4 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, March 17th, 2005 w


Councillor Eric Ronnan takes a look back at the archives of Whalley Parish Council


HERE we join Whalley resi­ dent and parish councillor Eric Ronnan to once again blow the dust off the council’s archives and take a privileged glimpse inside. 1925: The state of the back


road on South View was raised. A resident asked if the council could put a water supply into dwelling houses, but was told that the Rural District Council was the authority responsible. The path behind the cricket


field was in a bad condition and the owners, the Co-operative Society, were to be approached. 1928: The back of South View


was declared “dangerous”, but the parish council could not interfere.


1930: The water rates were


queried because of rate re­ assessment. 1931: There was a report on the nuisance of buses stopping


in George Street. 1932: Dissatisfaction was felt


a t the way water rates were levied. 1935: The Jubilee celebration


was discussed and it was decid­ ed to levy a rate not exceeding 2p for the celebration costs. 1937: I t was proposed that a


poll be held instead of a show of hands for the election of council­ lors, the proposal carried by 40 votes to eight. However, at the next meeting a councillor was elected - by a show of hands.


Tour’s spooky goings-on HAUNTED happenings and spooky sights were on the itinerary


for a special ghost busting tour of Whalley. Under the guidance of local supernatural expert Simon Entwistle, the ghost walk was hosted by Ribble Valley Mayor,


Coun. Charles Warkman. He was accompanied by civic dignitaries from Preston, Craven


and Wyre, together with the Mayor of Clitheroe, Coun. Joan Knight. The evening ended with a traditional pie and peas supper served in the Dog Inn, Whalley. Speaking about the success of the night, Coun. Warkman said:


“I was very pleased with the support we got and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I am extremely grateful for the support we have had.” He added that as well as using his mayoral year to raise money for


Derian House and Water Aid, he had decided to also add Age Con­ cern and the Scouts to the list of good causes he has chosen to sup­


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DURING the course of writing the book, “Whalley Through Many Eyes" , many stories were accumulated that were not used. Some of this was due to lack of space or


in some instances they could not be authenticated. The one that interested Free Range


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Theatre actor Wren Chapman when she visited Whalley on a sponsored walk, was by Herbert Knowles. Like many charac­ ters of his time, he always had a huge store of interesting stories to tell. In the late 1920s, Mr Herbert Knowles


had a dual occupation. He was the care­ taker at Whalley School, which had not long been changed from National School to Church of England, and was also the verger of the accompanjdng church. Among the many stories that he related (and at the time had the desired effect of


stopping children from playing in the church yard) was one about John Ellill. Whenever they ventured within yards of his grave, children ran in fear of getting the plague, but the story's validity has never been in contention. During the time of the London Plague,


Mr Ellill visited Whalley and stayed at the Dog Inn, which was at th a t time called "The Spotted Dog." While he was there, he died of the plague and was buried with the "Skull and Cross Bones" at his feet. The only weakness is that the plague


had ended about 1667, but there had been a second outbreak in the early 1700s. Irre­ spective of its validity, it was the kind of story that Wren was seeking during her sponsored walk from Caton to Whalley and back. She is comuilinE a CD and book, as well


I v' ^


www.clitheroetoday.co.uk


Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)


Thanks as money is raised to train Reuben to be a minister


______Whalley correspondent by Jean Miller,


THANKS to the generosity of people in the Ribble Valley and across North Lancashire, enough money has been raised for Reuben Mlanda Katana to train as a Methodist minister in


Kenya. The project began in June, 2003, when


the Presiding Bishop of Kenya, the Rev. Stephen Kanayru M'Impwii, spoke at a meeting a t Whalley Methodist Church while visiting the Clitheroe Methodist Cir­


cuit. He explained that while the church in


Kenya had an increasing membership of 450,000, there were only 300 ministers, whereas in Britain there were 2,000 minis­ ters serving 300,000 people. Shortly afterwards, the stewards at


Whalley decided to explore the prospect of raising money to train a student, as many would-be students did not have the funds. An appeal for help was made to all the churches in North Lancashire and friends and fund-raising began. Events included a safari supper, a slide


show on Kenya, "A night at the opera", a soup and sandwich lunch, a decades party and coffee mornings. Added to very gener­ ous personal offerings, this meant that


