What's On?

Sunday 12th June 2005
Briercliffe Gala.
The Briercliffe Gala is not a Briercliffe Society Event but we have included it in our column because we want to support the Gala Committee in it’s attempts to revive the Gala. There will be a procession of floats to the Queen St Recreation Grounds and numerous events for all members of the family when they get there. If the event is supported it is more likely to become an annual event once again. The Gala is to be opened by our President.

Monday 13th June 2005
Briercliffe Community Centre, Jubilee St, Briercliffe at 7-30pm, entrance including refreshments £1
Old Briercliffe
An illustrated talk by Roger Frost, President of the Briercliffe Society and Mayor of Burnley.
We should be having our June Trail on this evening but, hopefully, members will enjoy an illustrated talk on the History of Briercliffe instead. An attempt will be made to show slides that have not been used in talks before. Many of these new slides have been made by Ken Bolton, and Roger would like to dedicate this show to Ken’s memory. However, expect to see some slides that have been in the Society Archivefor some time. Ken and Roger had hoped to put on a local history event this spring. A slide show might be the next best thing.

Monday 11th July 2005
The Briercliffe Society Annual Trip --- Whitby
This year our Chairman has arranged a coach trip to Whitby. Ivan Eastwood is still taking bookings. In the past, the Annual Trip has been very popular. The coach will set off from the bus turning circle (time to be announced) on the morning of the trip and one refreshment break has been organised en-route. When at Whitby there is plenty to see and do. The aim is to get back to Briercliffe before 8-30pm. The trip is open to non members.
Whitby is a small but fascinating fishing village on the north Yorkshire coast. It is famed for it’s great ruined Abbey and it’s associations with Bram Stoker’s tales of Dracula. There is plenty to see - the winding streets, the interesting shops, colourful harbour to name but a few.

Monday 8th August 2005
Briercliffe Community Centre, Jubilee St, Harle Syke at 7-30pm, entrance including refreshments is £1.
Cllr Mrs Maggie Lehman & Parish Cllr Mrs Anne Kelly. OUR MAYORAL YEAR
Maggie Lishman was Mayor of Burnley, 2004 to 2005, and Anne Kelly was the Mayoress. They were the first Briercliffe residents to hold these offices since the formulation of the present Borough in 1974. An interesting evening is anticipated.

Saturday 27th August 2005
Annual Flower Show
Briercliffe Society and Briercliffe Allotments and Gardens Society.
The venue will be at Haggate School. A show schedule giving all details will be published and will be available for local shops. We would encourage members of the Society to be involved as exhibitors, helpers on the day or visitors. Ladies from the Society will be helping with refreshments as usual. The Annual Briercliffe Society Show is becoming more widely known each year and the quality of exhibits gets better with every passing year.

The New Briercliffe Society Committee

The Briercliffe Society Committee welcomes three new members. They are Canon John Edge, Mr Nigel Davies and Mrs Adrienne Davies. The Chairman (and social sec.) for the forthcoming year will be Mr Ivan Eastwood and the Deputy Chairman will be Mr Roger Frost.

The Hon Secretary will be Mrs Susan Meeks; the Hon Treasurer, Mrs Ruth Eastwood; the Speakers Secretary, Mrs Barbara Holsgrove; and the Minutes Secretary, Mrs Joyce Haworth. The Committee will be the following; Mr John and Mrs Carol Bentley, Mrs Stephanie Sutcliffe, Canon John Edge and Mr Nigel and Mrs Adrienne Davies.

The Committee, as have others, will work hard on behalf of the Society but we are always ready to accept offers of help from the membership and, if any of you out there would like to serve on the Committee, please let one of us know. Being a Committee member is not all that arduous because we divide up all the jobs. Our Committee meetings take place in our houses and after business is completed we usually have a nice supper and a really good chat.

