a


_______________n z / /


m day I® remember ' z & m i


W i l i i


IN these days of fast moving events, the date August 8th, 1967, has lit­ tle. significance. But as I write, people are calling for rain. The-ground is' parched , and the general ! comment is that “a drop of rain will do a lot of good.” . You may be in agreement, but do you recall the date I mention?


August has. a habit of pro­


viding the unexpected when we speak of rain or thunder­ storms and while I am in no way attempting a forecast, the weather has a curious way of repeating itself.


I f your 'memory has not


been stirred, let me assist by referring to a notebook I .


recently rediscovered. Those personally affected will look


back in horror. Those \vhoi escaped will have no desire for , a repeat performance.


The location was the River


Dunsop watershed. This is a region which requires.no


words of mine to add to its beauty. It is a countryside of wide appeal wfth superb land­ scapes and during most o f the year it is watered by a river as passive and gentle as a dove. However, more than most it has a dual personality, at times displaying a violence we reserve for those in foreign exotic places.


In violence the valley is hor­


rifying and when I recall that day when , the thunderstorm wrought havoc in the entire v a l l e y , in c lu d in g th e tributaries of Whitendale and Brennand, I see nature at her worst. My notebook, written on that day eight years ago, seems alarming, with refer­ ences at times unbelievable. But Tdoubt if they can trans­ mit the true horror — words are just part of a picture.


I wrote: “Almost five inches of rain fell in less than-an hour


' and the usually placid River Brennand in half-an-hour became an uncontrollable, devilish wall of water, crush- • ing, lifting and carrying all that lay in its path.” ,


In a few hours of this vio­


lence the river, after joining the River Dunsop at Foot- holme on it's way to the village of Dunsop Bridge, had com­ pletely destroyed half a dozen solid bridges, devastated acres of lanjd, filled meadows with, gigantic boulders weigh­ ing several tons, felled 30-foot tre e s , killed hundreds of pheasants, drowned many sh e e p , f lo o d e d houses,


•demolished well-built stone buildings and carried stones estimated to weigh five tons half a mile downstream. Fir trees, sycamores and alder were uprooted and 30-inch water mains smashed as if they were planks of wood.


Those were my notes at the


time of the disaster. But when I spoke to people living in the va l le y the* tale of horror became more dramatic.


The first obstacle, how fac- -


ing the swollen river Bren­ nand- was Brennand bridge. . The 20-foot wallof water was irresistible as borne out by the words of Mrs S. Mason, then living at Brennand Farm. She related her story and referred to' the sound as that of thun-. der. Hundreds of tons of rock and rubble churned along beneath the rushing torrent and the evidence is still to be seen. Huge piles of rocks lie


* by the wayside at the mouth of gullies.


• The noise was so great that


it was just not possible to hear anything but the roar of water and stones. Mr and Mrs A. .Marsden were at Lower Bren- nand, no more than half a mile from the Masons at Higher Brennand — by road, under normal conditions, a journey


of 10 minutes. That path was now beneath a lake filling the entire valley floor. Noticing his wife was in danger, Mr Marsden began his walk. The journey took him two and a half hours. Progress was very difficult,


as each gully was by this time filled with a mad rushing tor­ rent To pass each of these he had to toil up the hill in order to" reach the head where it was just possible to cross. He had, in fact, to journey round the perimeter of the valley before d a r in g to. descend to his house. Th e re was an ominous


silence, save for the sound of rushing water. The line of electricity poles, normally fol­ lowing the lower contours of


the valley went down like nine-pins. Walls crumbled or were knocked down by the massive stones carried along b y the e v e r - in c r e a s in g


torrent. Lower downstream, the


C lo ck H ou s e , b u i l t by stonemasons to.last a lifetime just on the banks of the River Dunsop, fell before. the' ons­ laught; .Blocks of concrete weighing 10 to 15 tons, placed in p o s i t io n in. 1950 to strengthen the riverbank, w e n t d ow n s t r e am l ik e


pebbles. , • • , • . • ,-i 1 - The gamekeeper at Whiten-


'date almost; lost .his life in attempting to save his pheas­ ants. He lost 250 birds. Joe Pye lost almost 200.


