WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Pluggy]

I'm a grandfather, my daughter gave birth to a baby girl just before 8 PM last night. She weighed 3.16 kg or just shy of 7lb in old units. Mother and baby (Charlotte Grace) 'doing well'. Not bad going seeing as she only left Barlick for Burnley general at about 6:30pm. They said she'd done most of the labour at home.

[Tripps]

Congratulations. Lovely names. My own granddaughter is also a Charlotte .

[PanBiker]

Congratulations Stephen, is it your first? We used to think we would have to kidnap to get any grandchildren then in the space of three years we now have three!

[Nolic]

Congratulations and best wishes to you all. Charlotte's ain't all sugar and spice.... at least mine isn't. Nolic

[Pluggy]

Congratulations and best wishes to you all. Charlotte's ain't all sugar and spice.... at least mine isn't. Nolic

Her mother wasn't, can't really expect much more from the 3rd generation.

Yes panny, she's my first grandchild. She'll be home today if the hospital doesn't drag their feet discharging them, She wasn't exactly planned and my daughter has fallen out with the father, messy situation.

I'm the only male in the household, I'll be fighting with the cat for 4th place.....

[Wendyf]

Congratulations Pluggy.

[Sunray10]

Yes congrats Pluggy and welcome to the world baby Charlotte

[Pluggy]

They're home now, both gone straight to sleep, knackered......

[Stanley]

Lovely Plugs! I know what you mean about being the only male in the house. I had three daughters and Janet (youngest) and I formed the 'Hey Farm Flat Chested Society' in solidarity. Problem was it wasn't long before she was disqualified from membership....

[Stanley]

I had a bit of a life style change yesterday which says something about the way inertia can sometimes rule our lives. Being a pipe smoker my refillable El Cheapo gas lighters were essential. Problem is that they deteriorate and get to the stage where no matter how well you maintain them they don't light first time. I realised that the callous on my right thumb caused ny the flint wheel was getting too thick and annoying me. So I bit the bullet, threw all the gas lighters out and went back to my old petrol-fuelled Zippos. The best and most reliable lighters ever made, always light first time and if they wear out you just send them back to the factory and they refurbish them to new condition free of charge. Question is why I had persevered with the gas lighters for so long.....

[Stanley]

The American soldier executing nine children and seven adults, one shot in the head for each. Can't help wondering what the level of drug abuse is in Afghanistan. Nobody talks about it but I would be amazed if it wasn't widespread. Add this to the long list of US stupidities, abusing prisoners, torture and the classic of burning copies of the Koran and you can't help wondering what the mind-set is. Not the way to win hearts and minds.

[Stanley]

I commented on another topic about my belief that all gagging clauses should be banned. Funnily enough I'm listening to a man from the GMC saying exactly the same thing. I can't help reflecting that Dr Phil Hammond and Private Eye may have had an influence on this. They have been banging on about the need for feedback without retribution for years and it may be that somewhat belatedly the GMC is coming round to the same point of view. PE has reported some terrible cases of nursing staff having their lives ruined after blowing the whistle on bad cases of neglect and other malpractice. The latest official moves to encourage them are not seen as a viable answer.

[Moh]

Congratulations Pluggy - hope you are managing to sleep - not easy with a new baby. Reading the earlier reference to the meteor - it was a wonderful sight, we were sitting in the caravan when it appeared on our left heading south. It was very bright with quite a long trail. This past Saturday night we saw an orange light in the sky going north, it was not an areoplane so we don't know what it was.

[Pluggy]

Congratulations Pluggy - hope you are managing to sleep - not easy with a new baby.

I've never considered being deaf in one ear a blessing before, but sleeping with my good ear in the pillow means I'm largely oblivious. Mum and granny have her well in hand.....

I get to hold her occasionally.

[Tizer]

Talking to my father yesterday about old picture houses in Blackburn were he was born (1918) and brought up. He's blessed with a good long-term memory and in less than 30 minutes had remembered: Rialto, Royal, Savoy, Majestic, Palace, Empire, Olympia, Central, Star, Penk's and Charnley's. He thought one of the theatres (Grand or Theatre Royal) had also been used as a picture house for a short time.

I was sure he might have given a few names that he might have heard of elsewhere rather than Blackburn, but I was proved wrong. On our return home I looked at the `Blackburn Past' web site and found that every one of his names was correct and he had only missed three. He also knew the locations of all the cinemas he named (a mis-spent youth, or was it a well-spent youth?). The web site added the Roxy, Ritz and Palladium and stated that the Grand was the one that had been a temporary picture house in the 1930s. To complicate matters, the Rialto became the Odeon, the Majestic the Essoldo, and the Roxy the Regent. The Palladium was known colloquially as the Pall-Ad, or Plad. Penk's was short for Pendleton's Picture House, which became the Alexandra Palace, and Charnley's was really the Victoria. I assume Pendleton and Charnley were proprietors.

