The Clitheroe
CLITHEROE (0200) 26919 WHALLEY (0254) 823719
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7= AT A GLANCE
Two CRGS pupils have their designs s e t on making their mark in the world of industry as t h e y w i n a w a r d s in a national scholar ship scheme.
page 2
T h e row o v e r opn
plans for the Cal- derstones Hospital site hots up.
■m o m page 3 A Clitheroe nun who devoted her
life to teaching in Africa — and was c i t e d in t h e Bulawayo honours list — nas died at 71.
■ M H p a g e 11
A Billington man claims that Clith- e ro e ’s s ecu rity cameras are an erosion o f c ivil liberties.
page 13
The spotlight is on the Ribble Valley as local voters go to the polls today.
■m m page 19
FOGGHTS WEEKEND WEATHER:
A rising barome ter means higher temperatures and a sunny weekend.
LIGHTING UP TIME: 8-48 p.m.
C AL LU S News:.
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01282 422331 Fax: 01200 443467
....
lyears 1945-95
Four-page VE special inside
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Go on, enjoy the VE Day fun But spare a thought for the scars left by the horrors of war
by the editor
AS a war baby, I was oblivious to the may hem going on around me from my cot m
Manchester. I probably hardly batted an eyelid, a little more
than 50 years ago, as the German bombers travelled overhead in the dark. We were lucky that, most of the time, they were able to distinguish between house and factory chimneys on their way to unleash their deadly cargo on to the relatively nearby A. V. Roe aviation works and Ferranti munitions factory on the
north side of the city. From where the noise of the planes and the thud of
the anti-aircraft guns was coming was, I assume, of little interest to me; I was probably more concerned with where my next meal was coming from. But, of course, I do have my war stones — passed
on to me over the years by my mum and dad and relatives.
And none more so than the sheer happiness of the , , , , ,
VE Day celebrations. , As something of a gregarious, fun-loving person,
I lay my later liking for partying in any shape or form squarely at the doorstep o f Lee Road Social Club, Harphurhey, where I — aged just over two and still in pyjamas — was whirled round the dance floor in my mother’s arms in the early post-war exu
berance that swept the country.
Just think of it! To those not around at the time, or too young to
remember, the relief of coming out of the dark war years almost beggars belief.
For my scared mum, on her own as my father did
his bit for king and country, it would mean that no longer would she need to hide, complete with tin
hat, under the table or stairs until the “all clear”siren went. All the war books, the television documentaries
and the exhibitions, I suspect, will never be able to recreate the feeling of exhilaration as the news came through 50 years ago. So, to cut a long story short, I may not be able
to recollect the war and its joyful ending — but (remember the party spirit in me!) I will certainly be raising a celebratory glass or two over the next few
days.
Bid to find her ‘lost’ parents
by Theresa Robson
THE VE Day celebrations have helped bring a D a rw en w om en c lo s e r to 'S o lv in g th e m y s te r y
of her wartime birth — by pointing her in the direction of Clitheroe.
Mrs Brenda Fitzsim
mons was bom in the town on February 27th, 1944, and shortly afterwards was adopted by a Darwen couple.
•She enjoyed a happy childhood, but the mystery surrounding her birth has always been at the back of her mind. After the death of her
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adoptive parents, several years ago, Mrs Fitzsim mons chanced upon her birth certificate and the names of her natural par ents — Robert and Enid Hobbs, of Wilkin Square, Clitheroe. She made inqu iries
among churches in the area, out was unable to
discover anything more about the couple. Now, as the country
gears up for its VE Day celebrations, Mrs Fitzsim mons has decided to break
her silence and enlist the help of the Clitheroe com munity in piecing together her parents’ identities. She said: “For some rea
son, I was bom at Coplow View, in Clitheroe, and registered as Patricia Anne, although I was brought up as Brenda. My p a ren ts w e r e ca l led Robert and Enid Hobbs, and my mother’s maiden name was registered as Robinson. “ I was subsequently
adopted by Ruth ana Edward Aspden, of Tock-
holes Road, Darwen, and, although I enjoyed an extremely happy child-
Free sweets if you can
'produce ration book
IM AG IN E , ladies, the
daily routine of smearing your legs with g ra v y
browning. When the said limbs are
the desired colour, you take a sharpened eyebrow
pencil and, with groat dex terity, draw a line from >ou ankle up to, ehem, the lem of your, skirt. In actual fact, during
the war, this was the clo sest that many women' got
to a pair of stockings. Such daily routines
encompassed very little by way of haute couture but a g r e a t deal by way of
ingenuity! Rationing didn’ t end
until 1954, by which time Britons had become accus
tomed to their daily diet of d r ied e g g s and meat
scraps. Absolutely everything
was in short supply: from meat, eggs, fat, cheese, bacon and sugar, to bread, tinned goods and even
furniture. But Clitheronians were
MRS FITZSIMMONS with the family she now hopes to extend
hood, I can’t help but won- identity, der why I was adopted.”
