I »


16


Clltheroe Advertiser&Tlme8,TYiur8day, April 15,2010 - % ■ Write to The Editor, Clitheroe .


Advertiser and Times, 3 King. - Street, Clitheroe or emaii:


; duncan.smith@eastlancsnews.co.uk Follow the debate at www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk


Surprise at Tory talking


up Labour IN last week’s letters page I was slightly surprised to see Coun. Farns­ worth set himself up as the arbiter of all things truthful and honest. He, like a good few other politi­


cians, obviously doesn’t get it. The public don’t trust any of us. I was even more surprised to see


him try and talk up the Labour vote, very strange behavior for a Conserva­ tive councillor. It would be more useful if the To­


1 ,


ries would tell the voters their policies rather than spend their tim'e attempt­ ing to pass judgement on their politi­ cal rivals.


COUN. DAVID BERRYMAN, RVBC Salthill Ward


Xib-Dems got it « JU


wrongs claim THE election campaign has only just begun and we were promised a new age of politics, trustworthy politicians not spinning us a yarn as has been the case for manjf, many years. So it was with utter disbelief I read


the campaign leaflet Allan Knox and the Lib-Dems are currently distribut­ ing across the Ribble Valley constitu­ ency that contains factually incorrect statements. Please all be aware that the Lib-


Dems are at best being misleading in their statements surrounding sup­ port for the main political parties and as such are doing a discredit to what should be an honest, hard-fought election. Come on Mr Knox, put the record


tion, if the Ribble Valley had been under the current boundaries, the results would have been Conserva­ tive 44.9%, Labour 29.8%, Lib Dems 22.6% and others 2.7%. Mr Knox is quoting something quite different from elections that were held up to 20 years ago under different boundaries (source http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/


. shared/election2010/results/constitu- ency/d68.stm). Not the best of starts sir.


PAUL FOSTER,


Labour Party Candidate for the ! Ribble Valley.


Spend on patients, not pen-pushers


1


. GORDON Brown’s pledge to make every NHS Hospital in England a Foundation Trust by 2015 must surely be one of his biggest blunders.


that 12 of the 22 Healthcare Trusts who have been ordered to improve under the Care Quality Commis­ sion’s new regulatory system were Foundation Trusts. As only 129 of the 378 Trusts are Foundation Trusts, i t ' would appear that whilst the rate of. ~failure for Foundation Trusts is 9.3%,


Earlier this month it was revealed


straight - it is not only us that have made public your mistakes, but also the local Conservative Councillors last week; show the residents some respect and come clean! The facts are this, at the last elec­


over double the failure rate of 4% for other Trusts. At a time when Clitheroe Hos­


pital is at risk due to the large cuts required in public spending, it makes little sense to divert health funding into company secretaries and the well-paid administrative entourages required to service these bureauc-' racies. Is it really any wonder that Trusts whose priority is to spend their funding on administration rath­ er than investing in patient care are more likely to fail their patients? Although Lancashire Care, the


local mental health trust, has been a foundation trust since 2007, it has been difficult to see any improve- ' ment, despite a plethora of members.- and governors. The Board’s priority following the creation of the Foun-; dation Trust was to virtually double I its own remuneration. Soon after the Board awarded


themselves this massive pay increase, patients and carers were asked to fund-raise to complete work on an ^ area for visitors at Queen’s Park ' Hospital. They were told that work to address this fundamental design;, flaw, which had been a problem since the psychiatric hospital was opened ; in 2002, had come to a standstill due to lack of funds, yet the Trust had a surplus of £9.2m. in that financial year.


. . The Trust Board has also consist­


ently failed to take effective action to address its excessively high staff sick­ ness rate, which costs over £10m. per annum. The involvement of the public


through Foundation Trusts seems ' a futile gesture if they are unable to ensure Boards address unaccept­ ably poor performance. It is time to ‘ ensure that health funding is spent ; on patient care rather than bureauc- racy.


