So much to be proud of

Here Donna McKenzie looks at ten things we should all be proud of and that we can truly say are Made in East Lancashire...

THE "B" in the world's best selling jet engine, the RB211, actually stands for Barnoldswick.

The town along with Clitheroe and Burnley were all closely linked with the early development and production of the jet engine designed by Frank Whittle, the son of a Lancashire inventor and mechanic, in 1930.

During the Second World War the development team, under the direction of the Rover car company, moved from bomb-blitzed Coventry to the disused Waterloo cotton mill, Clitheroe.

In 1943 Rover handed the development of Whittle's invention to Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick where work continued until 1948. The Lucas company in Burnley was also involved.

THE SPINNING Jenny which revolutionised the cotton industry was invented in Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, by James Hargreaves.

But at the advice of Robert Peel it was launched in Nottingham so as not to upset East Lancashire spinners who feared automation would put them out of work.

The invention meant that several spindles could be operated by one wheel to speed up the process.

Some say the machine was named after Hargreaves' wife or daughter both called Jenny. Another explanation is that it comes from the old Lancashire dialect word for machine, 'Jinny'.

THE DRAMATIC 16th century fortified hilltop mansion that is Hoghton Tower is historically famous for the invention of the term 'sirloin'.

The meat became forever known by the name after King James 1 of England famously knighted a loin of beef in 1617.

The king was staying at the landmark near Blackburn, which is also famous for its connection with the great bard William Shakespeare, when he was served a particularly tasty loin of beef.

He was so impressed by the meal that he promptly carried out the knighting ceremony.

THE PRECURSOR to the lie detector was invented in Burnley in 1892.

The use of the clinical polygraph was pioneered by Sir James McKenzie who practised medicine, midwifery and surgery.

Sir James, who was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1853 had developed an interest in heart problems and the pain caused by neurological disease.

His device was used to measure vascular pulses.

The actual lie detector was made with the help of Padiham watchmaker Sebastian Shaw in 1902.

Sir James left Burnley to work in London.

PAUL NUTTALL who runs Reidy's music shop in Penny Street Blackburn recently invented the world's first drop-proof plectrum.

The 'plectro' is a round string-plucker designed to replace the traditional triangular-shaped plectrum.

The nylon plectro is shaped like a washer with a central hole that promises a more secure hold as the gripping fingers remain in contact making it virtually impossible to drop.

Blackburn plastic manufacturer Hi-tech Plastics produce the design which is on sale in shops across Britain and America.

HOLLAND'S Pies, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, supplies pastries around the world.

The North's leading pie manufacturer originated in Haslingden in 1851 but has been based in Baxenden since 1929.

It's home is a former cotton mill known as the Industrial Mill. But the company's 120ft chimney with the words 'Holland's Pies' which was a famous local landmark was dismantled in 1986.

The business now produces over 1.4million pies per week and has more than 130 different products.

Hollands was bought by Northern Foods in 1979 and is the third biggest frozen pie manufacturer in Britain. The range has now been extended to include chicken tikka masala and chilli con carne.

WROUGHT iron gates which took a starring role in the Oscar winning film A Beautiful Mind were made in Burnley.

The Hollywood blockbuster scooped four Oscars but the gates made by B Rourke and Co in Accrington Road hit the headlines back home.

The firm has also provided gates and ironwork for many other famous names including the giant Paisley Gates in front of Liverpool's Anfield ground, the gates at Downing Street, scrolls and decorative work for the James Bond film Golden Eye, a chandelier for Bianca Jagger and a staircase for football manager Harry Redknapp.

NORI bricks, made in Accrington, were chosen to build the Empire State Building because they were the densest and strongest in the world at that time.

The distinctive red bricks, which are manufactured at Marshall's Clay Products, Whinney Hill, are an important Accrington trademark.

These hard engineering bricks are famous the world over for their bright red colour and strength.

Most of the finer buildings in Blackpool and Lytham St Annes are of Accrington brick.

They were also used to build a controversial life-size locomotive in Morton Park, Darlington, which used 181,000 bricks and cost £760,000.

BRIGHT spark Adrian Oldham designed a gadget aimed at preventing children playing with plugs and electric sockets.

The Darwen father-of-four designed the Socket Guard three years ago and it was at the Ideal Homes Exhibition this year.

The design is a simple plastic box which fits over the socket, either with or without a plug inserted, and is secured by a sticky pad.

It was principally designed to keep youngsters from sticking things into plug sockets but is also promoted to hospitals and other organisations where plugs must not be removed.

THE WATER feature at the Taj Mahal was originally powered by a John Blake Hydram made in Clayton-le-Moors.

The John Blake Hydram is a pump which does not use external power as it relies on flowing water, such as from a stream.

The idea was first designed in the 1700s by an Englishman then perfected in France.

John Blake set up in Clayton-le-Moors in the 1860s and supplied the mechanism for the Taj Mahal's fountain at the turn of the century. This was replaced some time later by an electrical devise.