Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 2 cntheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, August 25th, 2005
INSIDE YOUR CLITHEROE ADVERTISER AND TIMES
I Valley Matters . . . I Village News ......... [Letters .................... I Weekendplus ----- I Weekend T V ......... I Family Not ic e s......... I Readersplus . . . . . I J o b s ......................... I Propertyplus........... I AJotorsplus............. I Sport ......................
. . . 10,11 13,14,15 ..........22
. . 37 to 40 , . . 62,63 . . 30,31
.........32 ,66 to 69 41 to 56 76 to 92
61 and 93 to 96 AT A GLANCE...
Castle campaign needs YOU! - page 7 Shooters hit charity target - page 11 Valley man’s Sri Lanka diary - page 17 Clitheroe golfer wins Tour title - page 96
INFORMATION
Duly chemist: Boots the Chemist, 15-19 Castle Street, Clitheroe: Sunday, noon to 1 p.m. Bank Holiday Mon day: Boots the Chemist, 15-19 Castle Street, Clitheroe: noon to 1 p.m.. Police: 01200 443344. Fire: In emergency 999 and ask for fire service. Electricity: 08001954141. Gas: 0800111999. Water: 0845 462200. Councils: Kibble Valley Borough Council, Clitheroe 425111. Clitheroe Town Council, 424722. Hospitals: Blackburn Royal Infirmary: 01254 263555. Queen's P a rk H ospita l, Blackburn: 01254 263555. Airedale General Hospital, Steeton: 01535 652511. Clitheroe Community Hospital: 427311. Alcohol Information Centre: 01282 416655. Aidsiine: 01282 831101 (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Domestic Violence Helpline: 01282 4220^. Cruse Bereavement Care: Kibble Valley 01200 429340. Environmental Agency: Emergencies - 0800 807060. Drugs: Local confidential advice and information line: 01200 444484. National: 0800 776600. Kibble Valley Talking Newspaper: 01200 428604. Samaritans: 01254 662424. Monthly Volunteer Helpline: 01200 422721. Lancashire Rural Stress Network: 01200 427771. QUEST (specialist smoking cessation service): 01254 358095. Kibble Valley Citizens’ Advice Bureau: 01200 428966.
CONTACT US! News: 01201) 422324
Advertising: 01200 422323 ClassiFied: 01282 422331 Family Notices and Photo Orders: 01282 426161, e.vt. 410 Fax: 01200443467 editor c-mail:
vivien.meath@
eastlancsncws.co.uk news editor e-mail:
duncan.smilh@castlancsnew
s.co.uk sport e-mail:
edward.lce@castlancsnews.c().uk
WEATHER ■ SLAIDBURN
DUNSOP BRIDGE B
BGISBURN CHIPPING B BCHATBURN
CLITHEROE B BWHALLEY
LANGHO B ,y_ BLACKBURN B
WEEKEND WEATHER: The rain is expected to contin ue until the Bank Holiday weekend. Some sunny' spells are expected on Saturday, while Sunday will remain cloudy.
SUNRISE: 6-03 a.m. SUNSET: 8-19 p.m. LIGHTING UP TIME: 8-19 p.m.
H READ a BURNLEY n ACCRINGTON
.QoritiriiiejJ from O Ofsted continued to seek fur
ther information about Barbw’s drinking, via its regional medical officer, in considering her health and suitability to be registered as a childminder. ® Ofsted received information
from her CP which independently corroborated tlie health visitor’s information about her self-report ed drinking. Ten recommendations have
been made. The Department for Education and Skills has taken the ACPC’s recommendations into account and is
con.sidering revising
www.ciitheroetoday.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)
Councillors say no to homes sell-off
by Julie Magee
COUNCIL houses in the Ribble Valley will remain under the con trol of the local authority for the
foreseeable future. In a bold decision taken by mem
bers of Ribble Valley Borough Coun cil at an emotive special meeting this week, councillors voted 19 to 18 to disregard a proposal to sell off its housing stock. They instead opted to retain own
ership and ask officers to draw up a business plan for the maintenance and improvement of the stock within the reasonable resources of the coun cil.
