LAST Wednesday, members of Radcliffe Probus Club were fortunate to acquire the services of Ray Turner and Terry Ashworth, who entertained us for 90 minutes with their movies, with appropriate background music.

Their first film must have brought back many memories of boyhood days when Cubs and Scouts went camping -- Ashworth Valley, Birtle Dean and Deeply Vale. We saw waterfalls and the stream gushing down the valley from the reservoir at Deeply Vale. We saw the ruins of the old mills built in the early 1800s, the ruins of cottages where the workers lived and one could not help but get a picture of the Industrial Revolution.

By a film entitled The Story of Tom Valentine, we were introduced to Tom Valentine, a local artist from the Birtle area. Tom said that he attended Birtle School. Now well into his 80s, he has completed numerous paintings of the district.

We saw him sitting on a chair with his canvas held between his ankles and, with a long handled brush, he painted an old barn and farm machinery without difficulty.

At one period, he was leaning on a wall while he painted a moorland scene, his broad Lancashire accent was perfect as he described the scenery and the subject he was painting. The film was colourful, entertaining and exciting. It would have made an ideal TV documentary.

We should have seen a film covering the East Lancs Railway but, due to unforeseen problems, the two friends instead took us to the Motor Bike rally, held at Rossendale every September. Some 4,000 riders with their bikes gather from all over the country. I spotted Gold Wing, Suzuki, Honda, Harley Davidson, Norton, and the Italian bike made famous by Carl Fogarty, the Ducati. The police were also present on their motor bikes -- a colourful scene indeed, and well worth a trip in September.

Our president thanked Terry and Ray for a first class and most enjoyable film show.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday, February 18, when our guest speaker will be Les Norris who will talk on The Lighter Side of Wills.

TN