Clitheroe Advertiser and Times


EDITORIAL............... TEL. CLITHEROE 22324 ADVERTISING..........TEL. CLITHEROE 22323 CLASSIFIED................ TEL. BURNLEY 22331


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THU R SD A Y, FEBUARY 7th, 1991 No. 5,456


Price 28p < * < $ < $ Weight off the Mayor’s mind •


STONE me! Visitors to the Ribblc Valley Mayoress’s


charity coffee morning at the Mayor’s I'arlour, Clitheroe, on Saturday were amazed when they were invited to “weigh up” the splendid cor­ poration of Mayor Coun.


Howel Jones! “Guess the Mayor’s weight”


was the idea of the Mayoress, Ilowel’s daughter Helen, who thought it would be a “hoot” to get dad on the scales. Competitors weighed up


whether nine months as Kib­ ble Valley Mayor, eating cream cakes and drinking coffees at an endless stream of*social functions, not to mention the official dinners, would have added inches and pounds to Ilowel’s girth. They needn’t have bothered — in fact, the Mayor has lost half a stone since taking office last


May. “ I watch what 1 cat and


don’t have much at home if


1 am attending a function later,” he explained. The competition was organ­


ised hy Mayor’s officer Mr Stuart Riley and Mrs Jo Hop­ kins, wife of Rihhle Valley chief executive Ossie Hop­ kins, read the scales. And the verdict? Howel weighed in at a magnificent L is t . ii'/db. — including his 21b. chain — and foxed all hut three com­ petitors, who got within half


a pound. However, Ribblc Valley


Mean blow for Betty


A CRUEL twist of fate has cost a disabled Low Moor woman the chance to have a stair- lift installed in her home . . . and ruined her hopes for an inde­


THE Kibble Valley’s slimline Mayor weighs in, watched hy daughter llelcn (standing), Mrs Olwcn Saunders, who helped run the competition, and Stuart


Our street is like a new pin


Special litter report by John Dover


CLITHEROE’S Primrose Street is the pride and joy of its residents . . . and they have got out their mops and buckets


Mr M. C. .Jones that seem a “flirty old litter in the street was town" certainly stirred


to prove it! Claims by reader making Cl i theroe


up a lather of protest among P r i m ros e Street residents.


who lives in the street, was quick to spring to their defence, saying he had been approached hy a number of them express­ ing their anger and disgust a t th e i n a c c u r a t e description.


Coun. Eric BvaeeweU,


example set by my neigh­ bours, which contributes significantly to my contin­ uing campaign for a brighter ami cleaner Clith­ eroe,” lie said.


” 1 am proud of the


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back to say that bis letter was written in a true spirit of concern for the town and he was sorry if it had caused offence to the resi­ dents. “I would not lay the blame for something as fickle as litter at the door at which it lands,” lie


Now Mr Jones lias come s1 • p-y.iv- > ' V ^ | READY for action . . . Mrs Fielding (left) and neighbour Mrs Agnes Harrison


Barry marks tidy ways


with a party


BARRY the Brush lias made a tidy pile of Ribble Valley rubbish and is getting into the


reflected. But good people of


cleaner extraordinaire Barry Gnmshaw wants to say thank you to those who have made his private street cleaning service a huge success both in the town and Billington, one of tlie first places he moved into to clean up. Barry’s hash will lie at


Primrose Street are taking no chances. Even if litter as thick as confetti blew their way, they would sim­ ply roll up their sleeves. As 77-year-old resident


party mood tonight to toast his success. For Clitheroe street


rying an assortment of


a working men’s club in Accrington and local coun­ cillors will be among the


guests. Barry (-It!) is famous for


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Mrs Ruby Fielding, who has lived in Clitheroe since U)37, explained: “We get down on our hands and knees every week to scrub the doorsteps of our homes. “Anybody who does not


his unique cleaning equip­ ment, a Robin Reliant — the turbo version, he points out with a mischie­ vous smile — which comes complete with trailer car