Mr Ken Bolton and Mrs Marian Bythell

Members of the Briercliffe Society, especially those who live far away from Briercliffe, will be saddened to learn of the deaths of two of our members. Mr Ken Bolton, our President died, suddenly, on Sunday 24th April at his home on Church St, Harle Syke. We have printed a full text of an obituary prepared for the Burnley Express in this edition of the Newsletter. Marian was the widow of Mr Kenneth Bythell, one of the joint founders of the Society. Kenneth was our first Hon Treasurer and he became our President. Marian was never an office holder of the Society but she gave great support to her husband in the days when the Briercliffe Society was establishing itself. Early members often had meetings at 2A Duke St, Harle Syke, which was the family home of the Bythells. Marian retired to North Yorkshire to be near her family. She will be missed by her Briercliffe friends and we would like to send our condolences to her children and their families.

Lancashire Badger Group

At the May Briercliffe meeting the lecturer was Mr Paul Shoreman from Lancashire Badger Group. He gave us a very interesting talk about badgers but particularly badgers in Lancashire where they remain quite common.

The Group was set up to protect badgers from persecution by man. Members regularly monitor setts and the habitat which badgers use. Mr Shoreman gave us an account of where badgers live in countryside not far from our own. He didn’t mention actual locations, for obvious reasons, but he did say that a Group has constructed a purpose built hide which gives an excellent view of a large and very active badger sett in the Ribble Valley. If members would like to visit the site (it would be an evening visit) could they contact Roger Frost.

Committee Meeting

The Committee of the Briercliffe Society met at the home of Committee member, Mrs Stephanie Sutcliffe early in May. All present had a very pleasant evening and the supper provided by Stephanie was excellent.

It was resolved that Roger Frost would present the Bythell-Taylor Award at St James’ Lanehead School and that Canon Edge would present the award at Briercliffe school, though Roger would be present. These awards are made to children in their final year at both schools and, though the criteria appears to be slightly different, effort in schoolwork and contribution to the school community are rewarded. Roger will wrote to both head teachers to ask for the names of the winners at both schools.

Another matter mentioned at the Committee Meeting was the completion of the work at the home of Mr and Mrs Simon Brierley, on Church St in Harle Syke. Some time ago Simon’s uncle Peter was nominated to the Briercliffe Society for a Red Rose Award for the house which he constructed on what had been a piece of open land , formerly an allotment, and many years ago, the intended site of a canteen for Primrose Mill.

The latter was never built, but Peter Brierley has constructed an attractive house on the site. At the time of the nomination the job was not complete and now that now that everything that was asked for has been finalised, the Committee has decided to award a Red Rose Plaque to Simon and Pamela Brierley with a Red Rose Certificate to Peter and Eileen Brierley. Both families are to be invited to the August meeting of the Society when an official presentation will be made.

Members of the Society are reminded that nominations for Red Rose Awards are requested at this time of year. Our rules state that nominations must come from members. A sub-committee then visits the site, if necessary monitoring progress, and makes a recommendation to the full Committee which makes a decision on behalf of the Society. Projects involving new property, barn conversions and environmental improvements are the usual categories for which awards are made but if members have other ideas for awards they should contact the Hon Secretary.

KEN BOLTON (1925 - 2005)

Ken was one of the most respected figures in his native and beloved Briercliffe and Burnley. He was well known throughout the East Lancashire area because of the hundreds of illustrated talks he gave on Local History to numerous different organisations both academic and community.

Ken’s audiences were impressed at the depth of his knowledge but his lectures were delivered with a unique sense of humour which was his trade mark. He had a joke for every situation and he was famous for humour which others might not have got away with. Many of the stories he told were about himself and his experiences over 80 eventful years.

One of them (it could only happen to Ken) was about a student he had taught at Burnley College where Ken had been a lecturer in engineering. Ken found himself ill in hospital and one of the doctors, one of several him, was a former pupil. The doctor introduced Ken as “one of my college lecturers” omitting to tell his colleagues that he had initially explored engineering as a career. From that time on Ken was treated as if he was a venerable professor of medicine. He didn’t wise them up!

Kenneth Bolton (Ken to his friends) was born in 1925. Spent most of his childhood at Extwistle Cottage in Roggerham where his father, John James Bolton, had a poultry business. As Extwistle is in the Ecclesiastical Parish of Worsthorne Ken attended the village school there.