The three my father missed were all `on the other side of town', but picture houses were more local than today's cinemas - people didn't need to go to the other side of town when there so many closer to home. He also added that Grandma always sat the family in seats at the side of the cinema so she could rush them out at the end before the anthem!

Have a look at the Blackburn Past web page on `The Cinemas & Theatres of Blackburn'. It has photos of all but one and the captions show some pithy northern humour.
http://www.blackburnpast.com/2010/08/ci ... kburn.html

[Stanley]

I was always fascinated by the cinema names. I remember that when Mac Parker's cinema was bought out in about 1950 the new name 'Essoldo' was a composite of the new owners names. One was Essie and I think the other was Solomon. In Stockport we had the Plaza and the Ritz as well.
What grabbed me was the result of my March blood test. My last one in March 2011 was basically that of a sixteen year old and this month's was better. I may survive for another year! I liked the way the Doc put my home blood pressure reading on the system instead of the one he took in the surgery. I have never thought I was susceptible to anxiety but my readings are always higher in the surgery. He told me he liked people to have their own BP monitor and keep a record of home readings because once he was satisfied that the machine was calibrated properly (We have tested mine against his) the home record was the true picture. Daughter Janet has asked for the results as she has just had one and wants to compare with mine. Now that'll be interesting! What pleases me is that all my cholesterol readings are within accepted parameters even though I have never stopped eating eggs etc and saturated fat.
I see that the latest 'scientific research' shows that eating red meat means you die younger. Helpful?????

[Moh]

Mine are always higher in the surgery too, I have a machine so check at home.

[Tizer]

I see that the latest 'scientific research' shows that eating red meat means you die younger. Helpful?????

The scientific research is OK, the problem is the spin the news media always puts on the story to make it more exciting. Modest amounts of red meat are OK; eating too much and too often isn't. That's been known for decades and the present research is simply confirming it. The ones who are in danger are those who eat substantial amounts of red meat almost every day (some twice a day), and especially processed meats, burgers and the like. But it's also going to be affected by genetics and some folk will get away with eating a lot of red meat, others will be in trouble even with a small amount. Diet and health advice should be given to individuals, not the population - but the health advisors find that too difficult to grasp.

[Belle]

Came across this on the back of an old newspaper cutting i was scanning in for family history. It's from the Nelson Leader around 1956..I am not sure which article the picture is linked to but thought it would be good to put it on here, and let you tell me! Didn't want to bury it in one of the topics so popped on here to get noticed,it can always be archived somewhere else later. Oh now I can't seem to see how to pop it in...it was dead easy before. have also put it in gallery under Barnoldswick.. can anyone make it bigger?

[Tizer]

Belle, if you go to the Gallery, find your thumbnail image, click on the `image name' underneath it (Barnoldswick 001), then it opens a full size version. Look below this full-size image and you see the `Image BBcode', in this case the number 264 with album in square brackets in front and /album in square brackets after it. Copy and paste this code into your post and you'll get an `expandable' image. (If I write the code here it will appear as the image instead of the code.) It's dead easy - Ian was kind enough to show me how to do it.

[Nolic]

Belle, the date of the cutting would be after 1968. The article referring to Bent appearing at Letcliffe Park says that they play Cream and Free numbers. Cream were formed in late 1966 but Free were not formed until 1968 but only became famous after the release of "All Right Now" in 1970. I would say that the cutting is from the early '70's. The way the youngsters are dressed would also bear this out. Nolic

[Belle]

I was going by a photo on the other side, by the age of the people in it it could only be 1956 but perhaps it was re submitted at a later date.

[Stanley]

I think I recognise at least two faces on here. I've sent it to my daughters....
What grabbed me yesterday was that when I rang Susan to give her some news she very gently told me I had told her the same thing the day before.... Am I falling off the trolley nurse?

[Belle]

Nice that she was gentle with you Stanley I repeat my self so often my lot have lost the gentle touch!

Tizer thanks for the help, and Pluggy Congratulations

[Tardis]

Yesterday actually:

Someone snapped one of the new Lime Trees on the Green. Looks like they were climbing on the angled stake, and must have grasped the tree to rectify their balance. Tree was broken in two.

Made the Telegraph today, but when I told folk at the Rainhall Centre, Hannah at B&E and a member of Bloom yesterday no one was interested. Priorities?

Maybe now they'll rethink the stakes, but the gap will actually allow the remaining Lime to get a full canopy. Not looking forward to using the path when it does though because the wildlife they attract is greenfly so it might get a bit sticky.