figure zooming around the streets on three wheels reaching the parts that other street cleaners can­ not reach.As Clitheroe councillor Eric Bracewell explained: “Barry is able to read: the side streets and awkward parts that regular cleaners find difficult. As a supple­ mentary service, he is very good." T r a d e r s , to o , a re


brushes and shovels. He is now a familiar


fij# w L . - i L . „ ,


c ) , y > 'n i is o i i f j , ; 4 > t i - ;


r j If


Barry Grunshaw, the man who is making^ a clean sweep of the Kib­ ble Valley


done. But he is really con scientious and keeps on trying.”


delighted. Their spokes­ man. Mr Barry Stevens,


said: “His work is like p a i n t i n g 11: e F o r t h Bridge . . . it is never


himself: “1 was out of work before all this started. Now 1 have to take on casual labour to hoi]) me. The party is all a bit of a birthday celebration to mark how far we have come."


Last words to the man —Now it’s up to you—i WHY don’t you spring into action to make your


know the Primrose Street area will think it a down­ trodden dump covered in litter, after reading what was written. “We arc proud of our


as a pin.”


Britain Group, is taking place between the 19th and 28th of April — and we would like to hear from you or your organisation if you have a good idea which, to use the campaign’s slogan, will “Get A Grip On


environment a cleaner place? The National Spring Clean, sponsored by 1 lie 1 idy


road because we all do our bit to help pick up litter. As far as I am concerned, Primrose Street is as clean


“People create litter and only people can cure it, .said Professor Graham Ashworth, the group s direc­


Litter.”


THE chairman of the Ribble Valley Licensed Victuallers Association, Mr Mel Clay, toasted the “nightcap” that saved his life, after fire raged through the Hodder Bridge Hotel, at Chaigley, late on Sunday night.


tor, met with insurance assessors on Tuesday morning, and told us: “It’s like the Black Hole of Cal­ cutta — one hell of a mess. The damage has been put at roughly £150,000.” I t was “ th ird time


‘Nightcap’ proves a lifesaver If m


tor general. Are you prepared to help, then?


tlie same way,” he said.


Mel, the hotel proprie- Hartley, decided on a dou- throughout the whole of .............


ble Scotch at about 12-30 the upper floor. As two a.m. after a busy day fire engines arrived from which saw 200 meals being Clitheroe to tackle the served.


that drink, alive


r e l


lucky” for a fortunate Mel, who has survived being blown up and shot at by the IRA and hijacked by the UVF during his career as a publican in Northern Ireland.


( Q V A U X H A L L 0 M O B IL ITY


Mel (pictured) and the only resident in the hotel


i e v e d


to d a y ,” M e l


a . “ M y


bedroom is directly above the kitchen where we believe an electrical fault had started the fire — and the fumes would certainly have killed me.”


middle of the building and flames soon spread, caus-


The kitchen is in the


“If it hadn’t been for (21), who also lives at the I wouldn’t be said


blaze, Mel s son, David hotel, arrived back after


an outing and asked fire­ men: “Where’s my dad?” Luckily, all the hotel’s


hotel three years ago after running a Liverpool hotel, was full of praise for the firemen, who he said took


Mel, who took over the


five full-time and eight part-time staff had gone home.


arrive from Clitheroe, four


miles away. “They were absolutely


brilliant," lie said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever needed the fire brigade, but it


tastic service they pro­ vide. I ’ll be eternally grateful.”


......


And despite the enor­ mous task of clearing up,


floor are untouched by smoke and Mel hopes the lounge bar and small res­ taurant will be open for business tomorrow and the main restaurant by a week


, . „ by KAYE MOON


pendent life. Mrs Betty Welch, of


Nelson Street, who is w h c e 1 c h ai r - b o u n d with multiple sclerosis, was told


last year that she could have the lift with a 75% grant from the Kibble Val­ ley Borough Council. "Then came a change in


the law which introduced a means test and Mrs Welch was told to pay for it herself. “My husband is a bus


driver and I cannot work, so there's no way we can afford £1,300 to buy a lift,” she told us. “And even if I raised the money, I have been told the lift would have to be maintained and repaired by the county council and would then legally become its prop-


erty. It’s crazy and I just can’t understand it."