It was at this time that Ken met the young Donald Taylor, a trainee teacher in Worsthorne. Donald lived in Harle Syke and had to walk by Extwistle Cottage, so they, the young teacher and the pupil, often walked together to Worsthorne in the morning and back to Roggerham after school. In future years the two men would meet again and they would found the Briercliffe Society, Ken succeeded Donald as President some years ago.

A keen interest in engineering resulted in an apprenticeship at the leading firm of Herbert Morris Motors, then on Plumbe St in Burnley. Involvement with the Air Training Corps resulted in Ken joining the RAF at the age of 18 in 1843. War time experience was in Bomber Command and Ken flew on numerous raids in Germany and Northern Europe.

After the war Ken joined the engineering staff at Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick and from there he was appointed to a lectureship at what was then the Burnley Municipal College and School of Art on Ormerod Rd in the town. Eventually he became Senior Lecturer in Engineering at the College and Ken will be remembered by a generation of students as a dedicated tutor with a great sense of humour.

Illness lead to early retirement in the early 1980s but Ken, even though he had been very ill, was not a man to sit back. He continued his interest in the RAF, spent much time on a magnificent stamp collection ( he was a founder member of Burnley Philatelic Society) but Ken will be remembered for his work on local history.

The objective of his work was to build up a comprehensive collection of colour slides of as many views of Burnley and it’s buildings as possible. In addition he had free run of Burnley Library’s Historical Photograph Collection and the “Burnley Express” cooperated with him in this task.

After over 40yrs of work, all at his own expense, Ken’s Burnley and District Collection is now the most comprehensive of it’s kind. Many of the places Ken has photographed have changed several times in the years since he had undertaken this work. He has recorded all these changes and, in fact, Ken was out taking additional photographs on the morning of the day he died.

One of the organisations for which Ken took photographs was the Briercliffe Society for which Ken served as Committee member, Chairman and President. He, along with Kath, was a regular at the meetings where they met and chatted to old friends. Ken made presentations and chaired meetings with great skill. At every AGM since the formation of the Society, Ken gave a slide presentation on the year’s events. It was always very popular and Ken’s involvement ensured that lots of people, who might not normally attend the AGM, did so, and talked about Ken’s delivery for weeks after.

The Briercliffe Society was only one of the organisations with which Ken was involved . Most remarkable was his tenure as a Trustee of Burnley’s former Church Institute, latterly known as Yorke House. The Church Institute had been founded in 1848. In it’s heyday it had the 2nd largest library in Central Lancashire but, after a fire c1960, the Institute’s role changed to that it became more of a social club.

When a decision was made to wind up the organisation it fell largely to Ken to deal with the problem around what was to happen to it’s assets which were still considerable. Ken was involved in an immense amount of work and eventually the final decision was made in the courts.

Until recently Ken was in high demand to give talks. He has helped several of our Mayors to raise funds for their charities. In the last few years Ken, and myself, wrote two books. The first was “Burnley Revisited” which was published in 1990, with the support of the Burnley Express. The book raised money for Hospice Care and many of the pictures came from Ken’s collection.

In 2002 there was another collaboration. The second book was entitled “Burnley: A Photographic History of your Town”. This time Ken’s, and my, interest in postcard views of old Burnley was the catalyst. Ken wrote the sections of the book which relate to the town centre.

Ken knew very many people in the Burnley area. He had the precious gift of being able to talk and relate to just about everyone, regardless of their background or personal circumstances. Ken did not like fuss or pretence and he wanted to lived his life to the full.

Ken Bolton was 80 just two weeks before he died. In celebration of his birthday he invited family and friends to the Roggerham Gate Inn to a birthday dinner. It was a great occasion, as was an “at home” which he held the day after at his house in Harle Syke. On the day he died Ken was about to be honoured by the Briercliffe Society at one of his favourite restaurants the Bull and Butcher. He will be missed by family and friends form around the world.

