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TheGtiiheroe Thursday, February 7th, 2002 No. 6,031


A belated happy Christmas


AT A GLANCE


The head injuries' received by a soldier who died a f te r being found outside a German bar­ racks block remain a mystery.


—■ page 3


A new £7,000 council shredder will help recycle more greenwaste,


i " ' ■■■■■— page 8


The head of the Ofsted Inspec­ tion Service singles out a Valley high school in his annual report.


. '■ p a g e 1 2


Ten young people are bidding for seats on a county youth council.


. page 13


The county’s fav­ ourite plumber has been selected as the best in the North West and now heads for a national final.


i page 3


A new register of interests for councillors has been branded as “big brother political dogma”.


'■ page 5


The relatives of users of a Clitheroe day centre are worried over Lancashire County Coun­ cil plans for the future.


in"


FOGGITT’S WEEKEND WEATHER: Mild, but remain- . ing showery and. blustery.


SUNRISE: 7-30 a.m. SUNSET: 5-00 p.m.


LIGHTING UP TIME: 5-02 p.m.


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Editorial e-mail: clitheroe.editorial@


rim.co.uk , page 3


imes and views from the Centre of the Kingdom


THE workforce of 200 at a Clitheroe chemical plant has received the unsettling news that the company has been put on


the market. Their parent company, the giant


iCI chemical conglomerate, has iden­ tified reducing the cost of its borrow­ ings as the reason for looking for a buyer for Synetix, which has a plant on the Pimlico Industrial Estate on the West Bradford Road. Synetix has four sites in Britain -


number of smaller operations in North America, Japan, India and Germany. The company manufactures cata­


lyst materials needed by the chemical, petro-chemical, refinery, and polymer


businesses. It has occupied the site for several


decades, but has been in its present form under the ICI umbrella for only


three years. Employees this week were not undu­ ly perturbed, because their plant is


two, including the headquarters, in Cleveland, and one each in Clitheroe and County Durham. I t also has a


highly profitable and likely to find a number of interested buyers. Mr Neil Jackson, an official with


Downham TV drama to take on


‘Heartbeat’


BBC Director General gives show thumbs up by John Turner


: ■


CLUES emerged th is ' .week .. that


"Heart of the Valley'.' — filmed hy the BBC in Downham last year—is going to he a' serious challenger for the Sunday evening slot to compete with


1 ITV's "Heartbeat". The BBC Director


General, Mr Greg Dyke, has watched the first six episodes, due to be screened in the spring, and he was "very pleased with


them". . The news about the


GARDEN NURSERY & FLORIST


DG's pleasure was revealed to Downham villagers behind closed doors in the village hall when local residents enjoyed the hospitality of the BBC and the first semi-public view­ ings of the initial episodes. The BBC wanted to


thank the viliagersior their co-operation and make amends for any inconvenience the film-: ing.may hayecaiised


them. The villagers had to


wait for their screening because BBC staff bringing the tapes were delayed in traffic. But the people of


the GMB Union, said: "We are disap­ pointed, but the financial side of ICI


has serious problems. I t is early days, but meetings are being arranged with ICI at regional and national level to sit down and discuss things. "Our major concern is, whoever the


www.eastlancashireonline.co.uk Price 50p,


Nigel is in a league of his own


page 5


Workers’ anxious wait as ICI ‘goldmine’ on market


employer turns out to be, to protect our members' terms and rights and pension rights with ICI. "Clitheroe is a'very lucrative site


markets became more difficult gener­ ally in the latter part of 2001. Discus­ sions with the rating agencies which began at the end of last year have led the board to conclude that a credit­ rating downgrade is likely if action is


The statement continued: "Credit


not taken.” The statement also announced that


and will attract interested buyers." A Clitheroe employee said: "Frankly, whoever buys it will be buy­


ing a goldmine." The statement from ICI said group


profits before tax were expected to be £401m.- for the year. But there was a net debt of £2.9b.


ICI is in the advanced stages of preparing for a rights issue to raise


£800m. "ICI's board believes that it is in the


best interests of ICI and its sharehold­ ers to take action now to strengthen the balance sheet and improve the group's financial flexibility," it added.


Another girl goes missing from home


THE survival of St Mary's, the central church parish of the three in Clitheroe, is in doubt and pledged giving by church members is "a scan­


dal". This is the hard-hit­


ting message going out to church people this week from Mr .Tony Good- body, parish treasurer. He writes in the latest


POLICE are look­ ing for the second girl to have gone missing in the Kib­ ble Valley in a


week. \ Samantha Yates


(16) was last seen by fellow students of Blackburn: College


on Friday. \ She has notretumed


edition of the church magazine:."I am[con- cerried for the continued survival of St Mary Magdalene Parish as a