She s a id : I wa s “Please understand, my obviously a war baby, but
adoptive parents were after that is a complete wonderful and I couldn’t mystery. You tend to
have asked for anything think all sorts of things, better. I didn’t want to Maybe I came from a large hurt their feelings, while family and my mother just
they were alive, by asking c ou ld n t c o p e w i th about my b ir th ,” she another,
added. j .
was a big step forward, but VE Day has given me the final push.” I f you think you can
help Mrs Fitzsimmons, you are asked to contact her daughter-in-law, Mrs Marie Hartley, in com plete confidence, on 01254 693607. ‘Someone, somewhere
Mm Fitzsimmons said “ I just want, to know must know’ something. Mrs r lizsimmons saiu
impetus Plea to fly the flag
A C A L L on traders to fly the flag and do their bit for the local war commemoration effort has come from Exchange Coffee Com
pany proprietor Mr Mark Smith. There was a terrific response to his request tor
copies of the “Advertiser and Times” from 50 years
agWhile no one was forthcoming with a full copy of the newspaper, there were many offers of cuttings
and residents were quick to loan mementoes. Now Mr Smith and his staff are all set to ensure
that VE. Day is celebrated in style at the Wellgate coffeeshop.
Customers will be able to browse through news , , . , .. ,
papers of the day, thanks to local contributions and help from Mr Raymond Greenwood, Mr Cyril Ains
worth and the Borough Printing Company. A combined effort has ensured that there will be
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plenty of newspapers, including the “Advertiser and Times,” from 1945 to read in the cafe. ' There will be a week’s boiled sweets ration for
S customers and, for those taking genuine ration Allotment soup , will be just one of the specialities
. a free cup of coffee. .
of the week, although Mr Smith warns, tongue in cheek, that ingredients may vary from day to day depending on obtainable produce. ‘-‘The main course will, for obvious reasons, have
a strong flavour of rabbit, while the mock duck has rarely been seen in the farmyard, and the choco late sponge'to finish promises to be a surprise, he
• Will there be wartime prices too? “We toyed with ' , 1 , ...
that idea, but the logistics proved impossible, replied Mr Smith, “but we may do it later.” .3
To wash it all down there will be special , teas created for the week — “Monty’s brew” and “Chur- . chill’s Splendour.” ;
quips. ■ . .... . . , . piooap hpln me solve this
A victory cuppa at Whalley tea room
POTS of “Victory blend” tea will be on the boil at a Whalley tea room between now and September as customers tip their cups and saucers to the end of the Second World War.
The Toby Jug Tea Shop
in King S tre e t wi l l be serving a special Victory 50th Anniversary After noon Tea as a th irs t
quenching commemor ation.
“We think it is an excel
lent way to remember this auspicious occasion,” com mented proprietor Marie Ireland. '‘Many people will remember tea parties held across the country to cele brate the end of the war. We are'taking the oppor: tunity to recreate a little bit of history by serving pots of special ‘Victory
blend' tea. ' The afternoon tea is an
initiative of the Tea Coun cil Guild of Tea Shops, of which the' Toby Jug is a m em b e r , b a s e d on memories of tea-drinking
■: habits during the war. “The Government had
to ration tea, but it stipu lated that the tea’s quality had to be maintained at
: pre-war standards,” said executive director Illtyd Lewis. “The.Tea Council
. decided that an afternoon tea, made to 1945 restric tions, would, be rather
. topical.” T h e T o b y Jug has
received details about food available during the period
: and a sample of the 1945 tea blend,' which was a combination of Indian and
[ Ceylon teas, processed by i the orthodox method.
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recalled." •----- -- She said: “ Absolutely
at the forefront of the bat tle to beat rationing, as Mrs Pat Hall, of Pimlico Road, who was a young s te r during the war,
nothing was wasted. I remember using the hole- punch at work to make confetti from scraps of paper for a friend’s wed ding! We would compress scraps of soap in wire mesh and swish them around in water, in order to wash clothes. “ Coal was difficult to
get, so you used ‘nutty slack’ , a kind of coal dust , to slow down the burning of the coal. Fail ing that, you re-burned
your old ashes! “You didn’t walk past a
piece of wood in a field without picking it up and taking it home, for mim
• Krowijur vi.eL'tubJc'H!’.'
ing. On the way, our eagle eyes would spot wi ld strawberries and sloes, which we would pick. We even tried our hand at
Mrs Hall s recollections
will undoubtedly strike a chord with many readers
o f the “ Advertiser and
Times.” And we are offering a
free bag of boiled sweets to anyone who can produce their ration book at the front counter, today. Furthermore, a pint of
beer is on offer at the Cra ven Heifer pub, in Whal ley Road, on Monday, for just 5p (the equivalent to an old shilling), to war veterans wearing their campaign medals. So, turn the war on its
head — get out vour ration books and rake in
the goodies!
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also spare more than a few moments to think about the deeper implications of that glorious VE Day 50 years ago and what it meant, not just for those who had survived, but also for those who had lost loved ones and for whom the metaphorical scars of war would never heal. We, as a newspaper, do not want to be killjoys. There will be plenty of happy stories and pictures
in our columns over the next few weeks, but today we publish inside — lest any of us forget — an arti cle which is harrowing in parts but also helps to illustrate graphically, through a personal determina tion to survive, the resourcefulness of man when faced
with deadly odds. It is a personal, moving story of a Polish teenager
__Marcin Bialecki — who survived the horrors and inhumanity of not one but three concentration camps and then, as he picked up the pieces of his shattered life, started out on a journey which brought him to
Clitheroe. . Of course we want everyone to enjoy next week's
VE Day celebrations. But, first, read our Marcin Bialecki story and
remember those, like him, who have more than most to thank for this remarkable day of May 8th.
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