Plans for 500ft numbers on Pendle Hill rejected

3:02pm Friday 11th May 2012 in Pendle

‘A SILLY IDEA’ An artist’s impression of how the daubing will look on Pendle ‘A SILLY IDEA’ An artist’s impression of how the daubing will look on Pendle

CONTROVERSIAL plans to inscribe ‘1612’ into Pendle Hill, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the witches trials, have been rejected as ‘inappropriate’.

Barrowford artist Phillippe Handford had been commissioned to spray the date in 500-foot high numerals on the landmark.

But the idea, costing £1,500, had provoked concern among villagers in the shadow of Pendle, with some suggesting it was ‘distasteful’.

And the Bishop of Burnley, the Right Rev John Goddard, questioned whether it was right to celebrate ‘a dark period in our history’.

The plug has now been pulled on the scheme after the Barrowford and Western Parishes committee voted against the idea.

Coun Linda Crossley, the committee’s chairman, said: “The more we looked into this and considered the size of it - because it could be seen from virtually everywhere - we felt that it was inappropriate.”

And with the council being asked to save money wherever possible, it was not felt to be the best use of the authority’s resources, she added.

But town hall bosses say that there is still plenty of opportunities to mark the 400th anniversary of the Pendle Witches trial across the borough.

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Mr Handford himself is leading three other artists to create a sculpture trial in and around Barley and Roughlee.

Regeneration director Brian Cookson said: “We’ve got plenty to see without the installation. A fantastic new sculpture trail near Pendle Hill inspired by the Pendle Witches opens this summer.

“We’ve commissioned Mr Handford to lead this and he’s doing a brilliant job with three other acclaimed artists from the north.”

Several theatre productions and at least one film are in the pipeline on the witches theme, including a run for Pendle Borderline’s Devlish Practices, which opens at Colne Muni on May 23.

Comments(15)

norville1 says...
3:15pm Fri 11 May 12

500ft high numbers? surely that's a mistake. That would make each number as high as Blackpool Tower! Surely they mean 50ft ????

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did you smash it? says...
3:28pm Fri 11 May 12

Pendle Hill is just under 2000 feet high, so 500ft seems about right to me.

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sean_brfc says...
3:37pm Fri 11 May 12

Ridiculous decision. A great opportunity to do something different and promote the area and the Bishop has to stick his oar in and scupper it. Unbelievable!

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Keep Darwen Green says...
3:41pm Fri 11 May 12

Won't be long before it has a sky tv billboard on it anyway.

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did you smash it? says...
3:41pm Fri 11 May 12

Agreed Sean, these type of Parish councils always remind me of the meetings on The Vicar Of Dibley - a load of tweed coat wearing liberals with nothing better to do.

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norville1 says...
3:42pm Fri 11 May 12

did you smash it? wrote:
Pendle Hill is just under 2000 feet high, so 500ft seems about right to me.
should be called Pendle Mountain at that height ! so it seems to be about right. Wow that would have looked great for a short period of time. Shame the fuddy duddies have put the mockers on it :(

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did you smash it? says...
3:51pm Fri 11 May 12

norville1 wrote:
did you smash it? wrote:
Pendle Hill is just under 2000 feet high, so 500ft seems about right to me.
should be called Pendle Mountain at that height ! so it seems to be about right. Wow that would have looked great for a short period of time. Shame the fuddy duddies have put the mockers on it :(
I think the official stance is anything over 2000 feet is a mountain, anything below it is a hill! so it is 150 feet shy of being a mountain.

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happycyclist says...
4:20pm Fri 11 May 12

It would have been the sort of thing that made the national news and alerted/attracted a much wider audience to the other events that are being held.
The fact that it would have been seen from 'virtually everywhere' was sort of the whole point.

A poor decision by the committee and a lost opportunity.

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useyourhead says...
4:27pm Fri 11 May 12

BOOOOO! killjoys!

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chris26 says...
4:30pm Fri 11 May 12

TELL THEM YOU WANT TO BUILD A MOSQUE ON THE TOP OF PENDLE.......you wont need witches it will fly through

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lwg76 says...
5:25pm Fri 11 May 12

Typical of the senior clergy wanting to hush up the truth about the despicable treatment of vulnerable young women by the powers that be. In 1612 most of the population were slaves to the landed gentry or Church and were bought and sold along with the land.
The charge of witchcraft was often bought to silence an inconvenient truth.
Or, as in the case of the 300 women killed by the Witchfinder General (A puritan Priest) for monetary and political gain

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mavrick says...
5:36pm Fri 11 May 12

Maybe it is a good decision, after all I think it would only serve to sell dissappointment. This whole scheme has been mishandled and opportunities have been lost. This was a scheme that could not and should not be done on the cheap. I am suprised the Rev kev and his band of god botherers did'nt lead the charge.

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Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...
10:40pm Fri 11 May 12

I don't know why they don't get the great masses of the unemployed to level it so I don't have to drive over it, come on get digging.

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maggie-T says...
12:40am Sat 12 May 12

did you smash it? wrote:
Pendle Hill is just under 2000 feet high, so 500ft seems about right to me.
It's 1827 ft above sea level,

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Real Ale Up North says...
4:10pm Mon 14 May 12

Like most people have said.What a load of killjoys.Not in the real world.
And as usual the clergy chipping in with outdated claptrap.
Great opportunity missed for Pendle to profile itself'
The parish committee should hang their heads in shame.Put them all on 'the ducking stool'.They are a disgrace.

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