Downham made good use of the time. They watched a tape of "Whistle Down the Wind", starring Hayley Mills, the film made in Downham in the 1950s, copies of which are on sale in the Downham Post Office. One of those who got


addressed by the Bishop of Blackburn, it was abundantly clear that he had his eyes on localities where there were more churches than strictly necessary. He didn't, of course, mention Clith­ eroe by name, but I couldn't help drawing a comparison between, on the one hand, my former parish in Birkenhead


distinct entity. ■ "At a recent meeting


in on the village hall screening was Kibble Valley Borough council­ lor Keith Hall, whose home in the centre of the picturesque village was next to the iron­ monger's shop set up by


shop in the 1950s film! He performed as an


very pleased with what


extra with his classic motorcycle during last year’s filming. Mr Hall said: "I saw


myself, but it was that quick I almost missed


it."


the BBC scenic artists. His home was also a


He said the villagers at the screening were


they saw. "Downham came


across very well," he


added. Now it remains to be


seen what the spring and the summer will bring in the way of day trippers to the village. Problems have been caused from


time to time at the loca­ tions of other popular television series: Our picture shows the


to her home at Whalley


Road, Barrow:: Police have -made '


exhaustive enquiries in Accrington, Burnley and Blackburn in an attempt' to make sure Samantha is fit and well. jThey are investigating one possi­ ble sighting cif her in Colne. A police spokesman


said they were following up lines of enquiry which suggested she1 may be


with a boy friend in the


local area. He said: "We have


made exhaustive inq­ uiries with friends, so far without success. We don't believe she has come to any harm." When last seen,


- ended happily when Gemma Wrighton (22) was found safe and well after more than two days'absence..


Samantha, 5ft 9ins, with fair complexion and mousey brown hair, was wearing bell-bottomed jeans, a white bubble jacket and a turquoise . fleece. .;


. /Last week's alert


! There were fears for her safety after she dis­ appeared after leaving a Blackburn nightclub a t around 2 a.m. . Police took her disap­


pearance seriously after friends raised concerns.


i ;


two stars of the series, Michael French (right), formerly in "Eastenders" and James Bolam, once one of ''The Likely Lads" on the set of "Heart of the Valley".


Birthday on the Orient Express


BUSINESSMAN Mr John Clark had a train set for his 50th


birthday. And he, his family and 150 friends rode on


it to celebrate. I t was no ordinary


To their award winning florist ‘Lisa’ who has


. returned from giving birth to her little bundle of joy to


- create elegant classical & contemporary floral designs


r for customers who have


. come to appreciate her distinctive style


Valentine orders now being taken. ,


Tel: 01200 441230 i * ~ „ ,


Clitheroe Road, Chatburn, , just off the A59 Open 7 days a.week


S ' 4 H OI


train. I t was the luxury Orient Express which pulled into Blackburn station for the Langho resident, friends and family to embark. To mark his half-cen­


tury in style, Mr Clark hired the luxury special train for.the night. He invited his twin


sister, Mrs Joan Burns, of Skipton, daughters Stephanie, Fiona and Natalie and more than 150 other family mem­ bers and friends to join


him on a black tie evening return journey along the Settle to Carlisle line via Black- bum, Preston, Manches­ ter and Camforth. While on board, Mr


Clark, whose father Mr Tom Clark, founded the Silentnight bed compa­ ny, and his guests were served a gourmet dinner of salmon and crab fish­ cakes, pumpkin soup, truffled quails, chocolate praline dessert, cheese and biscuits and coffee with petits fours. Said


' always wanted to travel on the Orient'Express. He booked the trip months ago, but kept it secret until after Christ­


Stephanie: "Dad has daughter


mas. "I t was a ‘ lovely


evening. Dad has already . flown Con­ corde, so for his next big birthday treat we think he really ought to try a


Something exciting is happening with o u r


shows Mr Clark raising a celebratory glass of hub-, ■bly as he prepares to


cruise on the QE III" ' - ■ Our photograph


. ress with daughters, from the left, Stephanie, Fiona and Natalie. ' (C010202/5)


hoard the Orient Exp-


with a population of 19,000 served by a vicar, one or two curates and two churches, and, on the other hand, Clitheroe with a rather smaller population and three parishes, each with its incumbent. "This sort of compari­


son cannot have escaped the attention of the Bish­ op," wrote Mr Goodbody. He says his warning


did not refer to the sur­ vival of the church build- ing - "The Speak Bequest will ensure the survival of the fabric for many years to come, although if disaster were to hit us on the scale of the one at St Nicholas, Sabden, even that san­ guine estimate could be put in doubt." • His warning contin­


ued: "I am not pretend­ ing th a t money is the only answer, or even the most important answer. But I am. concerned about money, because it is my job to be concerned about money. : "I have pointed out


elsewhere that our level of pledged giving is well below the national aver­ age and even below the average for the Diocese of Blackburn. This, in my view, is a scandal and another comparison which cannot have escaped the attention of the Bishop. "To put it bluntly


then, if we don't want to • continued on page 2


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