A time for winning stars to sparkle

JULY 1 was a dark day for East Lancashire manufacturing. We revealed that Crown Wallcoverings in Darwen had made 177 workers redundant - and threatened further losses.

They came just three months later, when the firm announced it would close by the end of year, ending 164 years of production in Darwen, with the final 100 jobs axed.

But a family left devastated by the redundancies found a reason to celebrate this Christmas. Despite the financial blow and upset when Nigel Jones, of Somerset Avenue, lost his job, he and his wife Tracy have ended the year on a high with news that their seven-year-old daughter, who has limited hearing, has been told by doctors that her condition will not get any worse.

On July 4 a £12million development of Blackburn Cathedral grounds was announced.

The same day also signalled a mixture of fortunes for the region's workers.

Fifty jobs were lost when Interbrew moved distribution operation from Blackburn to Merseyside, but on the plus side came the announcement that 100 new jobs were to be created in Padiham when Homeloan Management Ltd expanded into Shuttleworth Mead.

July 7 saw crowds flocking to the 2003 Blackburn Mela which attracted a record number of 35,000 visitors.

On July 9 we revealed how a Romanian lorry driver drove 2,000 miles only to be mugged in Burnley for his mobile phone. The police officer investigating the incident slammed the thieves saying the victim would remember his visit to Burnley for all the wrong reasons.

An armed robber put gun to the head of a bank worker at the Halifax in Darwen, but left empty-handed on July 11, while a security van driver was sprayed with petrol as armed robbers escaped with cash collected from Helmshore Post Office.

On July 29 fly-tippers caused outrage when they dumped tyres on a country lane near Worston while on July 31 the Royal Lancashire Show, blighted by rain and traffic chaos, was abandoned for first time in 236 years. Rennie Pinder, chairman of the organisation which arranges the show, insisted that Salesbury Hall Farm, Ribchester, was suitable for the event and that lessons from this year would be learned.

WE raised a few laughs when on August 2 we reported how Great Harwood shop owner Jean South had received a boomerang phone bill SEVEN times in 10 DAYS - even though it was addressed to Bannockburn.

With August 4 came the announcement that the Archdeacon of Lewes and Hastings Nicholas Reade was to become the new Bishop of Blackburn. He is expected to take up the position in the spring of 2004.

On August 8 30 firefighters fought a tyre fire for three hours, as smoke billowed across M65 while on the same day families queuing outside Waves leisure centre had petrol bombs thrown at them by teenagers.

It was good news on August 11 when the first wedding since 1871 at Towneley Hall, Burnley, took place when Rachel Barnes married Dr Chris Southgate.

But the news wasn't so good for a group of Brownies who were caught in a lightening strike as a storm wrecked Bowley scout camp, Great Harwood.

There was more tragic news on August 14 when 14 year-old Carry Ann Brown died following a car crash on the M6 after being driven away from her foster home in Blackburn. The teenager from Darwen had been placed with foster carers by Blackburn with Darwen Council's social services. Her father Sean Brown was charged with the attempted murder and rape of his daughter.

On August 16 Chris Harrison of Accrington struck lucky when he bought an 18-year-old Ford Granada, with one careful lady owner - the Queen Mother!

Blackburn with Darwen council workers filmed for fly-on-the-wall TV series 'Are You Being Serviced ?' on August 19 saw them being flung into the public eye. It was such a success that it was announced that a second series would follow next year.

On August 21 vandals tore up hundreds of plants at Whitehall Park, Darwen, and damaged a dozen parked cars while on August 27 a £million blaze, at East Lancashire Warehousing, Blackburn - fought by 100 firefighters - took two days to damp down.

On September 1 Burnley biker Neil Hodgson spoke exclusively to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph about his life, family and career ahead of winning his World Superbike Championship in Assen, Holland.

Pensioner Jean Berry told of her terror after she became trapped up to the waist in a muddy pond while trying to rescue her dog in Whalley on September 4.

She alerted emergency services and was taken to hospital suffering hypothermia.

She said: "I was hoarse with shouting for help but there was no one else around.

"I was lucky because I had my mobile."

On September 6 the British Dental Association revealed Darwen with Rossendale was joint worst constituency for child tooth decay.

On September 8 a security guard on only his third shift at Power House in Blackburn, was held captive as a gang escaped with £50,000 electrical goods.

