A GRIEVING mother was horrified to find earth had been dumped on her son's grave over the weekend by workmen who were preparing for another burial. Marlene Ainsworth, of Kay Street, Darwen, whose son Robert Wheatman died in Preston Prison last year, had
JUMP on my time machine and I will take you back to May Day when I was a child 70 years ago, in Haslingden. Milk floats and horses would be decorated with paper flowers of all colours. Coloured ribbons would be plaited in the horses' tails. Bells would
GREATER Manchester Transport was poised for a shock takeover of East Lancashire bus routes. Its new company, Greater Manchester Buses Ltd, formed to meet the Government transport free-for-all challenge, launched the bid to run services throughout East
FORMER footballer Doug Chadwick has signed on with East Lancashire accountants PM&M. Doug, 35, who played at semi-professional level with Chorley FC and was once on the books of Leeds United, has joined the firm as corporate tax manager. He spent
ROSSENDALE United will be glad to see the back of their 1995/96 season as they suffered a 4-0 defeat in their last match of the season at Holker Old Boys. After having to make several changes to the side that played on Saturday the players found it difficult
MAY I thank you for your report (LET, April 22) about the damage by vandals to my late husband's memorial bench. It has been repaired promptly by the Ribble Valley Council. I went personally to thank the gentleman who phoned your office to volunteer to
A SCHEME to install spy cameras on school buses is being speeded up after a deluge of complaints from operators. Lancashire County Council agreed in January to spend £17,500 to help 18 bus operators each install a camera. But the project has not yet got
KEVIN Gallacher's Euro 96 dream is still alive. Contrary to reports today, the Blackburn Rovers striker has travelled to Scotland to link up with the national squad called together for special training by Craig Brown. Gallacher (pictured right), suffered
A MAJOR international engineering award has come to East Lancashire for a unique machining centre. Weston Electrical Units of Foulridge scooped one of the Machinery magazine awards for innovation in production engineering for a £1.7 million rotary transfer
BALD people in East Lancashire have been invited to take part in the first British clinical trial for laser-assisted hair transplantation. Up to 50 men with a male-pattern bald patch are being sought by husband-and-wife team Doctors Bessam and Nilofer
WALL paintings uncovered at the New Inn, Rochdale Road, Bacup, a decade or more ago have attracted nationwide interest. The paintings, at least a century old, cover three walls of the snug at the historic public house and appear in National Heritage literature
EAST Lancashire rider Joanna Jackson (pictured right), has been shortlisted to represent Britain in the Olympic dressage team in Atlanta. Now she is set to undergo intensive training in the hope of making sure her Olympic dream comes true THE grace, elegance
THIS week is Red Cross Week and I call upon readers to join in helping the Lancashire Branch of the British Red Cross during this key date in its calendar. Volunteers are collecting funds which will be used to provide a range of services to help people
AN It's a Knock Out competition probably wasn't what the monks of Whalley Abbey had in mind when they first settled there 700 years ago. But that is how teams of church-goers from all over Lancashire helped celebrate the anniversary of the ancient abbey
SECOND Division play-off hero John Francis and popular striker Nathan Peel are set to leave Turf Moor. The Burnley stars were handed free transfers today as Adrian Heath made his retained list public. While there were no major shocks, Francis joins Peel
A MAJOR fund-raising initiative to raise £200,000 to build a new church in Darwen will be officially launched on Sunday next. A display by groups and organisations based at the Central United Reformed Church, Duckworth Street, will accompany the official
A SCHOOL says it is delighted with an inspectors' report which praised the standards of education. Haslingden Primary School was said to provide a very sound quality of education, pupils had good standards of behaviour and attendance, with almost all
HUNDREDS of East Lancashire holidaymakers were today anxiously waiting to hear whether it was safe to travel to civil war-torn Yugoslavia. Airtours, who were due to fly thousands of passengers to Yugoslavia in the summer, were discussing the crisis at
RIBBLESDALE League side Cherry Tree recorded a marvellous victory over Northern League champions Morecambe in the second round of the Abbott Ale Cup at Preston Old Road. And Bobby Ince emerged as the hero of the hour. His six for 47, off eight overs and
LANCASHIRE arrived at Grace Road for their Benson and Hedges cup tie against Leicestershire today dejected after their championship defeat at Kent - but encouraged by the form of Mike Atherton and Neil Fairbrother. They went down by 64 runs at Canterbury
ISRAEL now admits that the shelling on a UN base in Lebanon in which 102 people were killed was a mistake. And it apologises. But it denies accusations that a UN video showing a spy plane flying over the base proved that the Israeli gunners knew they
AT THE root of the government's proposals to persuade people to take out insurance to cover the costs of long-term residential care in their old age, there is, it seems, a desire to find a general election vote-winner. All the same, the problem of the
ONE of East Lancashire's biggest employers, Lucas Industries, today confirmed it is in talks which could lead to a £3 billion merger. The potential deal with the Varity Corporation of the US would make the firm's factories in Burnley and Accrington part
A LUCKY raffle ticket has won Ken and Christine Fitzpatrick a £90,000 Mercedes dream car from the Middle East. But they won't be keeping it . . . they already have a Jaguar and a BMW! The hotel-owning couple paid just under £100 for the ticket during
BARBARA Castle Way on a May Day bank holiday may not instantly put you in mind of the Champs Elysees on a balmy June afternoon. But for a few hours yesterday, as the Thwaites Grand Prix reached a stirring climax in the centre of Blackburn, comparisons
INOTICE yet again that the Muslim community is moaning over something - this time over delays to Muslim funerals (LET, April 2). I am not a racist; indeed, I have a number of Asian friends whose friendship I value. But I am getting fed up of the Muslim
LEFT-WING Labour MP Dennis Skinner delighted a May Day audience at Burnley by saying he was waiting for the Blairs to put up pink curtains at 10 Downing Street. The controversial MP said he would rather the curtains were red but he would settle for pink
IREAD with concern your unnamed correspondent's warning to potential applicants of the 'mine field' of the Do It Yourself Shared Ownership (DIYSO) scheme administered by North British Housing Association (Letters, April 30). DIYSO gives people the opportunity
IF you have arthritis which affects your feet, the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council has produced a special booklet to help you. 'Arthritis in the Feet' details the types of arthritis which affect foot joints, describes the effects and gives a list of
PARAMEDICS are now better equipped to deal with emergencies and save vital seconds. Burnley and Nelson ambulance stations have been supplied with the latest state of the art medical equipment and drugs and have new ambulances. Burnley district manager
CONSERVATIONISTS have warned that 20 species of birds in the North West are seriously dwindling in numbers and say that some have almost halved. Eight groups, including the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust, have joined forces to review bird-life
BURNLEY Council leader, Kath Reade, who survived a power struggle at her group's annual meeting, said Labour would now go forward collectively to implement Labour's manifesto. Coun Reade said today that the fact there was a leadership challenge within
CRANE driver Steve Mooney has shot to fame as the face of his firm - purely by chance. Steve, based at crane hire firm GWS's Great Harwood depot, was delivering a crane to one of the firm's other depots so it could be photographed for a new advertising
