What's On?

Saturday 23rd. August. 2008.
ANNUAL BRIERCLIFFE FLOWER SHOW.
The Briercliffe Society and the Briercliffe Allotments & Gardens Society team up again to organise the Annual Flower Show. The venue is the same - Haggate School - and the Show opens to the public at 2pm. Presentation of Prizes, by the Chairman of the Parish Council and the Chairman of the Society, will be at 3-45pm. Refreshments will be available.
We might not have had the best growing conditions this year but it is hoped, especially with disappointments with the Royal Lancashire Show and the Trawden Show, that our Show will be supported as well as it has been in the past.
(Incidentally, note the date of the Show. Previously, we had it down for 30th. August but the actual date is 23rd.).
Haggate School, at 2pm. Admission is 30p. (lOp. for children).
Refreshments available. Everyone welcome.

Monday 8th. September, 2008.
BRIERCLIFFE SOCIETY QUIZ NIGHT.
This is a fun quiz night for members of the Society and their friends. Teams of four (or thereabouts) are to compete for prizes.
Briercliffe Community Centre, at 7-30pm. Entrance is £1 inc. refreshments.
Saturday 13th. September, 2008 and Sunday 14th. September, 2008.

The Briercliffe Society.
Silver Anniversary
LOCAL HISTORY EXHIBITION.
To be opened by JOYCE HOWARTH, a founder member of the Society.
As you will know the Society is celebrating its 25th. Anniversary this year and the Committee thought it a good idea to hold an exhibition of old photographs of Briercliffe which are to be drawn from our extensive archives. We have had similar exhibitions before but this one will feature more of our collections than we have been able to show in the past. The Exhibition also features other local collections and it will take place over two days at the time of the 2008 Heritage Open Days.
Briercliffe Community Centre, at 10-30am. each day to 4pm. Entry free.
Refreshments will be available. Everyone welcome.

Saturday 4th. October, 2008.
The Briercliffe Society.
Silver Anniversary.
MUSICAL EVENING- Featuring the Brett Family.
When the Briercliffe Society first started we organised very successful Musical Evenings which took place at Haggate School. We had shows from Duncan Bythell and the Muker Silver Band, the Towneley High School Brass Band and a number of other very good groups. This event is a revival of the original Musical Evenings though the venue has been changed to the Community Centre.
The Brett Family will be our guests. They consist of musicians and singers (all from the same family - a bit like the von Trappes) and they will present a varied evening of entertainment. It is hoped that members will attend in numbers and that they will bring their friends to what should be a very enjoyable evening. We are limited to an audience of c60. Tickets available from Committee Members.
Briercliffe Community Centre, 7pm. Admission £5, including wine and cheese etc.

Monday 13th. October, 2008.
The France/Bolton Memorial Lecture.
"Images of Old Burnley" by Roger Frost.
Our Joint President will present a talk illustrated by slides about Old Burnley taken from the Briercliffe Society Archive, the Bolton Collection and the Burnley Library Collection. A number of the slides have been used in Roger's "Peek into the Past" series which is published weekly in the "Burnley Express". If you enjoy the Local History of our town you will find that this presentation will revive lots of happy memories.
Briercliffe Community Centre, 7-30pm. Admission, £1 inc. refreshments. Everyone welcome.
There will be another Newsletter published before the following but we include them in this edition for the sake of completeness and to let you have the latest information we have on the events.

Saturday 1st. November, 2008.
SOCIAL EVENING.
The Craven Accordion Orchestra & Singalong Group.
We know how much members enjoy the Society's famous (or should it be infamous?) Beetle Drive and, on this evening, we will be combining the Beetle Drive with the Craven Accordion Orchestra. The Community Centre is the venue and it is booked for 7pm. Tickets will be available later in the year at £5 each and refreshments (pie and peas supper) will be included.

Sunday 9th. November, 2008.
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY.
The Society will be represented at the laying of a wreath at the Briercliffe Cenotaph at 11am. at the War Memorial Grounds at the Bowling Green on Burnley Road, Haggate.

Monday 10th. November, 2008.
"Flanders Fields" by Mr. John Hartley.
This is an illustrated talk at the Briercliffe Community Centre. More details in the next edition.

Monday 8th. December, 2008.
ANNUAL CAROL SERVICE.
The Carol Service will take place at the Community Centre on Jubilee Street, Harle Syke. More details will be published in the next edition of the Newsletter.

SOCIETY NEWS. LOCAL HISTORY GROUP

The Briercliffe Society's Local History Group will commence its 2008/09 Season on Wednesday 24th. September, 2008 with a guided walk around Roggerham.