ROSEMARY ANDREWS, TheSands,' Whallcy,


Ciaughtoutby the Marking Eye^


■ a visit to Stonyhurst College, I decid- . ed to visit the beautiful market town of Clitheroe. I parked up for just over an hour


“Parking Eye” for £40 for my privi­ lege of having parked in a largely de­ serted car park during March! Is this how you treat visitors to your locality? ' Absolutely scandalous. May I take this opportunity to in-


at a largely deserted supermarket car park late in the afternoon. I enjoyed a constitutional around the town and then returned to my vehicle, when it so happened I received an important phone call that lasted some hours. . I have just received a demand from


■ vite your councillors (whom I assume are responsible for instigating this) to visit Aberfan, South Wales, where I minister and where the parking is free and there is a welcome in the hillside! Suffice to say I shall not be visiting : Clitheroe again in a hurry!. . ; •


REV. MORGAN, Aberfan,


. South Wales : ’


; . Editor’s note: In fact “Parking Eye” is the system which'some supermar-. ; kets employ to ensure that vehicles ■


;


i AS a visitor to your locality recently, I > am writing to complain with reference to “Parking Eye”. ^ On March 15th this year, following


using their car park do not overstay the permitted time limit, elec­ tronic sensor monitors vehicles en­ tering and leaving the car park and if any overstay the time limit a fine is automatically generated and sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle. It is operated by a private company- which is contracted by the supermar­ kets or car park owner and has no connection whatsoever with Ribble Valley Borough Council.


Drink drive


limit queried TALK about kicking something when it’s down. ■


. ■ With its latest proposals to’lower


the drink-drive alcohol limits, which currently allows a driver to drink up to. two pints of normal strength beer or lager, the Government is really putting the boot in.


. Currently we are losing up to 50


pubs a week thanks to cheap drinks available in the supermarkets and the smoking ban. The consequences of this are thousands of job cuts and the loss of the heart of our communities. This draconian Government’s pro­ posal to lower the limit to under one


, pint is in effect passing a death sen­ tence on all of the remaining pubs in the land and yet another control over our few remaining freedoms. Of course this Government doesn’t


much care for our freedoms and it knows that when we meet in pubs our conversations often turn to what we really think of Gordon Brown and the rest of his tin pot dictators. But will the Conservatives or Liber­ al Democrats back Labour’s propos-


■ als or will they denounce them? PHILIP GRIFFITHS


UKIP North West Chairman, Morecambe Road, Lancaster


required please FURTHER to last week’s letter by Peter Foley about Lancashire County Council’s treatment of roads, I would like to add comment on some other LCC rpadworks situations. '■


Some road sense ; .Cha'tburn Road, between Pimlico


Link Road and the 30 limit at Chat- burn, used to be “de-restricted” and only recently had a 40 mph limit im­ posed. In the past few weeks the short section between the rope conveyor “bridge” and the 30 limit at Chatburn has been resurfaced. For some inex­ plicable reason two “SLOW” signs which were on the road surface when it was “de-restricted” have been rein­ stated even though there is no longer any need for them under the 40 mph situation. .-


. .


. ' One has even been placed a few metres beyond the 40’ mph sign, which seems to suggest that drivers’ can increase from 30 mph, but are virtually immediately advised to slow. Quite unbelievable. Also, a “SLOW’’ marking has to be regarded as direct encouragement to speeding drivers as they seem to be mostly placed in situations where, when drivers are observing the local speed limit, there


would be no need to reduce speed. On the speed recommendation


situation, the “allegedly dangerous” A682 road from Gisburn to Long


■Preston has has a speed detection unit placed on the Gisbum side of the


dip and slight bend, about 700 metres from the A59 junction. With care this particular “hazard” can be negotiated comfortably in both directions in a Discovery at an indicated 50 mph, but the detection unit advises 40 mph. The result has a multitude of ad-


verse effects, like unnecessary gen­ eration of brake related dust from pads, tyres and disks due to braking, plus unnecessary generation of extra exhaust gasses and tyres wear dust from applying power to climb out of the dip. Government advice is to drive with­


out sudden changes in speed to re­ duce fuel consumption and hence pol­ lution. How does this device fit in with this with a recommendation as low as 40 mph? How long will it be before this detection unit is smothered in vegetation like lots of other informa-


. tionsigns? It also constitutes a driver distraction when the bend should be being observed by drivers. The tyre industry has been re­


quested to work towards reducing noise generated by their products. As part of the above Chatbum Road resurfacing maintenance, the High­ ways Department has had raised red grit stripes applied which generate substantial noise when vehicles cross them. This conflicts with tyre noise re­ duction targets.


