A MINI-exhibition is being staged to mark the 100th anniversary of the first manned aircraft flight over East Lancashire.

Mechanised flight was still in its infancy when a round-Britain air challenge was established by the Daily Mail, in July 1911.

And it was a century ago yesterday that thousands of people witnessed the exploits of airmen like the eventual winner, a French naval lieutenant called Jean Marie Conneau, as he completed the Carlisle to Manchester leg of the challenge.

The route took the leading planes over Clitheroe, to the west of Burnley, and past Accrington, before swooping through Rossendale.

An eye-witness account of the drama is currently on display at Haslingden Library, in Deardengate.

Conneau’s Bleriot monoplane drew hundreds of people to the hills above Haslingden and Helmshore.

Despite an early-morning haze, the crowds had their attention drawn to a ‘great buzzing’ and what appeared to be a ‘gigantic bluebottle’ roared overheard.

Conneau went on to win several aeronautical challenges, including a Paris to Rome race, and a ‘Circuit of Europe’ expedition.

* The exhibition will run from July 25 for three months at Haslingden Library Deardengate, Haslingden, Rossendale, BB4 5QL.