Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 18 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, July 12th, 2007 www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)


A lively and popular Chatburn resident with a zest for life


ONE of Chatburn’s most respect­ ed residents, Colin Wiseman, has died in his 99th year. Former Clitheroe Advertiser and


Times reporter RACHEL FAR- RICKER provides us with extracts from a recent interview with Mr Wiseman, who enjoyed a remarkable memory and zest for life. An only child, Mr Wiseman, was


born at Manor House, Twiston, on May 16th, 1909. His mother was Jane Greenwood from Downham Mill and his father was James Richard Wise­ man - known as Dick - from Raikes Farm, Newby. His father was an electrician and


emigrated in March 1909 to Canada to work at a newly opened mine. He died there 28 years later, having never seen his son. From the age of five to 14, Mr


Wiseman attended Rimington School full time, in preference to Downham School which was only half-time for children aged 13 years and over. Two staff taught around 50 students between them, but their schooling was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The infant teacher acquired a better position and the headteacher, Mr Pye, was taken into the Army, leaving the children in the care of two scholars with no teacher training. Colin remembers nearby Sawley School playing host to a large number of Jewish children who had fled Germany and Hitler’s attempts to exterminate their race. After leaving school in June 1924,


Mr Wiseman carried out odd jobs on farms around Twiston. In 1925 he started a regular job at Ings End and Manor House Farm, Twiston, earn­ ing 10 shillings a week. He worked there for farmers Tarn and Whitfield for two-and-a-half years. Advised by Mr Whitfield that there was no future in being a farm hand, in 1928, when Edgar Duckworth was looking for motor drivers, Mr Wiseman signed up to drive lorries for Bowland Rural District Council. When he learned that a friend of his


in Rimington was giving up a “dressed up” job -wearing smarter clothes - he seized the opportunity


Beckham boosts school funds!


SIGNED sporting memorabilia helped raise funds for a local school. Bowland High’s PTFA auctioned goods


at their “Some Enchanted Evening Ball” held at the Stirk House Hotel in Gisburn. Items under the hammer included a


signed David Beckham No. 7 England shirt, a pair of boxing gloves autographed by Ricky Hatton and a signed photo of golfer Tiger Woods. The total raised on the night was £4,500,


which PTFA chairman Jill Lightfoot said reflected the fantastic support the organi­ sation had received from families, staff and friends of the school. She added: “The evening was marvellous


and a huge thank you to all who attended and helped to make it such a fantastic event. The money will further enhance sporting facilities at the school.”


and applied. His role was to visit pub­ lic libraries driving a van which con­ tained 22 cases of sample technical books. While Colin drove and did the heavy lifting, it was his colleague Mr Higson’s job to sell the books to librar­ ians. The books taught people about trades including steel fabrication, welding and electrical work. They were popular because the age of coal was dying, unemployment was high and the Government was encouraging people to learn new skills and work in new industries. The wage was four pounds and 10 shillings a week, com­ pared to the average wage for a driver which was two pounds and five or ten shillings. After two years, the job ended and


he returned to work for Edgar Duck­ worth until the outbreak of the Sec­ ond World War in 1939. In 1937, he had joined the Army


Supplementary Reserves as a Driver “Mac” - a driver with supplementary mechanical knowledge. This meant he carried on with his ordinary job and received an additional £12 a year. It also meant that he was called up on 29 August 1939, reporting to Aldershot army depot and was put in the 2nd Army Field Workshop RAOC (Royal Army Ordnance Corps) 2nd British Infantry Division, where he served for six years, four months and two weeks. He was sent to France with the


British Expeditionary Force in Sep­ tember 1939 and was based in a mechanical workshop in the village of Vis-en-Artois, in the Pas de Calais. Now the site of a British War Ceme­ tery, the village was around 30 miles behind the Maginot Line - a vast for­ tification of concrete and steel that nevertheless failed to stop the German invasion. The workshop was manned by 200 people from trades including armourers, joiners and mechanics like Colin whose job was to repair and maintain motor vehicles, to keep the Army mobile. But, Mr Wiseman recalled, the