Welch has to rely on her husband Richard to bring her downstairs when he starts his bus shift and to take her up at night. That means coming downstairs at six o’clock many morn­ ings, whether she wants to or not — or facing the prospect of staying in her bedroom all day. Her only flushing toilet is upstairs. Mrs Welch said: “ It


I t means th a t Mrs


seems cruel to be told I can have the lift and then I can’t.”


children — Tina (2d), Marie (23), Jane (20) and Andrew (17) — and the problem has upset the whole family.


The couple have four


worked at Calderstones Hospital as a nursing assistant and later at Robinson and Spensley Clitheroe, and then Clith­ eroe Co-op, as an assis­ tant, was discovered to have MS when she fell downstairs in 1988 at her home and fractured her spine. She made a partial recovery, but now cannot


Mrs Welch, who first


croc branch of the MS Society,” she said. “ 1 didn’t go for a while, feel­ ing I was very indepen­ dent. But it was my best move when I joined. The icople there are marvel­ ous and the secretary


walk at all. “My lifeline is the Clith


Peter Dunwoody, is : great help and friend to us


all.” She was also full of


praise for Ribble Valley principal housing officer Mr John Ogden, who has been trying to help solve her problems. He told us: “By law, the


councillors later got the sharp edge of Rowel's tongue at their full council meeting on Tuesday night. “I understand the heaviest


• • • I . A ........- . . I I L . North West Weekly


guesses of nearly llist. canie from councillors and their wives,” declared Howel. “Thank you very much!” Was it perhaps a case of a


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Mrs Welch


Bewitching assignment


THE Fondle Witches


could have a starring role on Granada Television, if


a local media student produces a successful


formula. Miss Lindsay Connell


(20), of Pimlico Road, Clithcroc, has been given a grant of £200 and the go-ahead to produce a


six-minute film for this year’s first-ever Granada film and video awards.


of Mr and Mrs David Connell, is a first-year student of media production at Salford College of Technology. A former pupil'at Clithcroe Royal Grammar School, she started studying at Blackpool Catering College before moving into media studies. She has written her


own script for the short drama, which focuses on the injustice of the hangings which followed the witches’ trial at Lancaster Castle. She is approaching


Clithcroc Amateur Oper­ atic and Dramatic Society for help in providing older character actors and actresses, who will be prepared to join students of her college’s performing arts section


council now has to carry out a means test, which takes into account any allowances a disabled per­


son might have, and I'm afraid Mrs Welch failed this. “If she ever did man


age to have a lift installed, it would then have to be maintained and repaired by the County Council or some similar body, making the lift legally theirs. This move came about after fatal accident involving lift.”


place on I’cndle Hill, in the Trough of Bowland and, possibly, at Lancaster Castle during the week starting March 18th and, if it wins an award, the film would be shown on Granada in May or June. Lindsay is making a


for the film. Shooting will take


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cardboard gallows which will he used for the film’s final gruesome scene of the gallows at sunset. A part-time production


assistant at Red Rose Radio, Lindsay hopes eventually to produce children’s television programmes.


Mourners pack church


CLITHEROE’S SS Michael and John RC Church was filled to capacity on Friday afternoon for the funeral of eight-year-old Louise King, of Commons House,


Back Commons, Clitheroe. Louise, who died after a courageous fight against


who described Louise as “courageous, cheerful and a great example to us all.” He drew the congrega­ tion’s attention to the window above the altav, show­ ing tlie presentation of Jesus at the age of six weeks. “Louise’s parents are offering her to the Lord in


The service was taken by Fr. Vincent Waremg, .


leukaemia, was a pupil of SS Michael and John's School, and pupils sang the hymn, “Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising.”


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