Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 26 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, April 13th, 2006
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www.ciitheroetoday.co.uk Ciitheroe 422324 (Editoriai), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) C i C i
BT marks centre of the kingdom
DUNSOP BRIDGE was declared the village closest to the centre of Britain by Ord nance Survey in 1992. ■ To celebrate, BT placed a telephone box in the pictur esque village with unique etch ings on the glass, a plaque with the OS co-ordinates and four posts pointing north, south, east and west. There were other local claims
to the title from Cromwell’s Bridge across the Hodder and a bam a t Chadswell Hall Farm in Chaigley, but, with the help of pupils from Thomeyholme
R(3 Primary School, explorer Sir Ranulph Feinnes officially
opened the landmark tele phone box. The pupils also received
DUNSOP BRIDGE proves a picturesque gateway to the Trough of Bowland (B040406/4c)
Small in size, but huge in character!
by Richard Hartley-Parkinson
DUNSOP Bridge lies not only at the heart of the Hodder Valley, but at the centre of the United Kingdom. Although not the biggest of villages,
Dunsop Bridge makes up for it in character. Surrounded by the Forest of Bowland,
the village is popular with fell walkers The picturesque gateway to the Trough
of Bowland, it is said that HM the Queen once declared that she would like to retire to the area. In 1992 it was voted the best-kept ham
let, and in that same year it was officially declared as being at the centre of Great Britain and its 401 associated islands. A debate continues to this day as to how
accurate this information is and a protest was staged on Christmas Day by villagers from a rival claimant to the tit le from Northumbria. Every three years the village hosts the
Hodder Valley Show, which it shares with Slaidbum and Newton, along w th the May Queen Festival. Today the village has a petrol station
with a manned forecourt, owned by the Leedham family for several generations.
There is a village shop and cafe called
Puddleducks, and the Mission Church of St George, both overlooking the village green, which is famous for the ducks that congre gate there for bread from visitors a t busy weekends. Just out of the village is Thomeyholme
Primary School, St Hubert’s Church and a trout farm. The Elvers Hodder and Dunsop meet
outside the splendid Thomeyholme Hall, once home to the Towneley family, who built the local school and church with the proceeds from their race horse, Kettledrum, which won the Derby in 1861.
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goody bags from BT with T- shirts, calculators, pens and keyrings and they acted out the stage production of "The Forbidden Planet”. However, the claim has been
disputed by other villages which say the centre spot is not actually a t the Hanging Stones on Whitendale Fell. In 1995 the fight for a claim
to the heart of the country came to a head when two Northumberland villages, Allendale and Haltwhistle, appealed for lottery grants to celebrate the millennium as being the place at the centre of the kingdom. Dunsop Bridge
'prevailed. In December of the same
year Haltwhistle continued to protest the title belonged to them, despite new Ordnance
. Survey digital technology pin pointing more accurately the exact spot seven months earli er. Following this survey. Ord nance Survey admitted they were wrong and moved the cen tre point 400 metres to the west. In October last year a com
petition was run by Harrods of London for a year’s ownership of the one meter square piece of land, which was won by American Gail Ledeiman. On Christmas Day there was
a protest in Dunsop Bridge from two residents of Halt whistle who have been market ing their village as the Centre of Britain.
'SI' . FR CHALONER with a second ‘Miss Mac’ (B040406/5a) .
ON the road leading out of Dun sop Bridge towards the Trough of Bowland and Lancaster lies St
Hubert's RC Church. The 250 parishioners have been
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IN 198'7, Barry and Shirley Single- people of the Hodder Valley, ton decided something needed to And so was bom Hodder Valley be done to entertain the young Youth Group, a popular Friday night attraction for local school children. Nothing like this
had existed in the ul lage before, but now about 30 children get together in the Vil lage Hall from 6-30 p.m. each week. . They recently pro
duced a DVD called "A year in the life of Hodder Youth Group - and wot went before". This showed children tak ing part in sporting and outdoor activi ties, including a canal trip. I t also has a picture archive from the past 19 years. On normal group
nights, children enjoy games, table tennis, table football, pool and crafts. They also have a tuckshop and during summer they go down into Dunsop Bridge to play football on the playing fields or use the playground.
presided over by former policeman Fr John Chaloner since 1993. Originally, the Catholics of the
Hodder Valley would have to go to a chapel a t Thomeyholme Hall, then home to the Towneley family. The church was built on the win
nings from the 1861 Derby. The win ning horse, Kettledmm, owned by the Towneley family, was trained a t the Thorneyholme Stables at Dunsop Bridge and the track where he used to run is still visible to this day next to th e River Hodder on the road to Whitewell. The church was completed in 1865
and cost £700 to build- in memory of the horse, there are carvings of horses' heads on the pillars
THE beautiful St Hubert's Church, Dunsop Bridge, (B04040G/5b)
and a painting on the ceiling above the altar and a stained glass window depicting the successful racehorse. The church has strong connections
with Thorneyholme RC Primary School and there are special Masses for children during Lent. Four school children will this year
make their first Holy Communion. The church will also be celebrating
the life of HM the Queen in the run up to her 80th birthday later this
month. A garden party will be held in the church grounds on June 9th. In 2004, Fr Chaloner became some
thing of a local celebrity following the publication of his book: "Miss Mac - the Church Cat" about the church cat which went missing after 11 years at St Hubert’s. The book, which went on sale to
parishes in the diocese, featured char ac te rs including Goldilocks, St Hubert and Custard the Camel.
Easter services at St Hubert’s Saturday, April 8th - Mass of Palm Sunday
6 p.m. Palm Sunday, April 9th - Mass a t 9 p.m. Holy Thursday, April 13th - Mass of the
Lord's Supper 7-30 p.m. Good Friday, April 14th - Celebration of
the Lord's Passion 3 p.m. Holy Saturday, April 15th - Vigil 9 p.m. Easier Sunday, April 16th - Mass at 9 a.m.
A junior school thriving at the centre of a rural community
AS far as village schools go, Thorneyholme RC Primary is a thriving hub of activity. The school’s links with St
Augustine’s RC High School and Science College and Bowland High School ensure that children receive the best preparation for the difficult step from a small primary school to a large second ary school. St Augustine’s provides the
school with science books for children to work from. In the summer term, pupils
travel to Billington where they write up the conclusions of their work on the school’s computers. The work aims to teach chil
dren how to look at forensic evi dence, such as soil types and fin ger printing. Miss Catherine Greenwood,
from St Augustine’s, is also teaching the children French to help gain a foundation for when they start-modem languages at secondary school. The school has also teamed up
with Bowland High School, Grindleton, in conjunction with
Norden High School, Rishton, to promote PE activities through dance classes for four weeks. Thorneyholme currently has
48 children divided into three classrooms, but the school is looking to extend. I t has submitted plans for per
mission to build another class room so that the main hall can be used for PE and assemblies. The school receives funding '
help from its 100 club, the pre» school fund-raising group, and Friends of Thorneyholme. These groups are currently
trying to raise £50,000 for out door facilities, including the drainage of the school football fields and an outdoor classroom area. Teachers at the school like to
take advantage of their location and focus on outside activities and recreational areas. Last year, winnings from a
street dance competition were used to make a quiet zone with potted plants and a bird table for children to relax and enjoy a peaceful few moments.
www.clitheroetoday.co.uk
Clitheroe Advertiser &Titnes, Thursday, April 13th, 2006 27
A beautiful old church built thanks to a win on a horse!
PUPILS at Thorneyholme RC Primary School (B040406/6)
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