; Also, the stripes are across the full


width for some inexplicable reason. The generation of noise in one direc-- tion is more than enough - it could be argued that ear defenders should be issued to pedestrians! Is there any real need at a 40 to 30 mph transition? Pendle Road from the grid on the


renewal over damaged surface. There needs to be revision of policy


Clitheroe side of the “nick” had some edge patching carried out late last year. Most has deteriorated in the recent cold weather. There is a very obvious local ground water problem which needs to be addressed properly. Several attempts have been made, but the results (and other observations ' like water flowing across motorways) leads one to speculate that ground water management has very low sta­ tus in Highways Engineering studies. Pendle Road has also suffered line


regarding road signing and marking. Road surface marking is mostly ig­ nored by drivers and therefore could. be much more basic and consequently less of a drain on the budget. For ex­ ample, in Burnley the Canning Street road junction opposite the newly opened CLU now has a hatched box sun-ounded by a solid white line which


drivers turning left just ignore. At the Active Way roundabout the approach


past the Focus” store has some new


la^ s marked which are actually very difficult to drive within. (It would be interesting to have comment from Hie designer after they have tried to drive through them!) Both can only


ofLCC highway funds.


white line m Castlegate, Clitheroe which IS a complete waste - vehicles are driven astride it irrespective of


** ® recently reworked There is a very obvious need for a


review of current LCC highway policy of just reinstating earlier road mark-


sho.HH question. A structure ^


excuse for not carrying out'simula-' computers there is no I


ensure that any actually


absolute squandering T


^ At Sabden the entrance to Pen- dle Road has a recently reworked hatched box which most drivers ig-


•have failed!


,.tions of the driving situations which road markings are aimed at achieving The ones mentioned above would all


bo b SHAW, York Street, Clitheroe


UKIP election


policies IN reply to Ian Brown’s letter regard­ ing the value of voting at this year’s General Election, help is at hand. ■ Ian makes valid points about work-


, ing together, the wellbeing of British people, illegal immigrants, crime, hu­


man rights and points scoring politi­ cians. The United Kingdom Independ­


ence Party has policies in place to cover Ian’s concerns:


A referendum on the European


Union (advocating full withdrawal). Freeze immigration for five years


and increase efforts to find and de­ port illegal immigrants. Withdraw increasing administra­


what they say. . Scrap the European Human Rights


Act. Most o f Ian’s concerns are due to


the UK being compelled to accept 75% of its laws from the EU. The Eu­ ropean Human Rights Act means we are rapidly losing the power to govern ourselves and unlike other European countries our government follows every EU law to the letter. The cost of EU membership for one.day is equal to the annual salary


o f20,000 nurses. Are we getting value for money? I think not. UKIP are a party made up of or­


dinary people who have the inter­ ests o f our country at the forefront o f everything we do. We want to put the “Great” back in Britain and the “United” back in Kingdom. What is wrong with a hung parliament? Why do we have to suffer the policies of • one party, rammed through Parlia­ ment because politicians fee! that they must support their party’s policy mak­ ers without question? What purpose do Brown and Cameron serve when they re-enact a Morecambe and Wise sketch during Prime Minister’s ques­ tions? Plenty of questions but no an­ swers. As Ian says now is the time for all politicians to take their positions senously, sit found the table and take responsibility for running this country successfully. If this does not happen soon, future generations will be un­ able to pick up the pieces. The .United Kingdom Independ­


ence Party finished second in last year’s European Elections ahead of Labour and the Lib Dems. We are not


just a Euro Sceptic party and as well as those policies already mentioned, we have others on farming, the econ­ omy, pensions, the environment, edu­ cation, NHS etc. It is time to change and your vote


does not have to be for one of the so- called big three parties. Change can­ not happen if we don’t act. We will change nothing if we do not vote for change.


STEVE RUSH,


■ United Kingdom Independence Party,


Mcariey Syke, Clitheroe


tion so police can spend more time patrolling their beats. Make criminal’s sentences mean


www.cllthoroeadvortlsor.co.uk


www.clitheroeadveftIser.co.uk newsfrom CHIPPING


Wl At the meeting of Chipping WI Joan Porter, welcomed


Raffle winners were Barbara Demaine and Helen Powell. Margaret Fazack-- erly won the compe­ tition for a favourite kitchen utensil and


. gave a presentation mtriguingly entitled “A 17th Century Housewife”. Her amusing and in­ formative talk was based on the history of weaving and gave an insight into work­ ing “in t’mill” and a little of her family history of weaving in Bolton. Mrs Bar­ bara Debney ex- pre^ed thanks.


The next meeting will ^ be on May 5th when Edward Padgett will


. giveia'talk on “A W.C. by any other Name”.


CHAOS Chipping and Area Over Sixties trip


Please pass your name to Margaret Whitaker if you are interested in join­ ing the lunch group at the Punch Bowl, Church Town, meeting at noon on the village hall car park on April 21st.


■ the birthday flowers were presented to Barbara Kitchen.