£14,000 was raised in just 12 months, exceeding the £12,000 needed to pay for Reuben's training. 'The extra money will be used to help other students. Reuben has passed his first year's exanu-


nation at St Paul's Theological College, in Limuru, and is now on the second year of a three-year course. The college's training of Africans for the


ministry was formalised in 1903. Earlier the Church Missionary Society had found­ ed a settlement for freed slaves near Mom­ basa. Many of them became Christians and in 1888 a class was formed to offer them practical skills and Chmtian leader­ ship training. Some were trained ^ teach­ er-evangelists and some were ordained dea­


cons. The college trains Anglican, Methodist


and Presbyterian ministers as well as those from the Reformed Church of East Africa and the National Churches of Kenya. Reuben grows vegetables during the hol­


idays and his wife. Purity, has been taking courses in women and the Church, pastoral care, health education and lessons in tie- dye and embroidery. They have two children, Beatrice and


Emmanuel, who attend school near the college. Sadly their youngest, Samuel, died at the age of 20 months after a long illness. Our picture shows Reuben with his wife and children, (s)


New community beat manager in the area


IT has been another interesting week in the area and very pleasing to see that we're finally getting some nice weather! It seems a long time since I was wander­


ing around my beat with the sun warming my back, but hopefully the worst of the weather is now over and we can start look­ ing forward to a sunny spring-time and a sweltering summer... or maybe that's just wishful thinking! I'm probably destined to shiver on! • New Community Beat Manager


Residents of Langho, Wilpshire and Mel- lor will be pleased to welcome their very own Community Beat Manager to the area. PC 1921, Andrew Lang, took up his post


last week and will be dedicating his time and resources to these areas. PC Lang will also be overseeing matters


for Osbaldeston, Balderstone and Sales- bury so look out for him cycling around his beat on his brand new bicycle! If you have community matters of con­ cern or would like to attend any one of PC


Lang's PACT meetings for these areas, please contact him on 01254 353016. • March Madness


I am pleased to confirm “March Mad­


ness” the next Rendezvous event for Young People. This popular evening for Under 17's in the area takes place at the end of each school term and we are now pleased to be promoting the eighth event. With Good Friday being a non-school


day, this term's takes place tomorrow with an entrance fee of £2.50. Doors open at 6pm and as always, food


will be available and all drinks will be priced at just £1. Please bear in mind that smoking is not


allowed in the club and anyone thought to have been drinking alcohol prior to the event will be refused entry and dealt with by the police. The success and popularity of the event


is solely down to the good behaviour of those who have attended over the past 12 months or so... so keep up the excellent atmosphere and have a great night!


4 s. '3 '-^ V.-' j. - i


W ^ with p e s o % '


Jason Taylor • And finally, don't forget of course,


that if you need to contact us for advice or assistance about matters that are impor­ tant to you or your area, you can contact us on our Whalley and Billington voice- mail service. Messages can be left for PC Geoff Pen-


nal on 01200 458727 or for myself on 01200 458772. Please note that these num­ bers are for non-urgent matters and if you require immediate police attention, you should ring 0845 125 3545 or 999 in the case of an emergency.


Many stories were not used in special book


as a play next year called "Rites of Pas­ sage," to include stories such as this and those th a t have appeared in the book "Whalley Through Many Eyes". A professional actor, she has performed


with the Free Range Theatre company at the village hall and will be doing so again on June 4th. Wren undertook the walk to raise the company's profile, with some of the money raised going to STEED, a mental health charity. If you wish to support her, you can do


so via Coun. Eric Ronnan, tel. 01254 822555 or via Wren on 01524 68677. The book is available at the King Street


newsagents, Whalley Abbey, Whalley Library and the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times, price £7. The authors express their thanks to


other outlets who, with those named above, have sold some 300 conies to-date.


