, : 1


The Clitheroe .Thursday, January 13th, 2000 No. 5,923


vertiser an imes Thet' paper that champions the Ribble Valley cause


DONT MSS MARJORIE ORR’S PREDICTIONS-THIS WEEK


Anyone planning a holiday to Spain’s Andalucia region can rely on a Ribble Valley man for top travel tips.


Rimington loses another character with the sudden death of a local farmer.


................ page 7


Building work is nearing completion on the impressive new school building in Sabden.


u " page 9


The new headmas­ ter of St Mary’s Hall preparatory school, Stonyhurst, has thanked every­ one for the warmth of the welcome his family has received.


■ 11 page 4


Four different designs aimed at d e v e l o p i n g Clitheroe’s Platform Gallery have been drawn up.


FOGGITT’S WEEKEND


WEATHER: Becoming colder with night-time frosts and foggy, frosty mornings


CALLUS


News: 01200 122321 Advertising: 01200 122323 Classified: 01282 12233I Fax: 01200 443407


Editorial c.mail: rebecc.a.smilli@rim.


co.uk 323© I


: PAMPER YOURSELF ° A


T LE CRE


Lucky escape for family as alarm warns of fire


Mum and four children safe and sound by Natalie Cox


aware of the incident by a smoke detector. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of having a smoke detec­


A CLITHEROE family escaped a p o ten t ia l ly fa ta l house fire unscathed a f te r a smoke alarm alerted them to the bedroom blaze on Sunday morn­


ing. Miss Ann Simpson, her three chil­


dren, Sarah (seven), Cameron (six) and Hannah (three), together with Nicole Stevenson (seven), all escaped before fire-fighters arrived on the


scene.Clitheroe station commander David McGrath said if the smoke detector had not alerted the family the fire could have led to the loss of life. "If you look after your smoke detector it will look after you. Five people in these premises were made


tor." Mr McGrath added: "This was a


severe fire as it was, but it could have been a lot worse and life threatening. Very probably we could have been talking life lost if it had not been for the smoke detector." Fire-fighters spent more than two


week, Miss Simpson says it will be three months before she can move back into her house. Meanwhile, the family is staying with friends and family while the problem of tempo­ rary accommodation is resolved. Speaking about the fire, Mr


Recovering from the ordeal this


hours tackling the fire at the house in Central Avenue where Miss Simpson has lived since May. She said after she heard the smoke alarm go off she went to investigate the cause. "I went upstairs, the door was partially open and I saw the smoke and flames. I didn't open the door because the flames were quite high. I went down got the children out and called the fire service. I had the telephone on an extension lead outside the house."


McGrath said that when his team arrived at the house one of the bed­ rooms was well alight with smoke coming out of every window and the roof. He added that the severity of the flames and heat had forced fire-fight­ ers to fight the fire from outside ini­


tially.Mr McGrath said the fire caused severe damage to one bedroom, with smoke damage to all the upstairs rooms and slight smoke damage to


ground floor rooms. Our photograph shows the scene of Sunday's fire. (100100/10/12a)


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Furious residents attack by Sheila Nixon


county over road gritting ‘A serious accident’ is waiting to happen


ANGRY Ribble Val­ le y r e s id e n t s h a v e m o u n te d a tw o ­ pro n g ed a t ta c k th is w e ek a g a in s t L a n ­ c a s h i r e C o u n ty Council for i ts "lack of g r i t t in g " of ru ra l roads.


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A "very serious acci­


dent is waiting to hap­ pen" on u n g r i t te d school bus routes, warns a Gisburn coach operator in a letter to


County Hall. Meanwhile, Holden vil­


lagers have sent a 95- name petition to the coun­ ty council, deploring the lack of gritting on Decem­ ber 28th and 29th and calling for a review of its gritting policy as a matter


of urgency. Mrs Heather Hodson, of


Tel: 01200 422264


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coach hire firm Hodsons of Gisburn, says she feels com­ pelled to voice her deep con­ cerns both as a parent and school transport operator. In her letter to County


gers on most of our routes, aged between four and 18. "Please, as I have said, can we have more action


facet of the situation was that the driver of a gritting vehicle was not familiar


"One more disconcerting


and less talk. There is a very serious accident wait­


ing to happen.” The Holden residents'


case is spelled out by Mr Eric Walmsley, a chartered surveyor, who lives at


Brookside. He tells the county coun­


cil that residents and other regular users of Holden Lane, Holden to Lane Ends road and other minor roads in the area were protesting against "your failure to have ice-affected roads treated with grit and salt, particularly on the steep hills out of Holden and the approach roads leading to


Hall she explains that she raises the subject of lack of salting on Ribble Valley roads, expecially school routes, every year - and each year it is with "yet more concern that I am ignored in my quest". She points out that some


them. "It was a miracle that


children in remote rural areas begin their journeys to school as early at 7 a.m., when the roads are at their "most dangerous". Mrs Hodson writes: "I


there were no serious injuries or fatal casualties on Tuesday and Wednes­ day, December 28th and 29th, when these roads were skating rinks, as evidenced by the fact that your grit­ ting vehicle could not get up Holden Lane for some time and almost skidded to drop on to Lodge Cottages. "On the Lane Ends road,


am not in my car with only myself or maybe one pas­ senger. We are carrying between 30 and 57 passen-


with the area and’ was attempting to navigate by a photo-copy portion of the local map, and needing directions from a local resi­


dent. "It is only this last two


years th a t the hitherto splendid safety precautions on these roads has been dis­ continued. There was treat­ ment at the first sign of adverse conditions. The fact is that essential ser­ vices, such as ambulance, police, post, school buses, milk deliveries, etc., have been ignored, apart from private journeys to work. "We submit that the rea­


son of cost for neglecting this service is untenable, especially in view of the county's share of the coun­ cil tax being well above the rate of inflation and that, in this rural area, valuation of properties for council tax is well above the county aver­


age. "We request most urgent­


a local resident narrowly escaped being pushed into the steep drop into Holden Clough wood, an 80 to 100ft. drop in places.