After a year-long delay, on September 17, the first phase of £2.5million scheme to regenerate Church Street, Blackburn, was completed, while we reported on September 19 how the New Fernhurst ward in Blackburn was not wanted by either Labour MPs Jack Straw or Janet Anderson. A public inquiry is due to be held in January.

On September 22 we reported how more than 60,000 people flocked to Rossendale for Europe's largest town centre bike show. There was also an asbestos alert after fire at Thornton Traditional Felts in Padiham.

On the same day Home Secretary David Blunkett announced new tough laws against perverts, following the case of a 12-year-old East Lancashire prostitute who became pregnant after repeatedly absconding from the care of Blackburn with Darwen social services. It was the third high profile case involved social services within the space of a few months and social services care became an issue of great concern to the families invovled.

On September 25 we announced that Accrington's Premiere Cinema closed after the owners went into liquidation, less than 12 months after it opened.

It was later re-opened by Hyndburn Council amid concern about how the operator was chosen and who would take over the running of the complex.

ON October 2 a £10million revamp of Blackburn's Lord Square was set to be unveiled. Detailed plans are expected to be revealed in the new year.

On October 3 taxpayers' were left with a £million bill to fell 160 diseased conker trees in Hyndburn.

On October 4 it was announced that eighty people were to go at healthcare firm Vernon Carus, Hoddlesden and on the same day a banned cancer scare dye found in Blackburn firm Khan Quality Foods' products.

October 10 signalled the announcement of a radical overhaul of Burnley's secondary education system.

Lancashire County Council have applied to the DfeS for a £150 million "Burnley bid" to regenerate education in the area over 10 years.

On October 11 work on £100million 'super hospital' at Queen's Park, Blackburn, started.

On October 13 Susan Greenwood started her weekly insight into her family's emotions as son Will bidded for glory with the England World Cup rugby team in Australia. It was a column which traced the highs and lows of the campaign and culminated in her watching Jonny Wilkinson's triumphant drop goal from a TV in Sydney's Olympic Stadium because she was too nervous to watch it live.

On October 14 Rev John Gibson Haigh, who was caught almost four times the drink drive limit, was allowed to return to his Burnley ministry.

County council bosses were told former residents would be "turning in their graves" after three care homes were sold off for close to £1million, on October 16.

On October 18 a two-week inquest ruled that 18-month-old Jake McGeough, of Blackburn, was unlawfully killed at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool. The hearing at Liverpool Coroner's Court had heard that the youngster had accidentally received a fatal injection of a muscle-relaxing drug and his mother Keira, of Leicester Road, Whitebirk, was distraught when she discovered the nurse responsible had not been sacked.

BT bosses signalled the beginning of end for 80 phone boxes in East Lancashire on October 20, while October 22 saw the unveiling of a £60million hi-tech knowledge park which will create 2,000 jobs.

On October 23 youngster Joshua Preston, of Livesey, Blackburn, had his face ripped apart by uncle's bull mastiff.

Joshua had been playing with the two-year-old dog, when it attacked and bit his face. The eight-year-old underwent a two-hour operation at Blackburn Infirmary to re-attach his nose and have stitches to bite marks across his face. The owner voluntarily asked for the dog to be destroyed.

On the same day Michaela Kinder, of Blackburn, went to her bathroom and was surprised to give birth to baby son Charlton!

On October 24 Prince Charles paid his first Royal visit to Pendle in 14 years. As well as a Regeneration through Heritage Project at Lomeshaye Bridge Mill, he toured Whitefield, where residents celebrated their victory against proposals for a compulsory purchase order to demolish 160 homes. The Prince returned to Lancashire in November to see a programme aimed at rehabilitating offenders at Wymott Prison, near Leyland.

October 28 brought the shocking news of a young boy and three other people in Darwen becoming seriously ill after it was believed they drank drugs left in a kettle. A court later heard Jeffrey Farquhar, 20, had been "stupid almost beyond belief" for his part in the incident. Farquhar, 29, of Queen Street, Darwen, pleaded guilty to possession of ecstasy and cannabis.

ON November 4 it was revealed that 17 pupils from St Augustine's RC High School, Billington, had been suspended for possessing cannabis.

Headteacher Anthony McNamara said the exclusions were a lesson to other pupils but vowed that the youngsters would not be "demonised".

He said: "We decided to hammer home the message that we were determined to be a drug-free school."