Nearer Dunsop, at Holme


H ea d , the w a te r rushed indoors to a height of four feet and even today you have no difficulty in noting the rav­ ages of those days in August,


- 1967. August is a strange and forbidding time and with the


. precautions taken at the foot of the river by the village we hope such events will not be repeated. The previous flood was in 1950 on August 22nd.


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DYNAMIC DUO GUNNING FOR HONOURS


C L IT H E R O E sharpshooter M r L e s l ie M c g gison is gunning fo r honours w ith a new weapon he has ju s t designed himself.


And son Michael — a


member of the English shoot­ ing team — has been the first to b e n e f i t fr om d a d ’ s ingenuity. Mr Mcggison, of Pimlico


Road, works for the interna­ tional gun wholesale firm Gunmark, and after three y e a r s has d e s ign e d an improved competition gun. There are only three ver­


sions of the new design in existence — one owned by Mr Mcggison, one by Michael, and the other belonging to one of Europe’s top live pigeon marksmen, Antonia Men- diluce, of Spain. Mr Mcggison, a past chair­


man o f the Ribble Valley Sports and Recreational Advisory Council, started work with Gunmark last year. Since then ho has been a


constant visitor to Japan, Scandinavia and other parts of


With Michael’s sights sot


firmly on Montreal, and Mr Mcggison shooting to fame as a gnn designer, the family c e r ta in ly isn’ t short o f


Eu rop e , redesigning and developing weapons fo r^he company. , As a marksman, he is in the


top class, competing regularly with such experts as Bob Braithwaite, England’s clay pigeon gold medallist at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Part of his job involves


actually shooting in competi­ tion the weapons which his company hopes to sell. He has been shooting for


about 25 years, and has trained his son in this precise art to a point where Michael is now in with "a damn go&d chance” of representing Great Britain at the Montreal Olym­ pics next year. • Michael, who owns a sports shop in G reat Harwood ,


started shooting under his father’s tuition when he was 10 and now at 25 is a member of the Lancashire and national teams. He has just returned with


the English team from Hol­ land, where he won a silver medal in a rapid-fire pistol


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iSsljpitiii f i® LES MEGGISON.


event. He goes to Bisley shooting


centre to train at least once a month and receives regular instruction from the national coach. And with the Olympic team


to be announced at the end of this year, he will be hoping to maintain top form.


success. In fact the name of Mr Meg-'


gison’s new gun is probably the most apt way to describe the two men — the “Dynamic” duo.


Outward Bound


INSTEAD of spending a lazy summer holiday at home, three Clitheroe schoolgirls, will be embarking on arduous four-week Outward Bound courses in August. Alison Humphreys (16), of


King Street, and Bernadette Marsden (16), of Eshton Ter­


raco, will go to Eskdale in Cumbria for their course, and 16-year-old Mary Byrne, of Primrose Street, will travel to the West German mountain resort of Berchtesgaden. The girls, all members of SS


Michael and John’s Guide com­ pany, were nominated for the courses by their leader, Mrs Joan Lee, of Duck Street, Clitheroe. " They will be kept busy dur­ ing th eir ’ time away from


■ home and will have to be up very early each morning to take part in canoeing, moun­ taineering and walking exped- ilions, among other things. But the strenuous time ahead h a sn ’ t dented the g ir ls enthusiasm for the courses one little bit. Alison and Bernadette are


particularly looking forward to canoeing and have recently been getting in a bit of prac­ tice. For Mary, it will be her first trip abroad, but she says


3 CASTLE STREET, CLITHEROE Telephone 22975/23362


S EP TEM B ER !; BR EAK S


. that it will be interesting to meet people on the course from other European coun­ tries. Alison and Bernadette have


MICHAEL MEGGISON.


been sponsored jointly by Clitheroe Round Table and th e o rg a n is a t io n which arranges the courses, the Out­ ward Bound Trust. Mary has been fully sponsored by the Trust.