' m em b e r s and : guests to the village hall. Guest speaker Donna Hughes


Young farmers^ success


MEMBERS of a Rib­ ble Valley Young Farmers’ Club took two titles in a regional competition. The seniors and


juniors representing the Slaidburn branch of the organisation took part in the Lan-.


oishireYFC quiz final in Clitheroe. In total 35 teams


representing 17 YFC clubs from around the county entered this year’s contest. Slaidburn’s senior


team of John and Ste­ ven Walker and John France were victori­ ous after beating the team from Samles-


•buiy YFC to take the title.


And the club’s jun­


ior trio - Heather Alpe, Robert Walker and Andrew Harrison - were also successful winning the trophy after a closely fought match against the team from Clitheroe YFC.


/I ■ J thev Clitheroe Advertiser ftHmes,Thursday, April 15,2010


WRITE: Send your news to Village News, Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, 3 King Street, Clitheroe, BB7 2EW


EMAIL: Email your village news to nfiarcia.morris@east lancsnews.co.uk.


ty Friendship Club will meet on Mon­ day at 1-30 pim. in St Mary’s Parish Centre, York Lane, Langho.


Entertainment will be by the Whal- ley Ladies Singers. Everyone is wel­ come, admission of £1 includes tea and biscuits..


LOW MOOR


Club results Low Moor Club ladies’


darts team lost 7-2 to. Billington Band Club.


The pool A team beat Kings Arms 11-1 and won the Pre­


'-Wi


QUIZ WHIZZES: Members of the winning teams are pictured; back row from the left, John and Steven Walker with John France; and front row from the left, Andrew Harrison, Heather Alpe and Robert Walker, (s)


when Dr Brenda Fox will be speak­ ing on “The A6 Turnpike and other Roads”, new mem­ bers and visitors


. today to Bound­ ary Mill and Ban- ny’s restaurant for lunch. Coach leaves Chipping bus stop at 11-15 a.m.'returning by 4-30 p.m. There will be a £7 charge for fish.and chips lunch.


N e x t T h u r sd a y CHAOS are d o - , ing refreshments at Longridge Civic Hall on market day,


: scones,'sandwiches, hot-pot and sweets. There will also be a raffle and good-as- new stall. : ‘


“My Work as a Lo- AtthcAGMofD^- cal History Detec-


Local history


; chosen by Stephen ; Halliwell for the


■tive” was the topic


■ Histo^ Society. His ; many interesting ex-


. March meeting of Chipping ;Local


• were appreciated by ' members and gave ■ many a new impetus ; ■ in their personal lo-


: ;on:Tuesday in. St ;■ .Mary’s Community ’•Hall at 7-45 p.m.


The next meeting is


: • cal history endeav­ ours. ' •


periences'and tips Treasurer Mrs Kerry Wray read out her


ces'and"ti


DOWNHAM activities


.please come along and. support us. We will be serving tea, coffee, toast,


The next informal session of the soci­ ety takes place on Sunday, May 2nd at the same venue from 2 p.m. Visitors can seek informa­ tion from members about local and family history issues. Tel. 01772 864289 or visit the website


welcome. As this is Mr Shaun Roney will the final meeting of the winter pro­ gramme, members are looking forward to receiving details of the varied walks and outings organ­ ised for the summer months.


After all the hard work and mountains of form filling the grant applied for to the Climate Change Fund was unavail­ able as the fund had closed. Fortunately all the paperwork, with some additions, had now gone to an


the past 12 months.


succcss, to bring the village hall up to modem standards.


If anyone has any ideas for making money to


ham Village Hall management com­ mittee an account of the year’s activi­ ties was circulated . and explained by secretary Mrs Olivia Assheton. ;


lips, who was un­ able to attend the meeting. Mrs Wray was thanked for her work over the past three years.


continue as chair­ man and Mrs As- sheton as secre­ tary. Officers were thanked by Mr Tom McLean for their F e l low sh ip sterling work over On Sunday Hast at


HARROP FOLD


environment fund. Tonight the Bible with hopes of some Study will be taken>


Harrop Christian Fellowsh ip the guest speaker was Mr Maurice Long- ton, of Bentham. He gave a profile of the life of Peter, ranging from, his denial in the garden to the great man of- faith he eventually became.


keep the village hall Next Sunday Do- open the committee minic, who works will be very pleased to hear them. The next AGM will be held on March 28th, 2011, at 7 p.m. ,


report and ques- Y o u n g f a rm e r s


GISBURN »


HURST GREEN .


