I FEEL sorry for motor racing enthusiasts who pay exorbitant prices to watch the various grand prix.

Living in Rishton, I watch the "Norden Grand Prix" every day for free from my front garden.

Every vehicle you may mention races along Harwood Road and negotiates the canal turn at the bottom with split-second timing.

There is also the famous bus stop at the junction with Stourton Street - what a delight to watch the lines of stationary traffic held up behind the buses taking on passengers.

It's fun, too, to watch the fumes belching from the exhausts and polluting the atmosphere as drivers hold their vehicles, using the clutch and accelerator pedals.

We also have cycle lanes, but the cyclists find it much safer to use the pavements. What a pleasure to walk along Harwood Road and watch drivers having a game of 'who can park farthest on the pavement.' They shunt back and forth seeing how much damage they can cause to the pavements. Away from the delights at the front of my home, it is nice to sit in my rear garden adjoining which 'Rishton Prime Time' has put a play area for infants. How grand to relax, especially when the children are playing on the concrete area pushing trucks and other gadgets for quite lengthy periods daily.

During the evenings we enjoy all the Prime Time activities - youth clubs, cycle clubs, keep-fit classes. It's great - a credit to those responsible.

There is other relaxation away from my home - especially the walk from Rishton to Great Harwood along the old railway, converted to a pedestrian-cum-cycle path. When opened some two years ago, it had boasted a first-class surface and a fence stretching for some 200 yards to prevent cyclists from plunging into a rather deep ravine.

The fence has all but gone now, having become a play thing for vandals. The path has become an obstacle course, requiring expertise to avoid the dog and horse droppings.

These are just a few delights of Rishton for myself and my wife to enjoy in our retirement years.

So I offer my heartfelt thanks to Hyndburn Council, Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Leisure Committee and the Lancashire Police.

WILLIAM MOORE, Harwood Road, Rishton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.