SPARED from demolition after being devastated in a Christmas arson attack two years ago, St Anne's RC Church in Blackburn -- pictured in 1949 when the parish celebrated its centenary -- was the venue for a big day in the life of the youngsters , inset, gathered there the year before.

Dressed in their best clothes and wearing sashes and Sacred Heart medals, the group of seven-year-olds from St Anne's School were receiving their first Holy Communion at the Princes Street church.

Their picture is sent to Looking Back by reader Gordon Arrandale who is seen third left in the front row.

"I cannot remember all the boys' names as I have lost touch with them over the years," says Mr Arrandale, of Cardigan Avenue, Oswaldtwistle.

"But the tall one at the back was called Johnson or Johnstone.

"In the middle row are Leo McGarry, Denis Gavaghan, John Corrigan, a boy called Topping, Tony Baines and a lad called Clark. In the front row are Jimmy McHugh, John Borrow, myself and Joe Galagher."

The church building dated from 1926 and was officially opened the following year, but the parish originated in 1849 when a Catholic Mission was set up in France Street, off town-centre King Street, with the first St Anne's Church being opened two years later. The new church could accommodate 1,200 worshippers and at the time of its centenary the parish had 3,650 members.