HOW splendid that Blackburn with Darwen Council has won a grant of more than £200,000 of National Lottery money from the New Opportunities Fund to fund a website that will chart the rise and decline of the cotton industry which shaped the development of the borough.

Just as wonderful is the fact that the council is Lancashire's only winner in the £50 million project that aims to chronicle Britain's heritage.

Plainly, a compelling and convincing submission must have been put forward by heritage-conscious Blackburn and Darwen in the contest for this cash -- truly so, in view of the fact that the council placed such a value on the borough's cotton-industry heritage that only three years ago it actually sought to shut its unique textile museum in order to save a paltry £10,000.

Another conversion, it seems, on the road to Damask-us. Praise be!