German Army was highly mecha­ nised, and when they advanced through the Low Countries and France they drove relentlessly through the French and British Armies. German tanks were knocked


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Transport Workshop, which operated like a big garage. Part of their job was to fix up broken-down cars and lorries that had been requisitioned for the


war effort. Fully armed and equipped after 14


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out but quickly replaced, and the heavily armoured Panzer Divisions were very successful. The 2nd British Infantry Division


to which Colin was attached was not alone in suffering high casualties, and in spring 1940, he and the thousands of other men not captured or killed were trapped on beaches around Dunkirk by the advancing German Army. Fighting raged as British destroyers and battleships and the troops they were trying to evacuate were bombed by German ‘planes and submarines. On May 28th, just turned 31, he found himself on Bray- Dunes, a sandy beach just above Dunkirk. He was rescued that day along with 300 other men by a small Dutch boat. In total, 380,000 men were saved in the daring rescue mis­ sion, many by civilians in small boats. He returned home to Rimington


and reported back to Nottingham a week later. He was stationed at East Retford, where the men lived in tents, while what was left of the 2nd Divi­ sion began to gather armaments and re-form to its full strength of 15,000 men. A German invasion was expect­ ed, and the Division took over the defence of the North East coast of England, from Spurn Point to Bridlington. Colin and 35 other men made up the 6th Brigade Motor


months of preparation, at the end of March 1942, Mr Wiseman’s Division was sent into the 14th Army in Burma. They set out from Glasgow’s Govan Shipyard in a convoy of 40 boats guarded by two cruisers and three destroyers. He was on a troop­ ship carrying 7,000 men and remem­ bers being terrified: enemy torpedoes were a real danger. The journey to Bombay took eight weeks, stopping off at Freetown and Capetown en route. I t was a time of great unrest in


India, and anti-British feelings were running high. Mr Wiseman stayed in a camp near Poona, and recalled that he and his comrades never went any­ where alone and only left the camp in groups of four and fully armed, in case of attack. He was deployed at Arakan, on the southern front, where Allied forces were fighting to remove the Japanese, and later moved up to support troops in a major battle at Kohima - in one of the eastern states of Assam - on the central front. The Allies were in contact with Japanese forces along an 800 mile front, but were better equipped and had the advantage of being mobile enough to advance 40 miles in a couple of hours. At Zubsa, a mile and a half from Kohima, Mr Wiseman was in a Bren Gun carrier when a shell burst less than 20 yards off the ground, perma­ nently damaging the hearing in his right ear. He never knew whether the shell was Japanese or British. He was just outside Rangoon when


Army orders came through on August 6th 1945 - the day the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which forced the Japanese to surrender. He and the rest of Demob Group 16 were going back to England. He was among the 6,000 men who


eventually sailed on board the Strath- naver which took around 18 days to reach Southampton. Most slept on the floor, fresh water was scarce, and Colin recalls that washing with


sea soap was a “poor do”. He also recalls that when a funny little white mark eventually appeared on the horizon and “White Cliffs of Dover" was played on the ship’s tannoy, so many men rushed to the rail in excite­ ment to see the cliffs for themselves that the ship listed dangerously to one side and they had to be ordered back to their decks. But the joy of home­ coming was tempered for some by sadness: many marriages did not sur­ vive the war. He returned to work for Edgar


Duckworth and was finally demobbed a t the s ta r t of 1946. He mostly worked in the garage - which is now Cosgroves - and did some taxi driving, mainly to local railway stations including Skipton, Hellifield and Pre­ ston. He married Chatburn resident


