18 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, March 15th, 2007


www.clitheroetoday.co.uk THE THURSDAY FEATURE rile to. The Editor, Clitlicroe .Advertiser and Timc.s,King Street, Clitlieroc liB72EW Editorial e-mail: vivien.meath@eastlanc.sncw.s.co.uk — We must build another


Valley secondary school BELOW find what I believe to be the true cause of Chatburn children being denied a place at Rowland.


At this stage it does not help any parents of


the children involved, but the true state of the secondary schools admissions in the Ribble Val­


ley will not be solved until another high school is built. To Mrs Timewell, of Downham, you state


that there are three non-denominational second­ ary schools in the Ribble Valley. I suggest you re­ count; as to my knowledge there are only two - Rowland and Ribblesdale: the grammar school is selective. It is an absolute disgrace that the children of


Chatburn are to be split up when Chatburn has always been a feeder village to Rowland. The “true” catchment area, i.e. the Rowland


THE class of lOfi l al Whalley CE School, supplied to us by Karen Green (nee Wallbank), who now lives in Orniskirk. "Most of us were seven or eight years old," she tells us. "This is an important year for the majority on (he phoio as we turn .50 in 2007. Our teacher was Mrs Robinson and I am centre front row."


—< =?E KES . a a THIS is Ribblesdale School in li)o 1, loaned by Derek Mr Houlker, of Park Avenue, Clitheroe.


He is on (he back row, fourth from left, but docs not know (he teacher's name. Can anyone help? ■' Si


villages, has not increased its housing stock to the e.xtent that there are many more children from these villages fighting for places. They are full of an older generation as the young cannot afford to stay there and there are less children than in previous years. The true cause of the fight for a place at Row­


land is the building of Brockhall Village and other developments like it in the Ribble Valley. Many of the children from Brockhall and such developments are being “bused” at an e.xtra cost to the county to Rowland School! As the parent of an 11-year-old who has been denied a place at our first choice school, I wholeheartedly support your appeal and appeal you must. County can­ not treat our children like this. Our case pales into insignificance after reading this. In fact it makes ray blood boil. As a parent in your situation it will be true to


ST .FAMES Hoys’ Brigade, Clitheroe, circa 1055, again brought in by Mr Houllkcr, of Park Avenue, Clitheroe. He is circled on (he picture.


PICT UUED arc pupils of Ribblesdulu iModern School in 1951, brought in by Mrs Maureen Smith (nee Marshall) of 59 LiUlenioor Road, Clitheruo. The teacher on the right of the picture is the popular Mr Jack Wright. Maureen can be seen on the top row far right.


P


say that your thoughts are not that the “offer school” is wrong - far from it, they are both excellent schools. It is the politics of the admis­ sions that are wrong and this then has an impact on the social education of the children involved. Going to high school is a very big step and all children need to move on with their primary school class mates; there is far too much pressure on children with KS2 Sats exams before they go, never mind having to worry about whether they can go to their “obvious choice” school, which would have been a foregone conclusion in the past. Referring to the County Hall spokesman who


m


stated that Chatburn was in the “priority area’’ of Ribblesdale now. If one refers to the admis­ sions booklet for this year, this does mysteriously appear to be true. When did this happen and were parents made aware? However, when you look further down to the parishes that both schools serve, you will note that they are both exactly the same; basically a recipe to cover county justifying sending kids wherever. You will notice however, that in recent years,


the parishes of Wilpshire and Ramsgreave (Blackburn) have appeared in the parishes “serving” these schools which is different from the priority area, but just as significant when applying the admissions policy to applications. Children from these areas can hop on to a service bus to Blackburn schools, so why provide trans­ port to Rowland? I do believe that transport is also provided to Rowland for children who could “roll out of bed” to Ribblesdale, i.e. Chatburn Road. It appears that the proposed “lottery” system has already appeared in the Ribble Valley


through the back door. The grammar school may absorb 120 of the


THIS picture taken of pupils at St Michael tind St John’s RC School, Lowergate, shows (he church in


(he background, the year is thought to be 1!M8. Pupils stayed at (he school until (hey were 1,5, as it was before St Augustine’s RC School was built.


