+ I CUTHEROEflDVERTISER&nMES . wvw.clith0roeadvertiser.co.uk Thursday, Julyio,2oi4 Thursday,JulylO,2014 www.clithBroeadv0rtiser.co.uk CLITHEROEADVERTISER&TIMES fi. r w c . , F IR ST WORLD WAR VALLEYVIEW S


Write to The Editor,CnthoroeAdvertiserandTimes,3 King Street, Clitheroe BB72EWoremailduncan.smith1@jpress.co.uk SECOND CHANCES?


This is the second in a series of features, courtesy of Clitheroe historian SHIRLEY PENMAN, about those from the Ribbie Valley wholost their lives in the greatwar


l"1 '■


A . ■ .full page of the Clitheroe Adver-


. tiser was devo­ ted to the death • of Lieut. Louis:


Leeming R.A.F. who is pic­ tured here with his aircraft some time in 1914. Known as a “crack” air­


man, many of those who didnotknowLieut. Leemirig personally would have seen him fly over the district on one of his visits by air to his parents and his oldhomeonHenthorn „ _ Road, Clitheroe. The youngest of three


soldier sons of Mr and Mrs John Leeming - his two brothers Jim and John


joined the Accrington Pals and fought all the way through the war - one of Lieut. Leeming’s greatest disappointments was that he never flew to France, - instead there to guard “ Britain’s shores.


F a c t F i le


Second Lieutenant Louis Leem­ ing,73rd. Wing, Royal A ir Force. Died aged20on December 5th 1918 in an aeroplane accident..


' HeisburiedinagravevaultatSt Mary’s Cemetery, Waddington Road, Clitheroe. ThesonofJohnandJane Leeming(nee King),they were married in1892at Moor Lane Methodist Church, Clitheroe. ThefamilyaddresswasAlder- > leigh, Henthorn Road, Clitheroe. Louis died in hospital from injuriesbroughtaboutwhen theaeroplanehe was in crashed oh the southern coast, he had been patrolling the east coast in Coastal Commandfor several months and had, on at least two occasions, come to grips with the enemy. It is believed he was stationed at the airfield near Great Yarmouth and flying with - Edward Dudley Warren, also a second lieutenant with the R.A.F., who is buried in the Great Yarmouth Cemetery (Caister). His parents were informedbytelegramontheaf- ■ ternoon of December 5th that he wasseriously ill and a telephone


SalW-: ..L-’ 1 .


MP’s behaviour To respond to the letter which Mrs Kay wrote last week about Nigel Evans beinggiven a sec­ ond chance. It would seem that Mr Evans has already had his second


and third chance, and that this did not seem to make the


slightest bit of difference to his behaviour. During his trial, it was widely reported that, following com­ plaints that he was using his power and influence to force his attentions on young men, he had received several warn­


Lieut Leeming with hisaircraftsometime in 1914.


communication giving the sad news of his death was received at midnight.


His funeral was held at Moor Lane United Methodist Church


after his coffin, draped with the . Union Jack, had been borne on


a gun carriage from his home to the church. In the course of his


A case of a soldier in


Private James Haworth Birt- well (19418), of the 17th Battal­ ion, Lancashire Fusiliers. Died aged 22 on October


20th 1918. He was killed by a German booby-trap. He is buriedingraveplotE.lefthand rear ofMarke Communal Cem­ etery, Marke, Belgium. ThesonofThomasHowarth


Birtwelland MaryBirtwell (nee' Oddie) they were married on July 3rd 1886 at Clitheroe Par-


ishChurch.Theylivedat33St. • Mary’s Street, Clitheroe.


