I'VE been captivated by the Channel 4 programme The 1900 House.

I'd love to time travel like the chosen family, and live just like the Victorians did - if only for a short time.

I know I must be mad, but I'm a fan of the antiques of that era, and to have the chance to see them all in situ would be enchanting.

Not having central heating wouldn't bother me - I didn't have it anyway until 15 years ago - and I could definitely cope with the cleaning and cooking, as long as I was on my own.

I lived in a Third World country for a bit in the Seventies, and got used to washing, both myself, clothing and bedding, in a bucket. So I could cope in that department too.

The only part I wouldn't take too kindly to would be shuffling off to an outside lav again.

Memories of Fifties' days in our Heather Grove privy give me the willies. It was horrendous doing what you have to do in a freezing, decrepit outhouse - as was emptying a communal po.

Ugh! Families don't appreciate how blessed they are these days.

They should tune in and see what life used to be like not long ago for their ancestors.

ANY hopes that chiller killer Myra Hindley had of future release from prison must have faded completely this week following the Channel 5 three-part documentary on The Moors Murders.

The horrors of those dark days of 1965 when five children were terrorised, tortured, abused, pictured and killed before being buried on Saddleworth Moor were relived for a new generation.

The detectives involved in the hunt to pin down the evil duo were obviously still much affected by the case. And, as for the youngsters' parents, well it showed in their faces how much they have suffered over the 35 years. Couldn't you have wept for them.

HIndley's supporters for her release claim she has reformed. Even if she has, after what she helped to put those poor children and their families through, she should never again see the light of day.

And as for Brady going on hunger strike because he's been moved from his comfy ward at Liverpool's Ashworth hospital, well let him starve.

Both of them have dreams beyond belief.

CYCLIST Sam Hewitt fumes every time he rides along the East Lancashire Road from the Greyhound towards Liverpool.

The grass verges are a mass of rubbish. In recent weeks even a Chesterfield settee has been dumped by the roadside (pictured). Rubbish doesn't look quite as bad in summer when it is covered by nature in all its glory, but winter tells a different story.

Anyway, Sam from Lowton feels not enough is done to keep our roads clean.

He says the verges are cut without moving the rubbish, and that means one piece of paper becomes six, spreading it even further. "I don't pay my rates to keep Wigan clean, I pay rates to keep my own area clean and it isn't."

Fair point.

I pointed out that the council's BEAT it squads are now tidying up areas of the town at the request of ward councillors, but if people weren't so lazy there wouldn't be such a mess.

On the East Lancs it might help if there were more litter bins in lay-bys - if people could be bothered to use them.

F-ORTUNATE me! I could have won a brand new 7 series BMW . . . but then I'll never know.

I received one of those amateurishly produced official notices of congratulations this week saying I had been named by some company's computer to win a prize, ranging from the car to a face care system.

They can't deliver whatever I've won though until I contact the 24-hour claim line - and reading the very small print that costs £1 a minute for approximately NINE minutes.

Do these people think we're stupid? £9 for a call. What a con.

If you're unfortunate enough to get one just chuck it in the bin.

PS: Yesterday I received a second one exactly the same, and that met the same demise.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.