Agnes Cockshutt, who had an estab­ lished grocery and mixed business on Bridge Road, in 1952, and the couple moved into their new home at Rydal Place. Mr Wiseman began working in the


shop and although the couple had a son, Charles Colin, he died at just four weeks old. Mr and Mrs Wiseman retired in 1979. His wife died in 1981 and in 1983, Mr Wiseman moved from Rydal Place to live in the shop, which by then had been converted into a house. Mr Wiseman had been a member of


the Chatburn and District Royal British Legion since 1947 and was president for many years. He was also a member of the Burma Star Associa­ tion and held the campaign medal. He was a former warden at Chat­


burn Church, where he had also served as a sidesman. An active helper for the Meals-on-Wheels service until the age of 86, he was also a keen domi­ no player, visiting drives all round the villages of Bowland for many years. To celebrate his 90th birthday, he


bought himself a new car! When he finally left his home in Bridge Road, it was to move a few yards away to Chatburn’s Manor House, where he died last Wednesday. His funeral will take place tomor­


row at 11-30 am. at Christ Church, Chatburn.


Toddling for


a good cause TOTS from a Clitheroe nursery have been tod­ dling for charity. All the babies and chil­


dren from Moorland Nursery School aged from five months to five years joined the Barnardos Tod­


dle. Money is still being col­


lected, but nursery staff hope to beat last year s totoal of £1,050. In total some HO


youngsters, together with staff and parents, toddled round the school grounds. Our photograph shows


the nursery school pupils who took part in the tod­ dle. (B200607/3)


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An ASBO breach by 999 caller


A 67-YEAR-OLD Clitheroe man breached an anti-social behaviour order by phoning 999 in the early hours of the morning. Blackburn magistrates


heard that John Robert Buller was banned from contacting the emergency services in January after making repeated calls to the police control room. But in the early hours of May 23rd he again dialled 999 repeatedly over a two-hour period. Buller, of Hayhurst


Street, pleaded guilty to breaching an ASBO and was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre­ sentence report. Mr John Wood (prose­


cuting) said the police received a number of calls from Buller starting at 3- 30 a.m. and going on until after 5 a.m. “I t is apparent he was


ringing to speak about all kinds of things, but none of them were emergencies and there was no require­


ment for the police to attend,” said Mr Wood. He said Buller had been


convicted of persistently making wrongful use of the public telecommuni­ cations network in March 2006 and a further convic­ tion for the same offence in January 2007 had resulted in the ASBO being made for a period of two years. Mr Aftab Bakhat


(defending) said Buller had been given a stern warning by the district judge who imposed the order in January about tying up the emergency services and lines of com­ munication with them. “He calls the police for


a genuine reason, but can’t then justify the number of calls and the amount of time he spends making them,” said Mr Bakhat. “This kind of behaviour needs to be stopped and that might be something the Proba­ tion Service can help with.”


CRGS class of ’48 reunite in style


A REUNION of 19 old girls from the 1948 form intake of Clitheroe Royal Grammar School was held at the Spread Eagle Hotel, Saw- ley.


The event, organised by Mrs


Barbara Spencer (nee Pollitt), Mrs Cynthia Sharp (nee Black­ burn), Mrs Barbara Yates (nee Hart) and Mrs Eileen Blades (nee Hargreaves), proved to be a


happy evening with many remi­ niscences of school days at the York Street grammar school under the headship of Miss Lumb. During the evening greetings


were also read from former pupils who were unable to attend. Those present on the night


were: Beryl Allen, Diana Banks, Margaret Bibby, Cynthia Black­ burn, Magaret Boothman, Mar­


garet Clitheroe, Hilma Coates, Eileen Curry, Doreen Dobson, Pauline Dunkinson, Eileen Harg­ reaves, Barbara Hart, Patricia Holden, P a t Ingham, Joyce Penny, Barbara Pollitt, Angela Rutter, Sylvia Smithson, June Thistlethwaite. Pictured are the class of 1948 at


their reunion. (T170607/17)


0 THE second of a two-part slide presentation on the coastal charms of Italy was enjoyed by members of Probus. Member Cliff Astin was


thanked for both by members Dan Bradbury and Derrick Holmes, who remarked on the many skills demonstrated by the speaker. The next meeting is on Fri­


day, July 20th, when Mr John Simms talks on “Brunei - Gambler or Genius?”


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