WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[PanBiker]

Barnoldswick winning the Great British High Street Awards 2014!

Check it out on the Visit Barnoldswick film.

A big 'THANK YOU' to everyone!

Fantastic news David, the culmination of a lot of hard work, well done to everyone who has contributed.

[Stanley]

I missed that this morning.... Sorry. It deserves a lot of jumping up and down and shouting! How marvellous that just for once, hard work and long and careful planning have got a result. See THIS REPORT for the story in Pendle Today. Quite wonderful....

[Nolic]

Well done to Barlick and Barlickers. Typical of the Minister to get the name wrong. Nolic

[Thomo]

To many of us, Barlick has always been special, and now its official, no longer "no mans land". This latest accolade is a shining example of what may be achieved when a well led team can generate the enthusiasm and support required to get a good result. At one time when this Town was mentioned outside of a very small radius around it "where's that" would be the response, more locally it has often been the butt of the joke, "its where folks live oer' t' brush" etc. Also known as the place with the 4th longest name with no letters repeated, and one of the few towns of its size not accessed by an "A" class road. No top list celebs are credited with coming from here, no Knights of the realm or leading politicians and so forth. Yet this is where the first true jet engines to enter service were made, and not long after came Silentnight, the largest factory of its kind in Europe. What we have to do now that we are at the top, is to keep it that way, and WELL DONE to the team that put us there.

[Tizer]

Congratulations Barlick! And all done without connection to a high speed rail link to either Manchester or Leeds or London! Fancy that.

[Stanley]

On a slightly different note... The John Lewis advertisement for Xmas went down badly last year but have a look at THIS and perhaps have a little melting moment. I love it!

[Wendyf]

Not only am I sporting a plaster cast with a broken wrist but three of my good friends and ex neighbours in Scotland are too. Three fractured wrists and one ankle fracture all within a week.....how weird is that?

[Marilyn]

Good one, Wendy!
That will slow you down a bit!

[Stanley]

I hope Colin is up to stirring the Xmas Pudding and looking after you...
I got a reply from Oz this morning responding to my shotgun mail alerting people to the Penguin advert. This is what happens when you imprint your children!

"Oh dear, I’m sorry to put a dampener on this but yet another sickly attempt to make us feel sorry for a middle class friendless boy (not that I don’t love The Polar Express and The Snowman)
Call me cynical but why can’t it EVER be a girl!!
Why can’t it EVER be a family not based in London or the home counties?
Why can’t it EVER be interior decor from hell?
Before you say anything Dad, you raised me."

I replied telling her that I switched out of Dennis Skinner mode before watching the advert. This has started another round of replies and made Janet choke on her early morning tea in Oz.

On a more immediate matter. The big explosions as industrial fireworks went off last night until well after 23:00. I hope they run out of them soon. Jack most unhappy about it all.

[Stanley]

It's remembrance Sunday and quite rightly we will be thinking of all those who died in the wars. Naturally we concentrate on our own dead but it's as well to remember that ours were not the only innocents who lost their lives.



This is the Comrades Grave at Langemark Cemetery in Belgium, one of the four cemeteries for German war dead. Apart from the marked graves, 24,700 unidentified dead lie in this tennis court sized mass grave. It's as well to remember that all the combatants suffered. Nobody has a monopoly of grief.

[PanBiker]

I watched "The Passing Bells" this last week screened by the BBC which served to reinforce that fact. For anyone who has not seen this it tells the tale of two lads (Tommy and Michael) on opposite sides of the conflict showing the fact that there was no difference in their experiences or feelings. A very well presented and powerful drama, you can still catch all 5 half hour episodes on the BBC IPlayer.

The Passing Bells

[stephen]

Barnoldswick winning the Great British High Street Awards 2014!

Check it out on the Visit Barnoldswick film.

A big 'THANK YOU' to everyone!

Congratulations, I'm very proud to be associated with the town of Barnoldswick and not surprised at the award being given to the town and those hard working people who make it such a pleasure to spend time in.

It is a shame the MP announcing the winners could not get the town's name correct... "Barnsoldwick", I feel sorry for all those people plugging that into their sat navs that will sadly never find us.

Well done everyone.

[Stanley]

Those bloody fireworks going off late at night again!! Couldn't get Jack out for his late night pee again so once more, plan 'B' in operation. Get up at 02:00 when all was quiet to let him get out and relieve himself. High time they ran out. Bangers going off at after 22:00 isn't little kids enjoying themselves, it's adults being objectionable!

[Nolic]

Like Panny I watched Passing Bells and was impressed with the simple and touching way it portrayed 2 ordinary lads. I thought the ending of young English and German men walking together, many arm in arm across a desolate ground turning into a poppy field was very touching.

Proud to see the few remaining men of the Normandy Veterans Association leading the march past the Cenotaph. The organisation is to disband this year but the old men will keep marching. Nolic

[PanBiker]

Yesterday the very high turnout of Barlick folk at the remembrance service, commendable.

