FORMER model Carole Cawley-Smith felt anything but glamorous as she celebrated her 60th birthday by sliding 60 feet down an old railway viaduct.

Family and friends cheered on her once-in-a-lifetime performance as the ex-beautician donned climbing gear to abseil down from Martholme viaduct over the River Calder between Read and Great Harwood.

And after Carole completed a safe landing, the 50-strong group took her to the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors, for a birthday party.

The abseil and celebration was all Carole's idea to raise cash for the Burned Children's Club outdoor centre at Billericay, Essex. She made £600.

"I wanted to mark my birthday in a special way and to help an extremely good cause," said Carole, of Simonstone.

"I asked everyone to make a donation to the charity rather than buy birthday presents,"

"The abseiling was quite an experience and I really enjoyed it once I had got over the shock of climbing over the parapet!"

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