Roggerham History & Ghost Walk.
The arrangements are as follows: members are asked to meet at Haggate School at 6-50pm. when a decision will be made about the evenings visit to Roggerham. This will depend on the weather, light etc. If both are deemed to be good enough we will set out for Roggerham in cars arriving there by 7pm. It is anticipated that the walk will last about an hour after which we will retire to the Roggerham Gate for well deserved refreshments and to continue our studies until about 9pm.
If the weather, light are not good enough the Group will remain at Haggate for a session on Most Haunted? Ghosts, Myths and Legends of Briercliffe and Extwistle which will start at 7pm.
Both of these events are organised by Roger Frost. It ought to be added that if the Roggerham Walk takes place there will be a session on the Most Haunted topic at one of the later Wednesday meetings.

The Local History Group
The Group has been very successful in attracting members and friends to its meetings but there are a number of things the Group will have to consider. If the Group is to continue in as successful vein as that which has been established, officers to share the work of John and Roger will have to be appointed. We are very thankful for Irene taking care of the refreshments but we will need members
to help with the programme of events and to assist with keeping the books.
John and Roger have hoped that the Group would take on the preparation of material for publication and, with that in mind, there is the probability that something can be written on the Most Haunted theme. Work has already commenced and, for this, PC lan Thompson, formerly Community
Beat Manager for Briercliffe, has offered his help and expertise.
A much respected local historian once commented that, so far as he knew, the Briercliffe, Extwistle and Worsthorne areas had more "ghost stories", as he put it, than anywhere else. There certainly are a lot - from the story of the Raising of the Devil at Lee Green to the fairies of Calf Hey at Cockden and the ghostly stories associated with the Nogworth Cross and Extwistle Hall. Even place names in the
area are associated with its mythology. Thursden is the "valley of the thurses", otherwise goblins, though some historians prefer the alternative "the valley of Thor", the Norse God of Thunder.
Every self respecting Local History Group should want to publish its findings and the one which operates here in Briercliffe should be the same. Hopefully the Group will meet again in September to discuss these things.

BYTHELL-TAYLOR AWARDS

The Briercliffe Society presents its Bythell-Taylor Awards annually to children at our two local Primary Schools. Members will know that the Awards are much prized by the children who receive the Awards which consist of the Bythell-Taylor Trophy, a medal and a Gift Token for £10. The inscribed Trophy is kept by each winner for one year and this year the winners were:- at Briercliffe Primary School, Amy Moran and at St. James' Lanehead, Mia Deakin.
Our Deputy Chairman, Mr. Ivan Eastwood, made the presentation at Briercliffe School whilst Roger Frost, Chairman of the Society, made the presentation at St. James'. The presentations are the highlight of both school's Leaver's Services which, year in and year out, are a credit to the schools but this year there was an innovation at St. James' in that the Service was held in the Parish Church. The change of venue allowed more parents, grand parents and friends to attend and this, in itself, was much to be welcomed. At important stages in a person's life an individual wants to share whatever it is with family and friends. A Special Guest, in the form of the Archdeacon Ballard of Lancaster, was present and Rev. Rachel Watts acted as a sort of compare for the afternoon's events.

RED ROSE AWARDS

The Briercliffe Society encourages local people to contribute to the improvement of the local environment. This is usually achieved by acknowledging projects to restore old buildings, or construct new ones, though awards have been made to those who have undertaken tree planting schemes and garden improvements. There have been lots of successful schemes over the years in Briercliffe. Keep
your eyes open for the green, gold and red plaques which can be seen in many parts of Briercliffe and Extwistle.
The Red Rose Scheme has been in operation for a number of years now and it is probably time for reassessment. Hopefully, this will be undertaken in the remainder of the current year. One thing that we will have to do is order new Red Rose Certificates because the last ones were used this year.
Three projects were identified for presentations in 2008. All three were in or around Thursden and two of the projects were recognised at the August meeting of the Briercliffe Society. Winners of Red Rose Certificates were Mr. Brian and Mrs. Julie Cooper who live at Broad Bank Hill Barn, an excellent barn conversion overlooking Thursden. A Red Rose Plaque was presented to Mr. Steven and Mrs. Julie Nicholas of Thursden Cottage.
Both of the projects were worthy winners. The barn conversion has saved a prominent building which has not been used for about 50 years whereas the work at Thursden Cottage has restored one of the best loved of Briercliffe buildings whilst, at the same time, reminding us of the great Chapel which once stood adjacent to the restored house. Mr. Nicholas also received the Mayor of Burnley's Award for Excellence which our Chairman presented in his capacity of Chairman of the Civic Society.

