The Clitheroe vertiser an


a^TKe paper that:champions;theRibble;Valley:Cause


^E^OFS^ STJliJIfE


A Clitheroe man who "glassed” his cousin in a night­ club has been jailed for 15'months.


Gardens were opened in the Hod- der Valley and raised a staggering £3,330.


..... .....Ill page 11


An elderly couple have added their voices to ' com­ plaints about huge increases in home care charges.


II I n»nn page 3


A local historian develops a novel card game to boost torchlight proces­ sion funds.


notBanoaMM page 6


A classic sports car has been won in a remarkable raffle.


Enterprising pupils make their mark in a national competi­ tion in London.


I page 8


FOGGITT’S WEEKEND WEATHER: Much cooler with the threat of heavy showers.


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History in the making as citizens become aldermen


by Sheila Nixon


THREE former Ribble Valley councillors made history this week when they became the borough's first ever honorary aldermen. The trio, Mr Ted


Boden, of Chatburn, Mrs Myra Clegg, of Wiswell, and Mr Bert Jones, of Citheroe, were appointed for their "eminent service to the


council." But their new roles will


be ceremonial only, unlike


those of the aldermen of the pre-1974 authority who had voting powers. Deputy Mayor Coun.


Chris Holtom presented them with illuminated scrolls to mark the appointments. "It's a very unusual and


a very auspicious occa­ sion," he declared. Coun Holtom was


deputising for the Mayor, Coun. Brian Collis, who was in London attending a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace. "The Mayor's loss is my


gain. I can't think of a more enjoyable task than


chairing this meeting to honour these three former


councillors," he said. Both Mr Boden and Mrs


Clegg served the borough council from its inception in 1974 until their retire­


ment in May. Mr Jones was a member


for 23 years, retiring at the


same time. As aldennen, they may


attend and take part in civic ceremonies at the invitation of the council, but do not have the right to attend meetings of the council and its committees in the capacity as mem­


bers. Mr Ted Boden is the


Postman ‘serious’ in hospital after attack by cow


Fears th a t he m a y b e paralysed fo r life


A LOCAL postman suffered severe spinal injuries and may be paralysed for life after being attacked


by a cow on his rural round. Popular local dog train- like he had been thrown a


ing enthusiast Mr Alistair Johnson, (41), of The Grove, Whalley, was cross­ ing a public footpath over a field on Lawsonsteads Farm, Brooks Lane, Whal­ ley, while on his rounds, when the animal ran at him on Tuesday morning. The cow is believed to


I believed to have been a completely unprovoked


have lunged at the unsus­ pecting postman and head- butted his abdomen and face several times in what is


attack. A King Street resident at


the back of the field heard


, Mr Johnson (pictured) cry I out and immediately rang farm dweller Mrs Doris Coates, who in turn rang for


Ja W S O N 'S IS?


I an ambulance and contact­ ed Mr Johnson's mother,


Mrs Barbara Johnson. Paramedics who rushed


I from the waist down. With his mother by his side, he


to the scene found Mr John­ son dazed and paralysed


was rushed to Biackburn Royal Infirmary for emer­ gency X-rays. When doc­ tors confirmed Mr Johnson had sustained severe spinal injuries, he was airlifted by helicopter to a specialist spinal unit at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital NHS Trust, where he is currently being treated. Blackburn paramedic Mr


: S ■ ■?;


Esmail Risai, who first attended to the injured man, said: "He was lying down on the floor. It looked


considerable distance. He was paralysed from the waist down, but was putting a brave face on it." He added: "The chances


of recovery from an injury like that are low, because the nervous tissue in the spine is non-regenerative and he had no feeling in his


lower limbs. Farmhand Mr Peter


Coates (30) said the cow, which had since been destroyed, had given no pre­ vious warning of its explo­ sive nature. "I had been in the field with the cow earli­ er on Tuesday morning and it had done nothing to sug­ gest it would attack anyone. Sometimes you get cows that are protective of their calves, but this is complete­ ly unexpected. We are all really shocked," he said. Mr Johnson, a former


pupil at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and a postman for over 10 years, founded the Clitheroe and District Dog Agility Club and has won many awards. He is described by neigh­ bour Mrs Elizabeth Barnes as "a thoroughly pleasant man who lives for his dogs." Mr Johnson’s mother, the


Vicar of Whailey's warden, was said to be "very upset, but composed." The Rev. Chris Sterry,


Vicar of Whalley, said: "This is a terrible accident and we will be remembering Alistair and Barbara in our prayers in church."


retired headmaster of Chatburn CE Primary


School. His appointment as


alderman was proposed by Coun. Charles Warkman, who described him as a "man of authority - but with a great sense of humour". Mrs Clegg, who worked


for many years in her late husband's Clitheroe phar­ macy while carrying out her duties as a councillor, was proposed by Coun. Harry Backhouse. He said he had never seen her angry in the council chamber and she had impressed him with her


W \ ■ * ' I 1 ' ' M ,


"boundless energy". Mr Jones, a retired ICI


wages and administration clerk, was the only Labour representative on the coun­ cil in recent years.


new sW m ^ His appointment was


proposed by Coun. Howel Jones, who said that "any worthwhile cause in Clitheroe had always had the support of Bert Jones".


