THE facility of stone watering troughs for horses (and dogs) situated at the junctions of busy main roads have long since disappeared, not to mention the drinking fountains for pedestrians, subsequently condemned by the health bureaucrats.

They, too, have vanished or been rendered inoperable - like the one beside Blackburn Cemetery gates and that at the corner of the former Mrs Lewis's Mission in St Peter Street.

I remember three horse troughs donated to the town by private individuals concerned with animal welfare - at Griffin, Sudell Cross and the Salford-Cicely Lane junction.

Where are they now? I would be obliged if any older reader who can recall the location of others about the town would phone me on 01254 54745.

J A MARSDEN, Scarborough Road, Blackburn.

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