WALL paintings uncovered at the New Inn, Rochdale Road, Bacup, a decade or more ago have attracted nationwide interest.

The paintings, at least a century old, cover three walls of the snug at the historic public house and appear in National Heritage literature.

A party of two dozen historians from the Leicester area were so impressed that they made a special Bank Holiday visit to see the paintings.

They were discovered during decoration work. A fourth was too badly damaged to be preserved. Emma Talbot, girlfriend of licensee Paul Grenaghan, said: "They certainly create some interest and the visitors appeared to be impressed.

"They must be important because the snug cannot be redecorated without permission from National Heritage.''

The wall paintings show a black man with a pipe in his hand, an elderly man wearing a neckerchief and holding a pipe, and another sitting figure holding a pipe.

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