Why so rude.'
The rude comments are there because they can be.
However, the writers of the comments are obviously not old enough or have sufficient knowledge to be respectful.
Thankfully, there are no incendiary bombs falling these days. To be truthful, Blackburn was only hit twice by bombs but places like Manchester, London and Bristol were not so lucky and these areas were dependent upon people from outside to attend to the fires in the dark and smoke of an air raid's aftermath. Clear signs to the sources of emergency water for the fire tenders' pump crews were literally a life saver.
From the safety of a keyboard latter day, swivel chair heroes can call someone a 'silly old man' or believe that two asterisks will make an obscenity less of an obscenity.
That scenario just painted, illustrated a time when this country was almost on its knees, Europe was defeated and America was debating whose side to be on. The British Isles were facing a foe that would think nothing of shooting anyone who made the wrong sort of comment; because freedom of speech was anathema to them. That freedom still exists and can be abused without the fear of a bullet. As I said, Lankygirl, they are rude because they can be and millions died so that they could.

well said

it should be cleaned up round it but not repainted.the history would be lost if repainted.

guinless wrote:

brok wrote: Lankygirl asks: 'Why so rude.' The rude comments are there because they can be. However, the writers of the comments are obviously not old enough or have sufficient knowledge to be respectful. Thankfully, there are no incendiary bombs falling these days. To be truthful, Blackburn was only hit twice by bombs but places like Manchester, London and Bristol were not so lucky and these areas were dependent upon people from outside to attend to the fires in the dark and smoke of an air raid's aftermath. Clear signs to the sources of emergency water for the fire tenders' pump crews were literally a life saver. From the safety of a keyboard latter day, swivel chair heroes can call someone a 'silly old man' or believe that two asterisks will make an obscenity less of an obscenity. That scenario just painted, illustrated a time when this country was almost on its knees, Europe was defeated and America was debating whose side to be on. The British Isles were facing a foe that would think nothing of shooting anyone who made the wrong sort of comment; because freedom of speech was anathema to them. That freedom still exists and can be abused without the fear of a bullet. As I said, Lankygirl, they are rude because they can be and millions died so that they could.

well said

With all due respect, I did not question why armdec1 disagreed with what Mr Atwood was trying to do; I simply asked why he felt that he had to be so personally rude in his comment. My father fought in the 2nd World War to preserve his children’s and country’s many freedoms, including the freedom of speech that we all enjoy, but surely not at the expense of common courtesy and respect?

Hi Lankygirl, I'm on your side.
You were right to ask why there was rudeness. I was pointing out the irony of the fact that the second World War was about freedom of speech and movement and while the right to freedom of expression was maintained, the responsibility to respect the views of others without abuse is often forgotten. Sorry if I did not make this clear.

Thank you Brok for the earlier history lesson. As we all know, kids these days think that Winston Churchill plays for Chelsea ....The phrase of ' the British Isles were facing a foe who would think nothing of shooting anyone who made the wrong sort of comment '....A little like the Islamonazis of today, really isn't it... ? Good news however is that there is an Olympic Games coming up....twenty billion people watching the action on a TV screen somewhere in the world... sadly I feel the action is going to turn out to be the murder of the innocents by some wierdie beardie whose imaginary friend is not as powerful as our imaginary friend. Oh, just a second... wasn't there Terrorist action in Munich in 1972, at an Olympic Games... now ..by whom was that.... ?

are you lot mad the kids of today think WW2 is a vidio game and culture is a brand? ill explain britain went to war to stop us from being taken over!, by the germans in this case. But look around if your granparants could see how we have sold the UK down the river,. went to war to keep britain english. so on that note it makes no differance if the sign stays or goes, it would be better it stayed ,more things to see in theme park britain. but dont ever think that my family members died for this place as it stands, your off your head and need a padded room.

outofyourmind wrote:
are you lot mad the kids of today think WW2 is a vidio game and culture is a brand? ill explain britain went to war to stop us from being taken over!, by the germans in this case. But look around if your granparants could see how we have sold the UK down the river,. went to war to keep britain english. so on that note it makes no differance if the sign stays or goes, it would be better it stayed ,more things to see in theme park britain. but dont ever think that my family members died for this place as it stands, your off your head and need a padded room.

So its up to us to teach them that this is not the case. We should start by taking all opportunities to preserve that history and being ready to answer the questions truthfully when the kids ask. That's what I do and my daughter knows a lot about the war and what it cost / meant to the country now. By all means, give the country up as a lost cause: personally I applaud Mr Atwood and hope that the authorities give him all the help he asks for.
No, I'm not happy with the current state of the country, but I do believe that we have our part to play in sorting it out and that includes teaching the children.

ladysal wrote:

outofyourmind wrote: are you lot mad the kids of today think WW2 is a vidio game and culture is a brand? ill explain britain went to war to stop us from being taken over!, by the germans in this case. But look around if your granparants could see how we have sold the UK down the river,. went to war to keep britain english. so on that note it makes no differance if the sign stays or goes, it would be better it stayed ,more things to see in theme park britain. but dont ever think that my family members died for this place as it stands, your off your head and need a padded room.

So its up to us to teach them that this is not the case. We should start by taking all opportunities to preserve that history and being ready to answer the questions truthfully when the kids ask. That's what I do and my daughter knows a lot about the war and what it cost / meant to the country now. By all means, give the country up as a lost cause: personally I applaud Mr Atwood and hope that the authorities give him all the help he asks for. No, I'm not happy with the current state of the country, but I do believe that we have our part to play in sorting it out and that includes teaching the children.

I think anything that we do now!, is likly too be subverted as a raceist agendum. Even some thing as trivial as this.( I CAN HERE IT NOW, UK FORCE ETHNIC MAJORTY TOO ACCSEPT ENGLISH CULTURAL HISTORY.) That will go down well?. (NO ONLY MESSIN,) I lived around that area for years and if remember correctly,it was coverd with Holy for decades. I do wish Mr Attwood well, in his endeavors. I just hope now the EWS in the spotlight, it dosent get trashed. TTFN