Friday Folk

A CYCLIST who has cycled across two continents is preparing himself for his most dangerous mission to date.

Gordon Whittaker is set to ride alone across 2,500 miles of barren Australian terrain, where the only residents are the poisonous snakes and spiders.

The 37-year-old from Blackburn, who was due to leave on the trip this week, said: "It is difficult to know what to expect.

"There are small villages but they are few and far between.

"It could be two days before you reach a village.

"The main thing is to keep the bike going and look for food and water."

The gruelling trek from Perth to Sydney set to be tackled by Gordon, who has cycled across America and Europe, is his most challenging because he is trying it alone and without back-up.

He said: "My other cycling trips I have completed with other riders.

"This time I will be on my own.

"I can't persuade anybody else to do it with me because it is such an isolated, barren route - miles and miles of sheer nothingness." But Gordon, a member of the Cycling Touring Club, added: "It is a challenge because it is across another continent - and it will be my last challenge.

"I didn't want to get too old so that I couldn't complete it."

He added: "I get a lot of satisfaction from looking at a map and realising I have peddled across an entire continent."

His cycling bug started when he rode from Land's End to John O'Groats, a journey he completed in 11 days.

He said: "I got a real sense of satisfaction out of it which was hard to describe."

He later gave up his job as a welfare and truancy officer for Blackburn Education Department to carry out his cycling expeditions.

He is hoping to complete the tour on a Dawes Galaxy Touring Bike ,which will carry food, his tent and equipment for a seven-week period.

Gordon's cycle will raise funds for Slaidburn Youth Hostel, which relies on voluntary help and donations and desperately needs to replace bunk beds.

Anyone prepared to sponsor Gordon or give donations should contact him on 01254 812554.

Opera man's rock shock

OPERA star John Tomlinson, who has sung Wagner all over the world, has revealed a secret passion . . . for rock music.

The Oswaldtwistle-born bass-baritone was a guest on the BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs, where celebrities pick which records they would take with them if they were cast away. And among the classical music and opera pieces he chose was Synchronicity 2, by rock band The Police. Mr Tomlinson told interviewer Sue Lawley: "It would drive me crackers if all eight discs were sublime moments from opera."

He told how he began singing in his family's local Methodist chapel at Oswaldtwistle and with Accrington Male Voice Choir.

He was studying for an engineering degree in Manchester and joined an opera chorus just to earn money.

That was the first time he sang Wagner and it made him decide on a career in opera.

He is now recognised as one of Britain's leading opera singers and is an annual guest at Germany's annual Wagner festival at Bayreuth.

His choice of luxury item was a box of optical lenses so he could make his own telescopes and microscopes and his choice of a book was desert island flora and fauna.

The programme will be repeated at 9.05am on Friday on Radio Four.

Home safety first for new fire chief

RAISING awareness of fire safety in the home is top of the agenda for the new commander of Rawtenstall fire station.

David Bowers, 46, has won promotion to the top job after a 30 year career with the brigade.

Station Officer Bowers said: "I am looking forward to getting to know the personnel at the station, who have an excellent reputation as firefighters."

He will also be spearheading local activities in support of a national campaign to cut down the death and injury toll in house fires. Station Officer Bowers said: "The area where most fire deaths and injuries occur is in the home.

"We want to raise the awareness of the general public of the importance of fire safety, especially in the home."

He is also planning a local campaign to boost the recruitment of part-time firefighters at Rawtenstall, Haslingden and Bacup fire stations.

He joined the brigade as a 16-year-old school leaver.

Two thirds of his career has been spent in his home town of Blackburn, where he has been a station officer for the last 10 years.

He has also served in Accrington and Chorley, as well as at brigade headquarters and the training centre.

Guide gets top award

A FORMER East Lancashire Brownie and Guide has beaten a path to the top of her field in Scotland.

Rebecca Jackson, 15, who attended St Oswald's Primary School, Knuzden, before moving to West Lothian with her parents, has won the highest accolade in Guiding, the Baden Powell Award.

After joining 8th Blackburn St Jude's Brownies, Accrington, aged seven, Rebecca moved on to become a guide at the age of 11 She moved to live in Scotland with her family in May 1993 and transferred to the Bathgate Guides.

She took two years to qualify for the Baden Powell Award by organising parties, church services and a project on Guides around the world.

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