This means that Ribble Valley will
join around 70 other councils across the country which have said “no” to the Government-led initiative to transfer ownership of housing stock out of local authority hands. Councillors have been considering
options for the future of its entire housing stock, just short of 1,200 properties, since October 2003. Along with every other local author ity in the country, the Government wants the local council to ensure its housing meets the Decent Homes Standard by 2010. That means houses must be in
good repair, have modern facilities and be energy efficient. The issue haa proved highly emo
tive and recently led to Coun. Ian Brown resigning from the Ribble Valley Conservative Party, after claiming the ruling group was bow ing down to Government pressure. The strong feelings were voiced by
Coun. Brown, who is now an Inde pendent and will stand as such at the next local elections, during Tues day’s meeting. He queried figures cited in a report
on the current state of the council’s housing stock produced by consult ants employed by the council. The report’s final valuation of
£1.05 million is the amount the council could expect to receive from a Registered Social Landlord - an independent housing association - on transfer of the housing stock - equating to £898 per property. That figure is not a market value
and the council is not allowed to sell its property on the open market. Instead, the figure reflects the rental income of the property and what a
COUN. JOHN HILL (s)
new landlord would have to spend to bring it up to and maintain it at the required standard. Coun. Brown said he thought it
was “morally wrong” that during a time when local people were crying out for low cost housing, councillors were being asked to sell off the coun cil housing stock at “such a ridicu lous price”. Coun. Charles Warkman (Cons)
added: “Do we go along with some thing that values our houses at £800 each?” Meanwhile, Coun. Margaret Sut
cliffe (LibDem) urged her colleagues to stand up to the Government, which she compared to “playground bullies”. However, Coun. Stuart Hirst
(Cons) said councillors must (ace facts. He said the council had to deal with an unlevel playing field, where the Government was no longer sub sidising council housing and where housing associations had a lot more financial clout. The Leader of the Council, Coun.
John Hill (Cons), said this was not an issue that was going to be “swept under the carpet” by the Govern ment and the council would at some point in the future be pressured to repeat this costly process again. He warned that the council could
face penalties from the Government, whose officials would be keen to question how the local authority would meet its council tenants’ future aspirations. Speaking after the meeting, Coun.
II Worst decision council has ever made- council leader Coun. John Hill
Graham Sowter (LibDem) com mented: “I am pleased, but it’s been a weighted decision to take, and that is taking the council into terrain that should have been explored earlier.” Meanwhile, Coun. Hill said he was
in shock. “I have no explanation for what has just happened. I don’t understand how we have come to that decision based on the argu ments put forward tonight. It has to be the worst decision the council has ever made. “I feel the tenants have been badly
let down. I don’t think their views have been taken into account. I think they were ignored and aban doned. I would not blame them now for not having anything to do with this again.” Mrs Ira Wilkinson, who lives in council-owned sheltered accommo dation at Lilac Grove, Clitheroe, and was a member of the original com mittee that considered all the options before the council, said she was disappointed by the decision. “This has gone on for nearly two
years and we’ve given a lot of time up to this. I just don’t know what is going to happen now. I don’t know where they are going to find the money from?” she commented. 9 The council’s business plan will
be presented to the Government Office in due course and if it is accepted, the whole exercise will be signed off. If it is not accepted, the council could face repeating the entire process again.
It’s show time at Chipping
THERE will be something for everyone at the Chip ping Agricultural and Hor ticultural Society’s 78th annual show on Saturday. The gates to the show-
ground in Longridge Road, Chipping, will open at 9 a.m. for a day of fami ly fun, which includes star attraction Tony Brutus and Amanda - billed as a “comedy strength spectac ular”. There will be livestock
classes comprising cattle, sheep, goats, heavy and light horses, ponies, Shet land ponies plus poultry and pigeons. There will also be horticultural class es, cheese, handicrafts, cakes and preserves, as well as a dedicated pro duce market and craft tent. There will also be dis plays by Chipping Young Farmers’ Club, a dog show, children’s section, chil dren’s sports, fell race, baby show, gun dog dis play, vintage section. Hounds and Whips of the Holcombe Hunt, trade stands and egg catching. O See next week’s Advertiser and Times for a full report.
Pendle Club
BRIDGE winners at the Pendle Club sessions were Mrs Anne Cooper, Mr Brian Holden, Mrs Eileen Wood, Mrs Doris Blunt. Solo whist winners were
Mr A. Hartley, Mrs M. Parker, Mr D. Grant. Domino winners were;
Mr R. Knight, Mrs R. Kiddie, Mrs L. Green. Joint 4th, Mrs S. Barker, Mrs M. Parkes.