.


by Norman Pear­ son, of Blackburn. The meeting starts at 7-45 p.m. and all - arewelcome.-


Joanne Oldfied expressed thanks. Next week’s meet­ ing is at Demesne Farm, Newsholme, to judge lambs.


trict Rally Compe- QuiZ tition next month. There is a quiz at the


Bayley Arms on Thursday, April 22nd starting at 8-30 p.m. Proceeds are for “Heartstart”. It _ . , is £2 per person to FeStiVSl enter and supper is Easter was'celebrated provided.


KNOWLE GREEN


with drug addicts on rehab, will be the welcome speaker. _ The service starts a t : 2 p.m and everyone ; iswelcome. .


Dog'walk On ^nday, April 25th Ema Leyland is organising a spon­ sored dog walk in aid of Gui'5e Dogs for the Blind. This is part of a new initia­ tive which asks dog owners to organise sponsored walks to raise money for the training of ’ guide dogs. People ■ are asked'to g e t ‘ sponsorship for ei­ ther themselves or their dogs for the , walk which is from Hurst Green up - to Longridge Fell and back. The walk starts at 1 p.m. and - is expected to take ; three to four hours.' Contact Ema on 826164 for further details, and to con- . firm the departure point and time. De­ tails on www.gow-. ' alkies.org.uk .


. n .


ing morning on Saturday in Hurst Green .Memorial - Hall from 9 a.m. to noon.


,


tions were invited Members of Gisburn C le a n in g d a y H e h e a r S a lS and answered, she Young Farmers’ There will be a clean- Anyone wishing then tendered her Club met at the Fes- resignation due tival Hall fora cook- to work commit- ciy demonstation by ments, her position Gillian Middleton will be taken by Mrs to help members Joanne Wright Phil- prepare for the Dis-


involved in'Hurst Green’s next panto­ mime or help back stage is invited to a


„ to be


in.traditional style in Knowle Green Village Church with congregations up on previous years. The open air service of wit­ ness in Ribchester, led by Pastor Chris Okpoti, was very well supported with worshippers from two of the Ribches­ ter churches and the local fellowship of Knowle Green. The afternoon walk was very well attended, everyone enjoy­ ing hot cross buns at the finish of the walk. The sunrise eeiebration service on Jeffrey Hill was the best attended in recent years and the hot breakfast in the junior church room was very much ap­ preciated after the cold of the dawn service whilst the main family service was well attended. This service can be heard on the web site: www.knowl- cgreen.org.uk.


LANGHO


meeting on May 6th UOmmUnity at 7-30 p.m. in the The Ladies Communi-


.. .


Memorial Hall or contact Margaret 826095


- Si.


In the snooker com­ petition Low Moor A team reached the final of the League Knockout by beat­ ing Rimington A. The final against the Catholic Club will be held tonight and next Thursday.


The B team drew 6-6 against the Buck Inn.


mier League.


Winners of the poker were Jan and Lee.


Bonus ball winners J. Noone and A. Gor­ don.


Family days will be held in Low Moor Club every Satur­ day and Sunday with a bouncy castle weather peraiitting.


PENDLETON


History group The importance of re­ cording oral history so that memories are preserved for eternity was illus-


Grand National sweep winners were D. Barnes and I. Rush- ton. .


The pool singles final was held in the club in front of a large crowd who saw S. Thompson (British Legion) win 6-1.


CLICK: Log on to www.clithe'roe ' advertiser.co.uk for village news online


trated at the latest meeting of Pendle­ ton History Society. Andrew Schofield, of the North West Sound. Archive, entertained mem­ bers with various examples of the vast wealth of history col­ lated by the archive. He gave examples including rhemo- ries of working at Liverpool Docks, Tom Finney’s rec­ ollection of the treatment of sports injuries, a poignant recording from an Accrington Pal and music from Stanley Holloway.


Andrew has offered to record anyone with memories of Pend­ leton past. Anyone who would like to share their valuable recxillections should contact the history society.


■ Continued on next page


17


that stands out from the crowd


Insurance


• Pay by free instalments (0%APR TYPICAL) No upper age limit Provided by Fortls Insurance Limited


Deal tape to.face with a real person! v


For details visit: Age Concern Lancashire - Clitheroe 18a Castlegate, Clitheroe, BB7 1AZ


Tel: 01200 444423 Open: Mon to Fri 9am - 5pm


AGE


or c^l Fortis'S UK call centre.0845 600 3327 Of vteH www.ageconcem.org.uk/motorinsurance


^C^y”/y»C°ncem<telaledexMsaregsteredeiaiilv.A»UKl3lli8n<M/ 2^


Age C nj and Age Ml.' 0. The Age U ym


K famly Vtdiides Age Scoitoid.^ M1486V2MAH10SL017053_10


i . f


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