James, who was the fourth


son of a family of nine, was de­ termined to enlist shortly af­ ter war broke out as his three brothers had done. He was aged ju s t 18 at the time. He went to work in Preston, but the desire to enlist saw him in khaki by March 1915. Only 18 months later, at the age of 20, he was awarded the Distin­ guished Conduct Medal. The circumstancesdetailed,'inpart of an official order, stated that he“didspeciallygoodworkact-


ing as a runner between the Company and Battalion head­ quarters. During three days, he carried messages, usually, under heavy shell fire. When thenewlinehadbeenreached


he crossed the open under ma­ chine gun fire on three occa­ sions and delivered messages to his company commander. It was largely due to his work


asrunnerthatcommunication was kept with the right com- •


panyandsowiththeFrenchon the right of the battalion”. '


address the pastor remarked on thevisitsLouishadpaidtoClit- - heroe, once to land in a field near Henthorne to join his delighted family for Sunday lunch and an- . other time to drop a letter in the


garden of his parents' home, not landing, but giving spectators an aerial display as he dipped near


Clitheroe Castle, flew over the Keep, encircled the steeple of the Parish Church and generallyperformed "stunts" to the delight of the people of his town before flying off in a north-easterly direction in his “dragonfiy"steed. His cortege wended its way


through curtain-drawn shops and houses to the vault in St. Mary's Cemetery, where a vol­ ley of shots were fired and three buglers played “The Last Past". So mourned Clitheroe for one of its own, made the more poignant because the war hadended four weeks before.


!, at the wrong time Lance Corporal Alfred


Charles Taylor was the in: formant of the sad news to the family. In his letter, after expressing.his sympathy, he related the circumstances of


“the sad death ofyour son, Jim, D.C.M.” It transpired that after the Battle of Kortrijk to liber­ ate the village ofMarke, James had gone along to the orderly room, which was in a building recently vacated by the ene­ my, to discuss his impending leave, when some ammunition


which had “become mixed in with the coals on the fire “ sud­ denly exploded. A stray bullet, sped across the room and hit James in the temple causing instantaneous death. He had suffered no pain and was bur­ ied “in a pretty little civilian


cemetery with a cross to mark his grave”. It was a well known fact that


the Germans left booby-traps when they had to retreat and so poor James was indeed in the


wrongplace at the wrong time. • In a later, date unknown,


article in the Burnley Express named “A corner of a foreign field”, it was revealed that a service as a mark of respect had been organised by the Friends in Flanders Muse­ um after a researcher local to the village ofMarke, Mr Marc Glorieux, had found James’ grave in the cemetery there and contacted them. The laying o f a wreath


followed a reading of his life and duty of service.


; , j


I


" . |!-


. 1 5


Clitheroesurelyhasoneofthe most unique memorials to the men and boys who went, and died,intheirhundredsin“the wartoendallwars”;theywere not to know that in less than ; twodecadesthewholehorror.


would have to be borne again bythenextgeneration, writes


Clitheroe historian Shirley Penman.


.• After the First World War, Clitheroe Castle was bought


in 1920 by the townspeople of Clitheroe from Lord Mon­ tague for the sum o f £9,500.


This included Castle House (presently housing the town museum), the castle keep and


The remembrance service at Clit- heroeCastlewarmemorial - .


the sixteen and a half acres which included the castle grounds. The record and gen­ eral offices were not included immediately, but were taken over at a later date. •


is such a unique war memorial Altogether, £15,000 was


raised - mostly by donations - but rounded out by whist drives,jumblesales,children’s pocket money contributions, dances and church bazaars to name but a few. The excess money was used to landscape the grounds, provide tennis courts and bowling greens for


■ the used o f the townspeople in their leisure time, revitalise the buildings, provide the me­ morial of the bronze soldier


with bowed head and reversed arms and the plaques nam­ ing the 324 men of the town who paid the supreme price, the streets of Clitheroe were


thronged on the day of the un­ veiling in August 1923, when


more than 400 floral tributes were massed around the foot


of the memorial before the day was over. After the Second World


War, much thought was given to a meaningful memorial for


the 68 men and 1 woman who died for their country. It was decided that a combination of the names of the two world wars, but that an additional other, more modern in out­ look, was required.