ly that you restore the pri­ ority for these roads for equal treatment, when adverse conditions are fore­ cast and so help to prevent serious accidents and possi­ ble litigation.” They also ask that the


gritting appliances are operated by someone with a local knowledge of the


roads. A county council


spokesman said the author­ ity had a priority system for gritting roads and had recently published a leaflet, which had gone out to local areas, explaining the policy and advising drivers on how to cope with wintry condi­


tions. He declared: "We can't


salt every road in the coun­ ty - we have got to have a priority system. Secondly, our drivers cannot be expected to be familiar with every road in the area." He said that gritting


roads did not necessarily make them safer. A certain volume of traffic was required to disperse the salt. If low levels of traffic used a gritted road, then it could become more danger­ ous than if it had not been


gritted. For the same reason,


school routes in rural areas classified as "low traffic routes" were not salted. However, the letters and


petition would be passed to the Highways and Trans­ portation Committee for full consideration.


Meningitis boy is back at school


A YOUNG Ribble Val­ ley meningitis sufferer is back a t his school


desk. His ordeal has prompted


parents and children at his own school and the one where his mother teaches to


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Ex-Chatburn man gets life for ‘cowardly’ murder


A FORMER Chatburn man was jailed for life on Tuesday after being found guilty of what the judge described as a "cowardly and premed­


itated" murder. Christopher John Hol-


gate, now aged 35, was previously known as Nor- grove and grew up in Chatburn, where some people still remember the


family. At Preston Crown Court


Holgate denied that he had a grudge against pae­ dophiles because he was abused as a child. He denied responsibility


for the death of Mr Ivan Parker, who died in a 2 a. m. fire at his home in Clay Street, Burnley, last March. Ilolgate's counsel Mr


Holgate said that this


was not so. He maintained he had nothing to do with the fire or with a stab wound in Mr Parker's groin area. Medical evidence showed that this did not contribute to his death, which was caused by the toxic effects of smoke. No explanation was


given in court for Ilolgate , who had previous convic­ tions for assault and pos­ sessing an offensive weapon, changing his name. There are no members of the immdeiate family living


in Chatburn. Ilolgate attended local


schools then worked briefly at the village mill before leaving the area. In recent times he had


John Rowe QC asked him if his childhood experiences meant he wanted to "get" the dead man because he thought he was a pae­ dophile and a beast.


lived in the Nelson and Burnley areas, having left Chathurn some years ago. However, he retained some local connections through people he knew as a hoy and teenager.


£1,500 bill for Christmas vandal attack on crib


raise money. William Wenborn (five)


lives in Billington and attends Read CE Primary School.He contracted meningitis at the end of October while on a visit to London, and was treated there and later at Booth Hall, Manchester. The disease was of a type that causes severe blood poisoning, and at one time it was feared William might lose a foot because it was septic. As we reported, the fami­


ly put his remarkable recov­ ery down to medical skill and the power of prayer. At the Read school,


Christmas event receipts totalling some £400 have been donated to the paedi­ atric intensive care unit at St Mary's, Paddington, where he was treated. William's mother, Mrs


Judith Wenborn, works at St James's CE School, Clitheroe - collections dur­ ing the infant Nativity per­ formances there, £320, are being sent to meningitis


research. "It's been a wonderful


and much appreciated ges­ ture by both schools and all concerned," says Mrs Won- born, who is still taking her son for physiotherapy.


Spending a penny is now worth a fortune!


SPENDING a penny can now be part of an award-winning experi­


ence for shoppers in Whalleyl For the village's womenswear


store, Maureen Cookson Ltd, is flushed with success at having been commended for having some of the best loos in the North West. And this latest accolade is no flash


its pastel peach co-ordinated facili­ ties.


the competition organisers and sponsors, which included the Eng­ lish, Welsh and Scottish Tourist Boards, the British Toilet Associa­ tion and Cannon Hygiene. Their inspections led to a com­


Secret checks were then made by


in the pan, as managing director Mrs Hilary Cookson explained: "The award for our toilets is our sev­ enth award inside of a year. We take pride in all corners of the store, tak­ ing all our facilities very seriously." The fashion outfitters, which


mendation, alongside the Trafford Centre and an Asda store in Chad- derton, for the award's North West retail category, marked by the pre­ sentation of a commemorative


recently made headlines for being named the Draper's Record Inde­ pendent UK Womenswear Retailer of the Year, was nominated for the Loo of the Year Award by a mystery customer, seemingly impressed with


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plaque. Added Mrs Cookson: "We have no


idea who actually nominated us, but we are grateful. We check our toilets regularly and have designed them on a home from home bathroom


theme."


FOUR-YEAR-OLD Harriet Shepherd is bowled over by the cleanliness as director Henry and MD Hilary Shepherd and assistant Linda Lamb hold the award for the area. (291299/3/10).


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THREE missing shepherds, a headless wise man and bro­ ken donkey ears will need replacing or mending before Clitheroe's Nativity tableau can be put away until next


reported in last week’s Advertiser and Times, a New Year's Eve attack on the town's crib left its figures bat­


tered, broken or missing. Having now been able to have the damage properly


assessed, Clitheroe Town Council has been told it faces a bill in excess of £1,500 for the restoration work. At a meet­ ing earlier this week, councillors therefore decided to invite Clitheroe police to their next meeting to draft a plan for


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