NEWSLETTER NUMBER 14.

In recent months a number of Committee members have been trying to get all our the Society's Newsletters together so that we have a full record of them. Joyce Haworth, Susan Meeks and John Cartmell have handed all their back numbers over to Roger Frost who has combined them into one set. However, Newsletter Number 14 is missing. If you have a copy could you let Roger know so that he can have it copied for the Society archive.
Incidentally, undertaking this task has been very interesting. It is amazing what the Society has achieved over the years. Its impact on Briercliffe has been very considerable. We must make every effort to get the membership up to the level of the past, something we must do in the coming Autumn months. If we don't, we run the risk of losing all we have achieved.

SOCIETY EVENTS.

This year the Briercliffe Society arranged its usual June Trail and July Trip. The former was an evening on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal sailing from Foulridge to Barnoldswick and back. On the return journey we had a with pie and peas supper. Members really enjoyed the event. We were lucky with the weather and this applied to the July Trail which was to York. There is always plenty to see and do in York - the Romans certainly knew how to choose a site for a city. We also had a very successful Anniversary Dinner - this time a Buffet meal at Nelson House. All Committee members are to be thanked for organising these, and other, events.

COMMITTEE

The Society will be looking for a new Treasurer. Mrs. Ruth Eastwood has done a splendid job since her appointment but, a busy year ahead of her, Ruth has decided that it would be better for her to hand the books to someone else. We will miss Ruth's efficiency with our financial resources but we are pleased to say that Ruth still wants to be involved with the Society so we won't be losing her completely. Ivan has also indicated that, though acting as Chairman Elect which effectively makes him Deputy Chairman, he will not he able to carry out the duties of Chairman next year. We will resolve these problems over the next few months but we want to say that the Society is grateful for all that Mr. Ivan and Mrs. Ruth Eastwood have done for us.

LOCAL NEWS.

A SAFER BURNLEY ROAD.
Those of you who can remember the immediate post-War years will recall Burnley Road in Harle Syke, especially the part of it above Queen Street, as a very quiet highway. When I was a boy, and in the days when we had real snow falls, the occasional vehicle that headed for Haggate seemed to make
little impression on the accumulated snow which got deaper as one reached every street end.
These days the road is still only a "C road" (C662, actually) but, at certain times in the day, there is more traffic than anyone would have expected 50 or more years ago. The School Traffic Patrol at Brunskill Street is a necessity as the road is very busy when children are on their way to school in the morning and are making their way home in the evening. It is at this time that the speed merchants get involved introducing yet another traffic hazard - and there are others.
Residents in Harle Syke have been sent information by the County Council, which is the Highway Authority, about a scheme which, hopefully, will make Burnley Road safer for both pedestrians and drivers. It is not the first time that something has been proposed - the last scheme was opposed by the local bus company and it did not get beyond the consultation stage. The present document disappointed some in that they had been led to believe that problems on the village's side streets - there is already an unofficial one-way system which operates on Sundays - would be addressed.
The proposals involve the construction of two junction tables, in the upper and lower part of the village, the making of a single speed cushion near Howard's hairdressing shop and the erection of no fewer than 12 hump warning signs! Although all of this will change our main road considerably we have to take into account the safety of our residents both young and old. If this scheme reduces accidents the scheme will be worth it, but residents should make their feelings known to the County Council.

BRUN VALLEY GREENWAY
Those of you who live locally, look out for a new publication, Brun Valley Greenway, from Burnley Council. As you will know, we in Briercliffe are in the valley of the river Don but, near Heasandford, our river joins the Brun which flows on to Burnley where it joins the Calder.
The Brun Valley Greenway is a route for both pedestrians and cyclists which links the centre of Burnley with Briercliffe, Pike Hill and Brownside. Starting at Burnley Central Station the "Greenway" takes you through parks, along wooded river valleys out into the countryside. In Briercliffe possibly the best place to join the route is at Queen Street Mill from where you can head off in one of two
directions - one takes you to Roggerham along the Burnley Way and the other takes the walker or cyclist to Heasandford and either to Burnley or to Rowley.
The Society was involved in the preparation of the leaflet in that our Chairman acted as historical adviser. Brun Valley Greenway has been such a success that the Society will be publishing a number of what we are terming The Briercliffe Society's Little Books of Local Walks. We promise that some will be out by Spring!