Bridge results
WINNERS at Clitheroe Bridge Club on Monday were: N/S Mr J. Pawlicki and Mr J. Renton, Mr and Mrs R. Atkinson. EW Mrs M. Parker and Mrs D. Blake, Mrs M. Allen and Mrs S. Johnson. On Thursday winners
were N/S Mr A. and Mr W. Norris with Mr J. Pawlicki and Mrs P. Murray. E/W Mrs D. Atkinson and Mrs D. Blake, Mrs J. Cowling and Mrs F. Porter.
WMJ Joshua death: Childminder rules may change
current regulations regarding childminding in light of the report findings. Ofsted has already progressed
with a number of the report rec ommendations. Joshua’s mother, Emma Massey,
said yesterday: “I ’m angry and pleased. It’s mixed emotions real ly. I am really angry that Joshua’s death could have been prevented, had someone done their job prop erly and said that Wendy Barlow was a binge drinker. “However, at the same time, I
am pleased that we can now con tinue with the campaign and pre vent this from happening to another child. There are a lot of
good childminders out there and we are not disputing this. However, the ones that are not doing their job properly need to be found.” Joshua’s grandmother, Mrs
Cathy Massey, added that Ofsted had been to see the family, but demanded to know who Ofsted was accountable to. “TV viewers e-mailed and asked if Ofsted was going to face criminal charges,” she said. MP Mr Nigel Evans welcomed
the report and added: “Lessons must be learnt from this tragic event to prevent this from happen ing to another young innocent vic tim.
“The family has conducted
themselves throughout this terri ble time with great dignity. I was pleased that at a recent meeting with Ofsted and the family ol Joshua, Ofsted said it would takt up all the report’s recommenda tions and gave a full apology to the family.” He added that he would be
pressing the Government to look at fresh ways by which childmind ing is treated as a legitimate pro fession with recognised qualifica tions. It was one of the most responsi
ble jobs anyone could do and, as such, should have training leading to recognised qualifications, he said.
I i
v/
ww.clitheroetoday.co.uk
Paul taking Tube to help July 7th victims
CLITHEROE man Paul Webb is visiting all 275 London Under ground stations in one day to raise money for
the July 7th victims. Mr Webb (35), of New
ton Street, is showing his defiance to the London terrorists by taking part in the Tube Challenge - a recognised event in the Guinness Book of Records. Mr Webb will join a 60-
strong team of fellow fund-raisers from all over the country' for the event, which takes place some time this week. The kind-hearted team
is hoping to raise a total of £20,000 in aid of the Lon don Bombings Relief Charitable Fund, which was established by Lon don mayor Ken Living stone and the British Red Cross. Speaking of the charity
challenge, Mr Webb, who works as a visitor services’ assistant for the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, said: “This is an act of defiance against terrorism. We were all hor rified by what happened and feel that this is some thing that we can do to really help the victims and also show the world that we are still happy to travel around the tube just for the fun of it.”
Mr Webb is no stranger
to the tube challenge. Accompanied by his friend Patrick Taylor, of Black ley, North Manchester, he attempted to break the world record of 18 hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds recently. He missed by just seven
minutes after engineering works hampered his bid. “I studied history at
university and have always been interested in railways and the London Underground,” he added. “I got into the tube chal lenge when I lived in Northampton. However, this time the only aim of the challenge is to raise money for the victims of the July 7th atrocity and their families. “AVe will not be trying
to beat the record. We want to show the world that we and others are not afraid and are trying to raise as much money as we can for the London Bomb ings Relief Charitable Fund.” When making their way
through the 275 under ground stations, the team will don specially-designed T-shirts with the tube relief logo printed. Mr Webb added he will be leading a truly interna tional team, including Tami Brisset, a police cap tain from New Orleans,
Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, August 25th, 2005 3 Duo walk to raise funds for charity
FIERCE downpours failed to dampen the spirits of a Clitheroe couple who recent ly took part in a 50-mile sponsored walk organised by the MS Society. Ilusband-and-wife-team
Barry (34) and Tracey Spencer i31), of Croasdale Avenue, took part in the Society’s Bigfoot Cheshire Challenge earlier this month and have so far raised more than £3,500 for their efforts. They joined more than
100 others on the sponsored hike, which was spread over three days starting in Nantwich and finishing at Cholmondeley Castle. The gruelling trek
involved the couple complet ing 15 miles on day one, 26 miles on day two and nine miles on the final day. Tracey is the first to admit
the experience was harder than she had originally envisaged, aggravated by a lack of sleep after bedding down in tents on a specially erected MS Society campsite following each day’s walk. “It was reallly hard. It
took us 11-and-a-half hours to walk the 26-mile leg, and for nine-and-a-half hours of
who has flown over espe cially. Current world record holders Geoff Mar shall and Neil Blake, are also expected to take part in the charitable event. Mr Webb added that
Transport for London, which runs the under ground, has asked the team to remain tight- lipped about the date and
time of the event, howev er, he revealed that it will take place one day this week. Anyone wishing to sponsor Mr Webb or the team can can do so by log- ging onto website
mvw.msim.co.org.uk Our picture shows Paul
with a map of the tube station.