Mr Bill 'Taylor brought in the picture which shows his wife, Vivian, nee Calvert, on (he third row from


(he bottom, second from (be right. Also pictured is bis brother, Michael Taylor, who now lives in Kent, on the bottom row, fourth from right. 'The teacher is Mr Edward Bradley.


THIS photograph, submiltetl by Mrs Marion Winckley, nee Dean, (G8), of Mayfield Avenue, Clitheroe, ■


Sntmt^r"D'il \ T K R i < : \Vd(,m ir^ ‘TVrr"T f


BvcrJ E Nm s A ^00^! p"’ , • ■ ’


Mtlls, W.N.ckson, M. Dean, M. Christie, M. Dickens, M. Monk. 7


’’‘"’"^^btheroe Royal Grammar School Form Upper III A 1950 to 1951 h


a r d s o n , T. Chatburn, C. Driver,


Bingham. Second row-R. Breaks, E. Hoyle, M. ^f“ns'vick, F. Hampshire, A. Silverwood, C. Ward, P.


•'"SS- E. Hornby, M. Blackburn, J. Baron, Miss


area's 11-year-olds this year, but there are cases to my knowledge, where children from a Ribble Valley village have passed their 11+ for the grammar, but they are being denied a place because there are told that too many children have passed. Are these children from out of the area or “incomers”.


How fair is that on the children involved? I


appreciate Wilpshire may have been a provider to some Ribble Valley schools (grammar) for many years, but Brockhall Village hasn’t, nor Calderstones Park, the new houses at Sawley nor the many new houses in Clitheroe. Something has to be done to prevent true Rib­


ble Valley people being pushed out of their right­ ful schools by incomers. Bowlanders deserve a Rowland education and


get it you must. NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED


Footpath closures: what


about our rights? I AM writing because I feel I must speak out about the closure of public footpaths in the countryside, when we, and there are very many who use them, seem to have no say or rights at all. I have walked my dogs in the fields adjacent


to Salthill and the grounds of Clitheroe Hospi­ tal for many years and have enjoyed the wildlife, flora and fauna while doing so. Just recently, a sign has been erected to the perimeter of what is now Deanfield and the public stiles removed with the warning: “No public access” and so on. What I want to know is, do “they” have a


right to do this to such long-used footpaths and can they be made to open them up again? I feel really very strongly about how the local


walks around our lovely old town are being con­ tinually eroded. My family has lived in and around Clitheroe for more than 200 years, but I am getting to the point where I no longer like living here. I feel my rights are once more being trampled - I cannot even take on the children who purposely and systematically kick our love­ ly daffodils’ head off down Chatburn Road. I’d love to give them a clip around the ear, but even that is now their right and against the law for me or anyone else to deliver!


N.AME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED Brockhall: please let me


set the record straight RE. Gerald Hitman’s recent letter. I have previ­ ously refuted in ■ your columns (July/August2004) the false notion that either I or the parish council opposed the provision of a swimming pool, inllage hall, gymnasium, formal gardens etc. at Brockhall. What Mr Hitman did in both 2002 and 2004


was to submit planning applications that linked five separate elements. This was done in order that people’s natural sympathy towards the Brockhall community’s aspiration for recre­ ational facilities would enable him to build more houses on areas designated for other purposes. Contrary to his assertion, we warmly wel­


comed the provision of community facilities but opposed the provision of yet more large houses that were devouring the green areas on the site. On another occasion we warmly welcomed the conversion of the late, lamented and visually striking administration building into a sports and social club. As I recall, the application received approval,


but Gerald clearly changed his mind and demol­ ished it. He was never coerced into building more houses instead of leaving green areas as public open space or building swimming pools. It has all been his choice. It was never an “either or” situation. His threat of factories and a bail hostel were


just a spectre that I believe Gerald regularly used to serve his own ends. Simple “human-scale” office and studio space,


available to all 350 households, not tied to 26 specific houses, would have been a better and more flexible solution to providing employment at Brockhall. I will take a lot of convincing that


his idea of live-work units are not simply very large houses in a new guise. It now appears that Mr Hitman wishes to


extend this “live-work” concept to develop land around Barrow village and the railway line. Sorry to disappoint your hopes Gerald, but I am unlikely to be supportive.