IT was a triumphant return for teenag-


'} er Charlie Bolton at the IDTA Scholar­ ships in Manchester when he took on the cream of Britain’s young tap-danc­ ing talent and won the boys' section of the prestigious Ken Dodd Award. Selected through the International Dance


Teachers' Associations examination system from 2004’s top achievers along with fellow Sutcliffe Theatre School members, Katie Cowbum, Samantha and Sasha Johns, 13- year-old Charlie beat off the challenge of 20 other competitors, many of whom were


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years-older and in full-time dance educa- tion.The trophy, originally donated by Ken Dodd in memory of his agent, Keith McAn- drews, was designed to highlight the enter­ tainment value of live performance because, as he said: “The live show is the best show there is, because everybody is apart of it!” For Charlie, pictured with Samantha and


Sasha, who attends St Augustine’s RC High School in Billington, and who recently appeared on television as the young Eric Morecambe, it was the ideal chance to shine. His teacher, Gladys Sutcliffe, of St James


Street, Clitheroe, was ovenvhelmed by his success. She said: “After many years of attending the two-day event, which involves over 300 dancers, this is the first time that I have missed the announcement of the results. “My daughter was also performing in


Manchester at the Opera House for the first time, so I tried to combine the two. “When I heard the news about Charlie


later that night, I was absolutely thrilled.” Charlie’s parents, Denise and Barry


Bolton, of Hurst Green, were there to wit­ ness their son’s achievement. Mrs Bolton was pleasantly surprised by


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his success and said the family were proud to see him receive the trophy. She added: “When we saw the profes­


sionalism of some of the older competitors, we hardly expected Charhe to have a real chance, but spectators were commenting on his strong personality and sheer enthu­ siasm. Tap is something he really enjoys and works hard to improve. As for the modest young “Mr Personal­


ity”, he took it all in his stride and it was- business as usual this week, with three hours of dance classes to combine -with nor­ mal school commitments.


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Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)


www.clitheroetoday.co.uk


A MOTHER from Slaidburn who smuggled almost 600kg of tobacco into the country, evading nearly £73,000 in duty, has walked free from court in Kent. Pamela Breaks was told by a judge


Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, March 17th, 2005 5


Mum walks free from court after smuggling 600kg of tobacco into the country Breaks, of Easington Road, Slaid­


burn, and Mead (33), of Flanders Field, Colchester, Essex, admitted evading duty.


that under previous guidelines from the Court of Appeal, she would almost cer­ tainly have been sent to jail, but penal­ ties had been “watered down”. The 39-year-old lorry driver was


instead given a community punishment order of 160 hours. Another driver, Simon Mead, who


was charged jointly with Breaks, was given 200 hours for smuggling 600kg of tobacco and evading £75,701 in duty.


Breaks was stopped when she arrived at Dover docks in the early hours of October 29th last year. Mr Ryan Richter (prosecuting) said Breaks said she was carrying a load of frozen chips, but denied having any cigarettes or tobacco. But when the trailer was checked, 578kg of tobacco was discov­ ered in cardboard boxes. Mr Richter said shortly afterwards. Mead arrived at the port. His load was also searched and the tobacco was found. Boxes in


Maidstone Crown Court heard that


both trucks had identical markings. Mr Matthew Kennedy, for Breaks,


said the single mother-of-two was nor­ mally a thoroughly hard-working, decent, responsible woman. “I t is, in the circumstances, even


more surprising that she involved her­ self in these offences,” he said. “She accepts she succumbed to temp­


tation to earn a little bit more cash to help her and her young daughters. “She was temporarily blinded to the


possible consequences. This has caused her a great deal of soul-searching since her arrest. She has endured a great deal of shame and embarrassment.” Mr Kennedy added that sending


Charlie is tickled with his success!


Breaks to prison would be a draconian penalty. Miss Jenny Goldring, repre­ senting Mead, said he committed the offence when in great financial difficul­ ty. He was not leading an extravagant lifestyle, but owed £16,500 in bank loans. Miss Goldring said Mead had been


approached before about “bootlegging” and had always resisted. He was intim­ idated and put under pressure and eventually gave in. Judge Keith Simp­ son told Breaks and Mead that if they had been facing sentence before 2003, it was highly likely that both would have gone inside. “Guidelines were very much stiffer in terms of custodial sen­


tences to be imposed,” he said. Cases have been very much watered down, apparently on the advice of the Sen­ tencing Advisory Panel. “I make no comment as to what the


sentence might have been had the old guidelines applied. In the circum­ stances, I have been driven to conclude that while your cases fall within the bracket where a custodial sentence would be warranted or merited, there are certain features which enable me to take a different course. The judge told Breaks and Mead,


who were each ordered to pay £225 costs, that they had both worked hard to re-establish themselves.


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At Forbes we believe in friendly and straight forward legal advice. Whether you’re buying a house or settling a divorce, we practice the law but we won’t preach to you. So give us a call.


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