(T210805/9) Safety must be the top priority for bikers
BIKERS are being urged to make safety their top priority on the county’s roads this coming hank holiday weekend. Lancashire County Council’s
Road Safety Group is reminding motorcyclists planning rides to minimise risks to try and reduce casualties. A disproportionately high num
ber of motorcj'clists are involved in crashes - they make up 1 % of total traffic, but account for 20% of deaths and serious injuries. Since January, 2005, 14 motorcyclists have lost their lives in the county, the latest, a man from Cumbria
Killed in
road crash A MOTORCYCLIST was killed in a crash on the A59 Longsight Road on Friday. Alan Wilson (41), of
Kendal, Cumbria, was air lifted to the Royal Preston Hospital after his Yamaha bike collided with a small Iveco van. The crash hap pened at the junction of AVhitehalgh Lane and Chapel Lane at about 3-30 p.m. A long stretch of the road was closed during rush hour while police investi gated the incident.
travelling on the A59 near Langho on Friday. The Road Safety Group provides
information to bikers on how to stay safe when riding and advice to motorists on how to be more aware of motorcyclists. Alan Fisher, principal road safe
ty adviser, said: “We’re keen that motorcyclists make a conscious decision to put ‘safety before expe rience’ this bank holiday. “Most bikers are aware of their
vulnerability, but some can be tempted to take risks to increase the thrill of the ride. “Many riders will be making the
most of the bank holiday weekend. AVe hope they enjoy the roads, but not at the cost of their or others’ lives. “To minimise the casualties on
Lancashire’s roads, we are urging riders to plan their journeys and
play it safe. “Other motorists need to take
responsibility for bikers’ safety too. Drivers need to be aware of the increase in motorcycles on the roads and constantly check their mirrors and give riders space.” Police in Lancashire will target
speeding motorcyclists over the bank holiday weekend.
Fantastic prizes on offer
in modelling competition COULD you be the face of 2005? Turn to page 57 for'details of a great new mod
elling competition. If you are model material or you know someone
who is, we want to hear from you-soon! Entrants will appear in this newspaper on Sep tember 9th when there will be the opportunity to
vote for the Face of 2005. Open to both males and females over the age of
16, entry is free. There are fantastic prizes on offer, including
£500 worth of clothing vouchers from Seasons of Clitheroe and, for the male winner, from Hype of Clitheroe. In addition, our two winners wll each receive a mobile telephone to the value of £150 each from Phone Works, Clitheroe.
Sporting fun
AFTER a summer break, members of Clitheroe Young Farmers’ Club resumed with an outdoor sports evening at AA'est Bradford and a treasure hunt round Hurst Green, organised by Mr and Mrs F. Spurgeon. Members are holding
their annual harvest event in Pendleton Village Hal! on September 2nd from 8 p.m. onwards. All are welcome. Next week’s meeting is a
tractor backing competi tion, members to meet at the Health Centre car park at 7 p.m.
k'i!
-.'I T-i
that, it was throwing it down!” recalled Tracey. However, she added that the blisters and tiredness were soon forgotten on witnessing people who suffer from MS show such character and determination to
fini.sh the walk. They really were an inspiration,” she comment ed. MS is an incurable, but manageable disabling neuro logical condition, which usu ally strikes people in the prime of their life and affects 85,000 people in the UK. The disease normally affects young adults with
n
around 50 people, usually between the ages of 20 and 40 years of age, being diag nosed with the condition each week. Tracey and Barry are passionate about raising money for the cause, after Tracey’s father Mr John Spedding, who togeth er with his wife Janet, runs The Old Post House in Clitheroe, was diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS three-and-a-half years ago. Our picture shows Tracey and Barry after they had completed the challenge,
(s)
'£m/‘ V
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51
