Friday Folk

TRADER Roy Johnson has moved to East Lancashire hoping his new diving venture will prove less dangerous than the last time he set up shop.

For when the former Vietnam war helicopter mechanic tried selling scuba equipment in Kuwait, he found himself holed up in an apartment as victorious Iraqi troops went on the prowl looking for Americans and Europeans.

The American-born businessman is now in Haslingden, hoping for a much quieter life.

Roy originally came to Lancashire after meeting his Blackpool-born wife Karen in Saudi Arabia, where he was a helicopter instructor in the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Since he came to the county he has worked as a sales representative for various firms.

He still lives in his wife's home town with their two children but has always viewed Haslingden as the perfect location for his new enterprise because it is easily accessible from all of the major towns and cities in the North West. He agrees that his current situation is a far cry from the days when he was hiding from Saddam Hussein's rampaging soldiers.

"My wife Karen was allowed out of the country with the rest of the women but I had to wait two months for another flight," he said. "I had to keep my head down, otherwise I would have been captured and imprisoned in Saddam's military installations."

Now, though, it's a different set of challenges that face Roy - successfully setting up and establishing his Dolphin Scuba Centre, in Deardengate, Haslingden.

He has received a grant from the Action for Haslingden Partnership's Small Business Investment Fund to help refurbish the former Co-operative building that will be his headquarters.

He plans to sell diving suits, tanks, masks, and breathing equipment at his shop, where there will be an open day tomorrow.

Diving enthusiasts will also be offered the facility to book trips at home and abroad at the shop.

Hungary to learn

LUCKY student Asif Garda will be among a group jetting out to Hungary for the trip of a lifetime this summer.

A pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, Asif, 18, will spend two weeks with a family in Budapest as part of the Daniel Thwaites Travel Scholarship.

The trip, organised in conjunction with the Experiment for International Living, aims to give students from Lancashire first-hand experience of family life around the world and has previously sent groups to India, Czechoslovakia, and America. Asif was chosen for the trip after being picked from a list of nominated students.

Under the supervision of leader Karen Matula of Accrington and Rossendale College, Asif, of Crompton Place, Blackburn, will get involved in everyday life and help out with family chores.

Daniel Thwaites brewery president John Yerburgh, who started the scholarship scheme 39 years ago, said: "The students get an insight into another culture and hopefully a better understanding of life in general. They have extra responsibilities in being ambassadors for their country."

Alice seeks out old pals

A PENSIONER who emigrated to Australia when she was 23 has returned to Lancashire to catch up with friends and relatives she left behind.

Alice Cunliffe, nee Bleasdale, was planning to come to East Lancashire in 1995 but a serious car accident left her in intensive care for three months and in a wheelchair for six months.

A truck hit a car she was travelling in as a passenger and she broke her legs, shoulder, ribs and punctured her lungs.

The accident happened just 11 days before she was due to jet out to England from her home in Victoria.

She said: "I have recovered very well and, although I am a bit slower walking, I get along fine."

Mrs Cunliffe is now staying with her cousin Clarence Morris at his home in Glebe Street, Great Harwood, for four weeks and wants to trace old friends and relatives. She said: "I have lost touch with most people, especially cousins, old friends and school pals. I would love to meet up with them again, especially Mildred Clarkson, who I worked with at Roe Lee Mill, in Blackburn."

Mrs Cunliffe was born in Moss Street, Blackburn, to parents Joe Bleasdale and Clara Hartley. She had a brother, Joe, who died in 1994. She attended St Alban's RC School in Blackburn and left at the age of 14 to work as a weaver at Roe Lee Mill.

She married Allan Cunliffe at the age of 18 and moved to a different mill and a home on Mona Road and then Smithers Street, both Blackburn, before emigrating .

She said: "There was a scheme to emigrate to Australia for £10. My husband had two uncles out there and wanted to go."

They emigrated on February, 1956, with son Allan, now 46. They later had two more sons Jeffrey, 39, and Edwin, 35, and daughter Carol, 40. They now live in Victoria. Mr Cunliffe worked as a painter and decorator for most of his life, as well as trying his hand with his wife at running a wallpaper business and milk bar.

The pair also spent time polishing opals, for which they were featured in a television documentary

Mrs Cunliffe returned to Lancashire in 1979 but was unable to trace her relatives and friends.

During her current stay, which lasts until June 18, she has planned a coach trip to Eastbourne and a trip to Wales.

Anyone who wants to get in touch with her should call Mr Morris on 01254 888219.

Horse show hope for Smoothie

COLIN Birch will be hoping for a clear round when he travels south to compete in a horse show this summer. Colin, 23, has qualified for the Royal International Show at Hickstead in July with seven-year-old bay gelding Northern Smoothie and will compete in the Novice Hunter Wilson Finals.

Smoothie, who is stabled and trained at Withnell Barn Farm, Withnell, qualified for the prestigious show after coming second at a recent event in Blackpool and is owned by local optician Mark Bowden.

Joanne Ball, who works at the yard, said: "Smoothie is a really friendly horse and he's doing very well. We'll all be keeping our fingers crossed for him when he goes to Hickstead."

Smoothie is sponsored by landlord Austin Ball, of the Boatyard Inn, Riley Green.

Airman in Gulf hot-spot

BURNLEY airman Christopher Hewitt has been temporarily stationed in Kuwait as a junior technician among the Royal Airforce personnel.

Christopher, 25, is normally to be found serving with the tactical communications wing at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. However, although tension in the Gulf has eased following the agreement on access for UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, the service of British troops is still required in the region as part of the UN presence. Service so far has taken Christopher to a number of countries on operations and exercises, including most of Europe, the Middle and Far East and North America.

He is due back from his present posting in early June.

Christopher joined the RAF in 1991 following his education at St Wilfrid's High School, Blackburn, and subsequent work with an international company as an electronics apprentice.

He has an active sporting life outside his work. He represents his unit at cricket and enjoys most other sports. His parents, Michael and Maureen, live in Simonstone, near Burnley.

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