The unanimous election


of the aldermen ended on a humorous note, when Mr Jones said: "There's never before been such an occa­ sion when so many Conser­


vatives have voted for me". Our picture shows, from


the left, Mrs Clegg, Coun. Holtom, Mr Morris, Mr Boden and Mr Jones. (130799/13/4)


Big rush for jobs


at area’s booming computer firm


ALMOST 2,000 job hunters packed into Time Computers' open days held a week after the firm announced its creation of 500 new


jobs. A staggering 1999 pMple,


from all over East Lan­ cashire, queued to try and secure one of the customer service and manufacturing positions on offer by the company. Sunday and Monday's


open days, at the firm's headquarters in Simonstone Business Park, offered a briefing about the types of jobs on offer and prelimi­


nary interviews. A spokesman for the firm


^id: "We were surprised to see as many applicants and we couldn't offer second


interviews because of the huge response. "The quality of the appli­


cants was very good. We weren't looking for people with computer expertise, but people who could work in the customer care depart­


ment." Final interviews will be


held over the next few days and it is.hoped that the first wave of job o'ffers for the customer care and manu­ facturing departments will be sent out soon. The rest of the jobs will


be staggered between now and Christmas. © In addition to the 500


local jobs. Time also announced that 450 jobs have been created in 50 new retail outlets to be opened across the country over the next few months.


Thursday,. July 15th, 1999 No. 5,897 Price 47p


N © W @ M


A DOWNHAM grandmother has bowled over villagers by conquering a life-long fear of water to help raise


funds for her local cricket club. Plucky Mrs Kath Swarbrick, an occu­


pational therapy helper at Clitheroe Hos­ pital until retiring, made it her New Year's resolution to learn to swim. The "sixty­ something" mother-of-four joined Ribbles- dale Pool's Wednesday morning class of adult learners in January and, after just a term and despite suffering from arthritis,


she achieved her first length. Mrs Swarbrick, who has been making


the teas for Downham and Twiston Crick­ et Club for the past 28 years, then decided to bat on to put her newly-acquired skill to


good use. With sponsorship of more than £100


from club members and village residents.


Mrs Swarbrick undertook her Stamina Md Water Skills Test, which involved diving under the water to retrieve objects from the pool floor, as well as length swimming. Having made the grade, our photo shows


Mrs Swarbrick being presented with her certificate by pool lifeguard Mr Steve Bed-


ford. Her contribution to club funds will be


spent on new bats and balls. Said Mrs Swarbrick, whose husband, two sons and 13-year-old grandson Kris Swarbrick have all played for the historic club, while her two daughters are familiar scorers: "I hope learning to swim at my age will encourage others to try something that they have per­ haps put off. 1 have also been happy to help Downham and Twiston Cricket Club as, being small, it struggles for funds and is always looking for match ball sponsors." (070799/l/4a)


MP steps into school closure row


THE Save Tosside School Cam­ paign stepped up a gear this week, with a vow to stage a "David and Goliath" fight to keep the 180- year-old premises open. Today, campaign members were


due to meet Ribble Valley MP Mr Nigel Evans at the school, to spell


out their case. Lancashire Education Authority


has called for a consultation period before a decision is taken to save or close the nine-pupil school. The decision wiil be taken by a school


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organisation committee, represent­ ing the Secretary of State at local level. The consultation period draws


to a close this month. Mrs Judith, Carter, campaign co-


ordinator and vice-chairman of the school governors, said villagers believed that the closure threat was the latest in a long line of raw deals


for Tosside. "It seems that with Tosside it is


'out of sight out of mind', but we are going to lay on a David of a fight," she declared.


Mrs Carter said the fear w ^ that ___ f-Vint nn Cf.sted reuort had said i


the school's closure would rip the heart out of the village and give the isolated community at Tosside less choice over education at a time when the accent elsewhere was on


more choice. Governors, parents and parish


councillors, expressed their anger at the way the school had been treated by the authorities, during a meeting at the school on Monday evening. The school is said to be uneco­ nomical to run and parents heard


that an Ofsted report had said it


gave poor value for money. The campaigners were also angry over North West Water's attitude to


the area. Older members recalled that the authority's predecessor bought many farms in the area when Stocks Reservoir was created, and it was felt that now was the time to approach the authority to see if it would be prepared to put something back into the area by giving financial backing to keep the school open.


^ T v M iS S O U R P i C T O R i A L l l 2 ; P A C i& ;M i L t E N N iU M ; ; S ^ p P C E M E N T N E X T ; .W E E K


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