[Stanley]

Comrade, I heard them talking on R4 yesterday. I couldn't help noting that they are so reticent about what they achieved. I contrast this with what I see as an ersatz culture of macho attitudes in the military these days. Very impressive men and in my mind I associate them with the old Wehrmacht men I met in Berlin after the war. I know that this attitude isn't universally popular but I was there... I must have a look at Passing Bells, to tell you the truth I avoided it because too much reminiscence about the Wars depresses me and I'm afraid my crap detector goes off every time I hear references to 'Our Glorious Dead', shades of Thatcher on the steps of Downing Street talking about 'Our Boys' during the Falklands War.
My personal views were reinforced by the interviews I did for the LTP and in other conversations with veterans who had survived. Without exception they said that there was nothing glorious about dying in the mud on the Western Front. I am all for remembering men like my grandfather who died there but dead against any triumphalism or glorification. When you think of it Man is the only species on the planet which makes war on close relations.... I don't know the answer to that one.



This is Bailleul cemetery in about 1920. It's an extension of a civilian graveyard used for burying the war dead. My grandfather is there. This was of course before the IWGC brought order to such sites.

[Bruff]

It’s not unusual in my experience for folk to have difficulty with pronouncing Barnoldswick. My Gloucestershire in-laws have to slow down and take their time over the name, as have many acquaintances over the years. Mind, I was once talking to a founder of the Campaign for Plain English who was under the impression Barnoldswick was pronounced Barlick, rather than the latter being a colloquialism. I also know people often get the syllable emphasis wrong.

I would recommend folk read Blake Morrison’s book on the Bulger case As If. It is an extremely thought-provoking piece on childhood and families, place and the criminal justice system.

Richard Broughton

[Cathy]

It's a small world, I saw David Whipp today, Hi David, well on my tv actually. Flicking thru channels today I started to watch a program called Bang Goes the Theory, it was about Wi-Fi, radio waves, microwaves, the internet etc. In the background of one shot I saw the shop Shambles and I thought 'I know that shop, I'll keep watching'. Next there was David Whipp Town Councillor looking very smart, and a guy from the show sat in the Town Centre and David was saying that Wi-Fi had just been installed in Barnoldswick. (Obviously a while ago now.) Lovely to see.

[Thomo]

I agree with Stanley about the fireworks, its been nearly non stop since Halloween. Saturday down here sounded like a battle zone from 6.00 till 11.00pm, repeated again last night. The effect on our cats has got steadily worse over the past week and they are now very unsettled. Ian is correct about the turnout yesterday for Remembrance Sunday, thankfully it did not rain. On that note there is increasing pressure to change the timing of the event from 3,00 pm to 11.00 am. At present in our area, along with Earby and Nelson we are the only ones to hold the event in the afternoon. Changing it to the morning could present several problems in regard to attendance by outside parties as the current time slots for other towns are already filled, comments on this will be most welcome.

[PanBiker]

I reckon Wendy would have been scooped up by the Bletchley scouts during WWII looking at her analytical skills, encyclopaedic memory and her ability to think outside the box, being ably demonstrated in the Ancient Whalley Abbey Boundaries thread.

[David Whipp]

Cathy, I think the Bang Goes The Theory piece was filmed in February 2012; the story was that we'd shelved plans for a public wi-fi scheme after the representative for the traders (a Conservative town councillor at the time) said it caused cancer and created a hoo-haa against it...

There's a fresh initiative to provide wi-fi and this person is a current borough councillor; when challenged about her stance, she said she was now all in favour of it...

[Wendyf]

I reckon Wendy would have been scooped up by the Bletchley scouts during WWII looking at her analytical skills, encyclopaedic memory and her ability to think outside the box, being ably demonstrated in the Ancient Whalley Abbey Boundaries thread.

I've already proved myself to be talking nonsense Ian, but its good fun and I can't do much gardening with this cast on my arm!

[Stanley]

"the representative for the traders (a Conservative town councillor at the time) said it caused cancer and created a hoo-haa against it..."
Now who could that be???
Jack still hearing fireworks last night. Usual drill, I took him out for a pee at 02:00. Hopefully the maroons for the Two Minute Silence will be the last ones this year...
Thinking about Bailleul Cemetery I remembered that in 2000 I was near Bailleul with a lady called Brigid Pailthorpe who's father was a surgeon there. He almost certainly treated my granddad for his serious wounds at this bunker which was a forward dressing station. Small world....



On a lighter note, the furore over the possibility that the Archer Family will leave Ambridge. Calm down Dears! My prediction is that Ruth's mother will die and the road scheme will fail due to skulduggery inside Ambridge Land.

[Tizer]

This news from Weston-super-Mare would make Victor Meldrew say "I just can't believe it!"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-29985181
"... a man was refused entry to a falconry display because he had no children with him. Puxton Park said it was being "safety conscious" in introducing the ban."

[Thomo]

Earlier this morning there was footage on the news of what is now recognised by the CWGC as being this countries first War Memorial. This is at Wolsingham School in County Durham. In 1918, 18 Oak Tree saplings were planted in memory of the ex pupils from there who died in World War One. A further 40 were added after World War Two and another in 2003 after the death of a former pupil in Iraq. What a beautiful and majestic Memorial it is.
Next came footage of Ypres in Belgium, and the Menin Gate Memorial. There are 10 Barnoldswick Men Remembered at this location. The Tyne Cot Memorial bears the most local names with 25. Thiepval comes next with 23. Then Ploegsteert and Arras with 11 each and Cambrai with 9. The next highest number are on the Helles Memorial with 8. The remainder being scattered around the other European, Italian and middle Eastern Memorials. The most distant being just one in Delhi. Also noticed today is that Barnoldswick is either one minute ahead of London, or Big Ben is one minute slow.