LOCAL froth-blowers have been wrangling for some time about it. And now, in desperation, the assistance of our long-memoried readers is sought in pinpointing the date of closure of the old Providence Hospital.

This homely place of healing was just about the best-loved local institution, and, years later, townsfolk still experience a mixture of bitterness and bewilderment when the subject of its shut-down comes up for discussion.

Tommy Hunter of Moss Bank is the man who now puts the closure-date question. He has a 1979 copy of a local newspaper stating that the axe was to come down within two years.

But Tommy argues: "I am sure that the Provvy was still in business during 1981." He believes it could have been a year of two after that before the shutters were put up -- fund-raising efforts keeping it going beyond the original deadline.

Tommy's keen to win a bar-top wrangle that's been going on for months. And he wonders whether the Provvy reached its centenary date.

COULD anyone please supply the exact closure date and details? If so, please drop me a line at the Star.