GRAHAM SOWTER, Whallcy Old Road, Langho


A most cruel blow to arts


and tourism provision THE Ribble Film Club along with many other not-for-profit providers of public entertainment received very distressing news last Friday. The Ribble Valley Council’s widely distrib­


uted monthly “What’s On?” leaflet has been ter­ minated with immediate effect. What this says for groups like ours, or indeed


tourism in general, smacks of teeth and kicking. The outrage by the council over the possible


closure of the Tourist Information Centre is fol­ lowed by the withdrawal of its most popular leaflet. Visitors are now advised to visit the council’s


website for information on events. Perhaps the most bizarre issue is that we are


officially informed that the decision was taken at a council meeting last week when in fact noth­ ing of the kind was mentioned (the council’s budget was approved with the matter being con­ tained in the small print to a committee some months previous). Tourism and the arts in the Ribble Valley has been dealt a very cruel blow by this action.


BRUCE DOWLES, Chiiirmun, Ribblc Film Club, Whallcy Road, Clithcroe


G WE will continue to run our weekly What’s


On section in the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times including information provided by the council - Editor


A plea for a little help


and consideration I AM disabled, and I have an invalid scooter. The special pavement dips in Clitheroe are


mostly invisible which makes it hard work for me when I go out. With my scooter I am not allowed to go on to


a pavement which is above one inch high. I have to plan which way to go to avoid high pave­ ments. . I have to go nearly halt way up Tower Hill to find a dip, or on to Lime Street. A dip near where I live would be ideal - listen


to my plea, Lancashire County Council. I have one more plea to car drivers; could you


not park on a dip. It is really hard work as I have to get off the scooter to try to lift it - it is heavy - and being disabled when I go out on my own I struggle. If my daughter (my carer) is with me she does that for me.


K. SEAWARD (MRS), Tower Hill, Clithcroc


School day pictures are a


really marvellous idea WHAT a brilliant idea of the Clitheroe Adver­ tiser to create the “School Days” articles and photos. I was myself delighted to see the 1951 Rib­


blesdale Choir photo with the dynamic Miss Margo Bottomley in the centre. What a wonderful, talented and outgoing per­ sonality she was.


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Sad to note her passing away some months


ago. These photos inspired me to dig out my own


school photos which were printed in the Clitheroe Advertiser on March 1st. And what a lovely experience to chat over the


old days with four of my old schoolmates who phoned me, and others who were fascinated to recognise faces of those they know well in pres­ ent time. So I encourage others to get those old school


photos dug out. They bring a great deal of pleasure to many,


and to renew acquaintances with old friends one may not have spoken to for 50 years is really something quite special.


DORIS BROWN, Moorfieltl, Whallcy


The fight for rural Post


Offices must continue OUR recent rally at Askham Post Office near Penrith, as part of National Post Office week, was just the beginning of a campaign that must remain in politicians’ minds as we approach the local elections. With the future of 2,500 Post Office branches


hanging in the balance we cannot see this issue sidelined until after the local elections - we must make it a key election issue. It may be awkward for Government, but we


are fighting for the heart of our communities and will make sure their feelings are represent­ ed.


The value of a Post Office to a community


cannot be measured using a purely financial scale, and to propose closure on this basis misses the point; Post Offices are the social heart of many communities, and without them thou­ sands of people, including many elderly and dis­ abled, would be increasingly isolated. The Government’s consultation on Post


Offices closed earlier this month, but as a local issue this will continue to be a priority and we will keep the pressure on until a common-sense plan is secured.


RICHARD DODD, North of England Regional Director, Country.sidc Alliance (www.counlryside-alliance.org)


Clitheroe 422324 (Editoriai), 422323 (Advertising), Burniey 422331 (Classified)


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


www.clitheroetoday.co.uk


Clitheroe Advertiser STimes, Thursday, March 15th, 2007 19


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