Ken leaves Kath, his son Trevor and daughter Jean (who was over from Canada with one of her sons Carl, when he died) and their families. R.F.

Planning Matters

1) Land off Gorple St.

Many readers of this Newsletter will be aware of the longstanding problems residents of the lower Burnley Rd area of Harle Syke have had with regard to an application to build houses on land to the east of the Commercial. Some of you will have seen the huge pile of bricks which have been placed there.

More about the bricks later, but Briercliffe electors still attend the meetings of the Parish Council even though the saga has been going on for years. The problem is that the land on which a number of different applications have been made to Pendle BC and that Council has a different means of dealing with planning applications when compared to Burnley BC. It is easier for us to relate to our Burnley system but, in Pendle, applications are first heard by Area Committees. The one that concerns us is the Brierfield and Reedley Area Committee which meets at Brierfield Town Hall.

Briercliffe residents have always had a fair hearing by the Brierfield and Reedley Area Committee and its members, who consist of members of the Borough Council together with Brierfield and Reedley Parish and Town Councillors, have been sympathetic to our local concerns. They have not supported any of the applications made to build on this land.

However, applicants can insist that Pendle Borough Council’s Planning Committee, which meets in Nelson Town Hall and has members drawn from only from Borough Councillors, considers applications turned down by the Area Committee. At a Full Planning Committee, held last year, Pendle BC allowed an application for up to 13 houses to be built on land which was to be accessed off Gorple St. The permisson for the access had been granted by Public Inquiry held by a Planning Inspector some time ago.

You might think that, so far, things are pretty straight forward. Developers applied for planning permission and , even though it was vigorously opposed by local residents and Briercliffe Parish Council (the latter won round after round) it was eventually granted.

The next stage in the story has caused confusion. The original developer sold the land to someone else and this new owner put in a detailed planning application. Surprisingly, Pendle Borough Council refused the application earlier this year on the grounds that they did not like the design of the houses which were proposed for the site.

It was then that the new owner reconsidered the application and, recently, a new application has been submitted. It is this application which is causing confusion among residents. The principle that houses can be built has been established, as has access to the site from Gorple St. All that is in contention now is what the houses will look like. It should be added that the number of properties and their exact location have not been finally resolved so these will be considered in any application.

The application which has now been made, will be heard by Pendle BC’s Area Committee very soon. Residents have been consulted but the Briercliffe Parish Council was not officially notified of the application.

This is a problem, of course, and it is something the Parish Council is dealing with. It should be said, though, that with access already determined and the principle established that house can be built on this land, there is little else the Parish Council can do.

The whole thing is very unsatisfactory. Houses will be built in an area of Pendle which affects no residents of that Borough, though it does affect us in Briercliffe. Our Parish Council has employed consultants costing us over £1,000 but we are unlikely to get what we want.

And that pile of bricks? They came from Walshaw Mill chimney which has been demolished in the last few weeks and they are about to become the foundations of the new road which will serve the properties to be built of Gorple St.

2) Catlow Application

Another application made to Pendle BC has been for 130 holiday lettings at Catlow Quarry. These were described as 130 timber cabins and Briercliffe people living on Robin House Lane and Halifax Rd were concerned about increased traffic. There is good news about this application in that it has been withdrawn by the developers. The withdrawal is because the application is subject to a costly Environmental Assessment.

3) Deer in Briercliffe

Members of the Briercliffe Society Committee asked Roger Frost, last year’s Chairman, if he could investigate claims that deer were being culled on Forest of Burnley (FoB) tree plantations.

At the most recent Committee meeting Mr Frost presented a verbal report to members. He had contacted the Woodland Officer, who manages the FoB project, and no culling had taken place. The Officer indicated that there were deer living wild in Briercliffe, Worsthorne and Cliviger and that they had damaged some of the tree plantings. This had been resolved by improving the protection afforded to young trees.

No culling was planned and if it became necessary to reconsider this policy all organisations with an interest in wildlife in these areas would be consulted. The Briercliffe Society would be one of the bodies consulted as would all three Parish Councils.

However, it is thought that culling would not be the right policy to adopt.