■ r : f s - t e l # ’': ■


. /. r *'• • & •, .. I


OUTWARD BOUND SS Michael and John’s


Youth Club has contributed towards the girls’ travelling


* and general costs. F r E. Wil­ loughby, parish priest, and the Knights of St Columba ha ve also given financial


support. Clitheroe youth leader Mr


G e o f f Jackson said that although the courses were very demanding, they should provide useful experience for the girls. , “The basic idea is to teach


participants self-reliance and independence,” he added.


Moved I .' house


thdt*s (from left) Bernadette,- Alison and Mary.


attend a garden party at Buc­ kingham Palace. I t was the first time they


had attended a Royal event,; and they enjoyed the day very


much. Miss Margaret Curren, of


Goosebutts Lane, Clitheroe, was. already a garden party “ veteran,” for she attended a similar function in 1967, when she was part of a 10-strong nursing contingent. She felt it was a great thrill


to be invited again. “ I walked round the beautiful grounds, mingled with all the important people, and went inside the Palace itself,” she said. “I had a lovely day.” • That all-important problem


'


THE prospective Parliamen­ tary Conservative candidate


for the Skipton division, Mr John Watson, has already moved into the constituency with his family, because of the large number of engagements he is being called upon to fulfil. Mr Watson, a director of


John Waddington Games and P la y in g Cards o f Leeds, intends to travel daily from his home in Tarleton until the next election.


Guests of


Royalty CHAIRMAN of the Ribble Valley Policy and Resources Committee, Coun. Bill Flem­ ing, and his wife Gloria, of Langho, were among five local guests who took a day of f from their normal routine to


“what shall I wear” was sol­ ved for Mrs Penelope Thomp­ son!, of Acrefield, Whalley, for as County Commissioner fo r the Lancashire East Guides, she was advised to wear her uniform. Mrs Thompson was accom-


panied'to the garden party by her husband, Ian.


Philosophy f degree


Country parks '


A MOBILE exhibition cara­ van featuring photographs


and literature on the plea­ sures o f Britain’s country parks is currently stationed at Beacon Fell.


Pamphlets about Lanca­


shire’s outstanding country parks — such as Beacon Fell itself and the Spring Wood picnic site near Whalley — are also available.


The exhibition, open every


day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., remains at Beacon Fell until a jveek on Tuesday.


Appointment . C h ie f re g ion a l o f f ic e r


■


A FORMER Clitheroe Royal Grammar School pupil, Mr Alan Sims has gained a Mas­ ter of Philosophy degree in London. Mr Sims, who already has


an honours degree in sociol­ ogy, works for the General Nursing Association, and now lives in Dunstable. He is mar­ ried and has a daughter. His parents, Mr and Mrs


Fred Sims, live in Victoria Street, Clitheroe.


NOT all the people who read the Advertiser and


Times so avidly each week receive it neatly folded through the letter box on Thursday morn­ ings.


FACES FROM THE PAST Whalley Window


members of the mental nurs­ ing staff employed there.


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get it for weeks, months even, after the date of publication and these are the readers who comprise my most frequent correspondents. Not to comp­ lain of late delivery, I hasten to add, but to share their memories of the Ribble Valley they said goodbye to many y e a r s a g o— men fr om Clitheroe, Whalley and all the surrounding areas. And, I am flattered to think, from some ladies, too. They come from all parts of


th e w o r ld — C an ad a, A u s tra l ia , South Africa, America — and the latest to arrive came from far-off New Zealand. I t was. from” Mr Edgar Dugdnlc (seems odd callihg him “Mr” ) whom I. do not recall having met since schooldays 50 years ago. E d g a r , w r i t in g from


Albany, near Auckland, tells me he is enjoying “ the lovely country and weather we get” and encloses a large bundle of photographs o f particular in te r e s t to old-timers “squares” like myself. Many are of Calderstones Hospital in its Queen Mary days, where Edgar’s father served in the RAMC during World War I.,


A noted Clitheroe comedian “Tommy” Dugdale also served


in the Boer War and, in his entertaining, followed in the footsteps of his father, Wil­ lard, known throughout the district in that capacity and also as an excellent musician.


