HERE’S a photo from 1967 showing Darwen’s longest-ever zebra crossing, certainly one uninterrupted by an island in the middle.

It was a long haul for shoppers. but the White Lion dog didn’t bat an eyelid.

It had its day well planned. A stroll down to the town centre and a saunter through the tripe stalls and the butchers and the cake shops on the market, sitting and waiting patiently for a tit-bit or two. Then a stroll back across the town centre and a long afternoon nap.

Only snag was that the main road, mid-way between the White Lion and the market was rather wide. Traffic was seldom heavy in those days but the regular double-deckers took some dodging.

The new zebra crossing helped. Landlord Vin Morgan’s golden retriever must have weighed it up because it quickly fell into a regular crossing routine.

It would sit at the zebra and wait patiently till a local driver, who would have known it, stopped. Other traffic coming from the other direction would also stop. Fido would haul himself up and stroll nonchalantly across the road.

Everyone got to know the routine and it worked well for at least a couple of years till landlord Vin headed off to a new pub over Blackpool way, taking his elderly dog with him to explore pastures new.

The final touch in the dog’s crossing routine, which amused everyone, came when drivers who had come to a halt flashed their headlights at the old boy to tell him it was safe to venture forth!