IS that it? It's been a long time, up on this hill. A hundred years...some warm, sunny days, yes, but mainly 100 years of rain, mist, snow, ice - and that never-ending wind whipping across the moors.

I know the people of Darwen think a lot of me, but that hasn't stopped some of them from scrawling on me, carving chunks out of me and dropping litter all over me. (What sort of people, by the way, can carry a full can uphill, but can't carry an empty one down?)

And that smell isn't my fault - I'm not meant to be a public convenience.

But - a hundred years of duty done! I was ready for a bit of attention and appreciation from my people - a little sprucing-up, a few repairs and refurbishments maybe: certainly, a splash of paint at least.

Well, they swept me out and sloshed some disinfectant around and all those people came and said nice things, which was much appreciated. Then they went. And it's still windy. And that seems to be that.

Call me cynical, but I can't help thinking that if I'd been built a couple of miles further north, overlooking Blackburn, I'd have had a lot more time and money spent on me.

Still, it's only a matter of time before they change my name to Blackburn Tower, then I'll be properly looked after.

D TOWER, Darwen Hill, Darwen (R Chenery, Bury Fold, Darwen).

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