A BARLICKER who made the town his home some 52 years ago has created a Facebook page, which is dedicated to finding and sharing pictures of its people and places down the years.

Angus Brennan, known as Gus, arrived in Barnoldswick at the age of 16 from Glasgow and fell in love with the town and its people – including the girl next door Mary, who became his wife.

A keen photographer, with a stack of old images of the town and then given even more by his friend Donald Smith, that many people had never seen before, he decided to create the page ‘Barnoldwick and barlickers now and then’, so that even more people would be able to see them and reminisce.

The keen eyed among you, will realise the town’s name is spelt wrong, but it is not being corrected because of the numbers of people both at home and abroad, who are looking and adding to it on a daily basis.

Gus, whose first job when he arrived in Barlick in the early sixties was a mule spinner in a local mil, said: “As well as putting old photographs on the site, which do tend to be the most popular, I also like to include more recent photos of places and people, just for comparison.

“I have been receiving photos by e-mail from near and far, from ex-pat Barlickers, neighbours and friends, which show images of the town and its people.”

Among the ex-pats, who has added his own school photographs, is Mark Shepherd, who now lives in Arkansas and is IT director for Walmart, the world’s largest retailer.

He grew up in Barnoldswick with his mum Lilian and two younger brothers, who all attended Rainhall Road Primary school and then West Craven High.

Mark said: “I left to go to uni in Leeds but my mum still lives there and I have many happy memories from growing up in Barlick – from swimming in the canal, playing British bulldogs in Letcliffe Park and getting excited every year when the gala was held and there was a parade of floats through the town.

“Many of the pictures on the site all give me an insight into what Barlick was like and stir many of those happy memories.”

n If you have any old photos of the town, you can email Gus at angusbrennan@aol.com.