Iri the 20s, Tommy's most


popular number was “The yard of lace,” and around the turn of the century Willard appeared annually at the Mayor’s Dinner of the former borough to sing his locally famous “ F i fty Years from now.” To the catchy tune he'' added fresh topical verses each year, to the delight (and sometimes good-humoured embarrassment) of the coun­ cillors and gentlemen of the town, its Among the photographs so


kindly sent to me were several o f the funeral of the late Reverend W. Murray passing along Castle Street. The Rev. Wilson Murray was pastor at the former Congregational


. Church from 1895 to 1908 and died in that year. The funeral was clearly ■ impressive. The hearse with its plumed horses was preceded by a mlmber of frOck-coated, tall-hatted gentlemen (amongst whom we


James Thomber) and was fol­ lowed by literally hundreds of ladies in sombre black, their long dresses sweeping the dusty roadway and their large' hats sitting precariously on


. top of elaborate hair-do’s. A picture of a happier occa­


sion shows members; of the 'Congregational Church choir seated in waggonettes outside Clitheroe Station, prior to leaving on their annual choir


trip to Whitewell. A n d , n o t * u n e x p e c ­


tedly I suppose, for it always rained on choir trips, umbrel­ las were already held aloft by moustachioed bowler-hatted (and in some instances flat- capped) gentlemen,, over ladies dressed in their elegant


„ best. The choirmaster, the late


W i l la r d Dugdale, stood proudly in their midst and, although many of the faces are unfamiliar, I can identify th e w e l l - r em em b e r e d Councillor. “ Bobby” Jones, then quite a young man* A lady I could not possibly


. ago;, also prominent was the


forget was there,v Mrs Agnes Coates, well-beloved by sev­ eral generations bf Sunday School scholars 50 or 60 years


later becoming one of the first £ recognise the .late Alderman > provoking item in thiB inter- - 1 nights.


org an is t , th e - la te David Hanson. - Perhaps the most thought-


appointed to the Lancashire and Yorkshire region of the M in is t ry o f A griculture, Fisheries and Food is Mr J. A. Brown (36), a native of York­ shire. He will be stationed at Leeds.


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esting collection, however, was a yellowed tattered copy of “The Soldiers Magazine.” Written to keep “ the lads” in touch with the activities of their church, it was edited by the pastor, the Rev. J. War­ wick Johnston, and dated July, 1917. A couple of the four pages are devoted to excerpts from


the letters of men on active service. From France, Egypt and Salonika and o th er addresses not specified — one. presumes for security reasons — they came, bearing the sig­ natures of many local men whose names will be instantly recalled by Clitheroe’s senior cit iz en s : Edward Coates, “ R e g g ie ” Parker,. “ Billy” Th om b e r , Harry Swales, Arnold Taylor (later organist at the church}. Tom Duggan, “Nat” Sefton, “Bill” Whittam, 2nd L t Lindsay Grime and.


* over 50 others. “Don’t think l am trying to


unloadalot of old junk on you, Jimmy,” wrote my new cor-


' respondent., “ I realise that when I am - gone they will mean nothing to anyone over


. here?’ • “A lot of old junk, indeed!” I t was the’ most interesting g i f t , deeply appreciated, I have received for a long time •and the pictures have revived.


•: 100 happy memories- I know the names I have quoted will


i stimulate many, many more. There will be a host of lively


"anecdotes recalled .around local fireplaces in the next few . • J.F.


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