November 5 brought a vow from education bosses who were determined to raise the 'terrible' literacy and numeracy standards in East Lancashire.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Regiment - including those from East Lancashire - returned to Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, after a five-month tour of Iraq.

They had helped keep the peace in the southern town of Basra and were praised by their commanding officer. Lieutenant-Colonel Jorge Mendonca said: "The literally heroic and Herculean efforts of the officers and soldiers of this brilliant battalion, achieved in unimaginable heat, have made me proud to be a member of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment."

MPs demanded more family doctors for East Lancashire on November 7 while on November 11 a saucy charity calendar sparked a row between Lancashire County Council and local SITA waste depots.

The council refused to sponsor the venture, in aid of a Barnoldswick day centre for the elderly, after considering its "name and reputation", but the calendar was printed through a combination of donations from other organisations.

On November 21 armed robbers hit Bank Street, Rawtenstall, twice in two days, while heartbroken kids learned the news that Father Christmas grotto had been banished from Blackburn centre, after managers said there was not enough room for Santa and a tree.

On November 22 rugby stars Will Greenwood, Iain Balshaw and Kyran Bracken, all former pupils of Stonyhurst College, were on top of the world after England beat Australia in the dramatic Rugby Union World Cup final.

On November 24 we hailed the heroes who came out on top at the first glittering Evening Telegraph Pride of East Lancashire awards ceremony. The culmination of our seven-month campaign to highlight community heroes and the great things about our area attracted a host of VIPs and famous faces to Blackburn's King George's Hall.

ON December 3 Union bosses vowed to fight the closure of Philips TV glass factory, Simonstone with the threat of 410 job losses, while on December 6 we reported how brave Rehana Patel battled back from a horrific car accident to collect her nursing degree.

Rehana, from Blackburn, had broken her ribs, hips and pelvis, suffered serious internal bleeding and had her stomach ripped and lungs punctured in the crash, 10 months previously.

On December 8 we reported how Whitworth Civic Hall was destroyed in £300,000 blaze and on December 10 Rossendale Council voted against £50million wind farm at Edenfield.

On December 11 the Moss family of Preston Old Road, Blackburn, were left deflated when Frosty the inflatable snowman was punctured in the garden of their home. An 18-year-old and a 20-year-old later pleaded guilty to criminal damage and were each ordered to pay compensation and costs. Frosty was later replaced by generous store bosses.

On December 11 tour operator MyTravel, which employs hundreds of East Lancashire workers in Accrington and Rossendale, announced a pre-tax loss of £910million after a year struggling for survival and blighted by falling holiday sales, while December 12 brought more bad news when carpet manufacturer Gaskell plc closed in Rishton, with 80 redundancies.

The same day an independent inquiry into the care and treatment of mentally ill Blackburn teenager Mark Harrington - who shot and killed his friend - highlighted a catalogue of failures in his mental health care.

Anthony Rigby, 18, of Swift Close, Larkhill, died from a single gunshot wound to the head in January 2002 - after a spate of paranoid and erratic behaviour by Harrington.

Harrington, of St James Road, Blackburn, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, was detained indefinitely in a mental unit after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibilities at Preston Crown Court in September 2002.

On December 15 former Blackburn with Darwen Council tree protection worker Robert Lund talked exclusively to the Evening Telegraph about the mysterious death of wife Evelyn in France. Evelyn, originally from Winter Hill, Darwen, disappeared in December 1999 and her body was pulled out of a nearby lake 22 months later. Robert admitted he was the police's prime suspect but insisted: "I didn't kill her."

On December 18 families who claimed their children died due to the failings of Blackburn with Darwen's social services department reacted with shock and anger after it was given a three star rating from the Social Services Inspectorate. Sue Strickson, of Darwen, whose daughter Melissa died after taking drugs at the home of a white witch after she had pleaded for her daughter to be placed into secure accommodation, said: "It's insulting to the memory of the children and the parents who have to live with it."

On December 20 Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh who plays Hayley Cropper spoke to the Evening Telegraph about her life, love and family -including the story of how she kissed her future husband Ian Kershaw on the set of the hit soap.

On December 24 we reported how motorist Lesley Shorrock was booked by a car park attendant 16 minutes BEFORE her pay and display ticket ran out. The attendant later wrote a letter of apology to Lesley and the fine was rescinded.