To this end, to satisfy the


traditional, the names were inscribed upon a bronze


Plaque and attached to the original war memorial, with two lawns on either side be­ ing dedicated to the fallen of


theSecond World War.Amore


practicalmemorialwas there- structuring of the entrance to the castle grounds to include


a wider approach, two plaques placed on a gate pier stating their function, newly formed


flowerbedsandnewimposine wrought iron gates.


, On the day of the ceremony, the mayor and mayoress with


their retinue of halbadiers, mace-bearer, town clerk, al­ dermen and councillors and followed by ex-servicemen


of both world wars and the townspeople o f Clitheroe, processed from the town hall to the gates which had previ­ ously been locked. These were duly unlocked with the cere­


monial key and after a short dedication ceremony the pro­


cession wended its way to the war memorial where the rela­


tives of the fallen were already ensconced in reserved seats.


There followed the unveil­


ing of the new plaque bearing the names of the fallen after which floral tributes were laid


. by official parties and the rela­


tives. The service was closed by a bugler playing the Last Post.


“t,’l ? GULL TODAY: 01200 429 924/07970 455158


SHOWROOM OPEN Mon - Fri: 9am till 6pm, Sat: 9.30am till 1pm www.ultraframehoineiniprovements.co.uk e: info@ultraframehomeimprovements.co.uk Enterprise Works, Salthill Road, Clitheroe BB71 PE


ultraframe tjjour Hjo'm - Our t^ajsioi


ings about his behaviour from senior Conservative figures. In 2009, he was told by sen­ ior party officials to curb his drinking and seek more appropriate company. Even though he has had sev­ eral warnings, it was the same drunken behaviour and over­ familiarity with men much younger than himself that got him into the trouble in which he found himself last year. Even recently, he does notseemtohave any remorse atall.LastSunday.inaTV interview, he was asked why party workers wanted him to stand down and whether it was something to do with the


revelations about his private life during the trial. He seemed to display total arrogance, insisting that he had done nothing wrong. Maybe it was not illegal, but it was certainly morally wrong I would say I


No, Mrs Kay, Mr Evans has already been given enough chances and a man in his posi­ tion should have listened to warnings and advice, behav­ ing in a way one would expect an MP to behave. Mr Evans, Right Honourable? I don’t think so I


MrsWallacy Address supplied HOSPITAL PARKING


Use the old site for car parking Until a definite decision is made and the current prob­


lem can be solved, would it not make sense to use the parking facilities at theold Clitheroe Hospital. An accident is going to happen due to cars having to park on themainroadnearthenew hospital. After all the years ofwaiting for the new facility, it is very disappointing that the plan­ ning officers, in their wisdom,


could not get it right. Maybe the old hospital is going to be redeveloped, but in the mean­ time the site could be used for car parking to help prevent an accident. A. Mayman, via email


TOURDEFRANCE Tour spectacle


has inspired me What a brilliant two days the start of the Tour de France was. After watching the first two stages of the Tour through Yorkshire, I’m both inspired and confident that I can lead out Froome et al on the Cote de Littlemoor Road, Cote de Peel Park Avenue and Cote de Pen- dleRoad! As for the Cote de Pendle Hill...a mere cote de butter- tub!


TrevorHobday,


(aka the Littlemoor Rocket) Birbiston, Littlemoor Road, Clitheroe


• Letters to the Editor deadline is noon Tuesday on the week of publication. Please send letters to the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times office or email: duncan. smithi@jpress.co.uk


© j fcv/ k IiMqx


|SC K l i g S © |


' i n m m


s© i ! i i i


l


'''•"^TT^^KingClrthferoe,*'l^hcs^nirefrBB7'2EU ,,; s-; f t iCall:01200 423 723|www.dehish6pe.com/hopemenswear!


^ y. J


~ ^ *


L *■ -w l 1 * “ '•1 I t ■'**1 ^ ST


-* c_ v j J V 4.


^ ^ f f - i X > Y 4. 3


I getI {TOUCH


m


mm HIsslf g i g


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