Stax of Soul |
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Just a few pictures from the LBA Northern Soul Night fund raiser. This is early doors before it got rammed out, and people got messy. It was a success all round. Everyone had a good night, I'm not sure of the final amount, but i think the proceeds are circa £500. So, Wigan Casino, The Twisted Wheel, The Featherstall Workingmen's and Littleborough Cricket Clubhouse are all in the Northern Soul hall of fame. It was excellent to see so many people, most of a more advanced age, sweating the funk out on the dance floor. LOL would like to thank LBA, especially Tracey and Carol, and the people who came and made it such a good night . Let's hope there's another one in the future. Only next time everyone has to wear Oxford Bags and a vest with badges on! |
Articles
A Community Garden for Littleborough
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The area of land between the railway arches and the River Roch has stood derelict since it was last used as a scrap yard. There is an air of neglect about this gathering place for rubbish. Lying where it does, at the entrance to the village, it should present a bright and welcoming prospect to the visitor or passer-by.
Littleborough Community Groups are working together to transform this area into a Community Garden
A Community Project
Initiated by members of Littleborough and District Lions Club with the support of the Pennines Township, the project brings together a number of groups active within the village for a common goal: to transform this derelict and neglected area into a garden for the use of the people of Littleborough.
What will the garden include?
The site is mainly solid concrete slab and so any planting might have to be in raised beds of natural stone. The rest of the area would be paved with suitable materials. There will be benches and perhaps some sculpture. The view down the river will be opened up and at some time in the future a riverside walk and footbridge over Ealees Brook will connect with the car park beyond.
We need your help
The community is everyone who lives or works in Littleborough as well as those who visit in the hope of discovering something new and interesting. As the garden is intended for the use of all we hope everyone would wish to contribute to the success of the project.
How can you help?
The Design Process: you could give us your ideas as to what could be included in the garden.
The Work: you could offer skill, expertise or honest toil.
The Cost: you could contribute to the financing of the project. £1 would buy a plant, £5 a shrub, £10 a paving stone. You could offer to sponsor a flower bed or a piece of sculpture.
Maintenance: there will always be need for weeding, pruning and keeping the garden clean and tidy.
To offer help in any way, contact me Steve Lister by phone 01706 373371
Or by e-mail at listers@littleborough73.freeserve.co.uk
Organisation to Safeguard South Pennines
The new South Pennines Rural Regeneration Company, was launched recently. The glorious but fragile landscape of the South Pennines which was listed for National Park status but overlooked is to have the coordinated care it has merited for half a century.
Launched by the area’s local
authorities, SPRRE will make
this a better place in which to
live, work, play and invest.
Representing the public,
private and voluntary sectors,
the not-for-profit company will:
• Support the development of
a sustainable local economy
• Protect and enhance the
character and image of the
area
• Improve our environment
and infrastructure
Until now the South Pennines has been managed under the umbrella of SCOSPA: the Standing Conference of South Pennine Authorities.
SCOSPA has recently overseen promising initiatives such as the South Pennines Heritage Strategy but inevitably the management of the area has lacked cohesion due to the number of organisations involved.
SPRRE will replace SCOSPA and take forward a vision which is sixty years overdue. In 1945 as the government looked to Britain’s post World War II future, the ideal of protected open spaces was included in its plans. The famous Dower Report was commissioned which chose for special recognition the nation’s finest landscapes.
With one exception, these have
gained statutory status as
National Parks and AONBs
(Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty). This includes our
neighbours the Yorkshire
Dales and Peak National
Parks.
Linking them is the South
Pennines … listed for a
national status it was never
accorded. Why? Because this
was a working landscape with
mills below the moors.
Values change. Today our
industrial heritage is world
famous. Indeed this area ranks
as one of the world’s most
significant cultural
landscapes: a term for those
which intermix natural forces
with human endeavour – and
nowhere better displayed.
The campaign for special
status was revived in 1972 by
Calder Civic Trust in its Case
for A Pennine Park. In 1974
SCOSPA was formed. In the 1990s, the Countryside
Commission and English
Nature identified the South
Pennines as of outstanding
character and ecological
importance for upland birds.
This is now an EU Special
Protection Area.
In 1996 SCOSPA and its
partners declared the South
Pennines a Heritage Area. This
was timely because, as the
Heritage Strategy states: “the
landscape is under threat”.
Remember that lack of its due
status as a National Park or
AONB continues to leave the
South Pennines vulnerable –
this remains the only upland
landscape in England and
Wales NOT to have statutory
protection.
We face such issues as
windfarms, the decline of
traditional farming, leisure
needs and development
pressures. There has to be a
plan, a blueprint – drawing
together the regional, national
and international interests
which today shape the future –
and there has to be action.
The Heritage Strategy is our
blueprint for the future of this
area. Now we have the South
Pennines Rural Regeneration
Company to take it forward.
(Based on an article in South
Pennine Visitor published by
Pennine Heritage)
The Waterways Trust:
Littleborough Civic Trust have received a letter from Clare Riches of the Waterways Trust asking for the opportunity to speak to LCT and she was invited go come to the August meeting. (Just to remind everyone the Waterways Trust actually owns the Rochdale Canal; British Waterways are under a long term agreement to manage and maintain it on their behalf.)
She started by explaining that
her remit was to increase the
number of people who used the
canal; more particularly users
of the towpath, such as
walkers, cyclists and anglers.
She worked from home or one
of the offices available at
Wigan although much of her
time was spent 'on the road'
meeting as many people as she
could. The canals she was
responsible for were the
Rochdale and the arm
connecting with the River
Ribble. However, because the
Rochdale had had such a bad
series of stoppages resulting in
a poor reputation, she had
been relieved of all other duties
and been asked to concentrate
on the Rochdale exclusively.
She worked alone and,
because of the requirements of
Health and Safety needed a
'companion' to accompany her
on her visits to the canal.
She referred to an eleven-page
questionnaire which was being
prepared and which she hoped
would be completed by as
many people and groups as
possible. She needed at least
100 of them to be completed by
next March.
Other things she wanted to
promote were:
• For people to 'adopt' a
stretch of canal and report
problems to the Waterways
Trust
• The creation of an aural
record from people who had
knowledge of the canal
which could be assembled
by young people
• Litter picks of two hours or
so, organised by the
Waterways Trust, which
would provide all the
necessary equipment
• Perhaps more esoteric
events such as tree dressing
involving schools.
She acknowledged that the litter in Littleborough was nowhere near as bad as in parts of Rochdale and it was pointed out that, while LCT would be happy to help where they could, it would only be within the Littleborough boundary.
Knowledge of local events
would be of help to her such as
festivals or carnivals etc. and
she referred to the idea of selfguided
heritage walks and
trails. She said that it was her
intention to improve the
signage along the canal to
enable people using it to judge
better where they were. LCT
mentioned the imminent
creation of an important new
Conservation Area
encompassing Rock Nook Mill
which would include the canal
from Pikehouse Bridge to the
lock named Second Below by
Sladen Wood Mill.
The LCT Chairman said that we would keep in touch with her and that they were prepared to be involved, where possible, with a number of her ideas.
Hare Hill Park - Green Flag Award
by Helen Kelsall, Secretary,
Friends of Hare Hill Park
This Summer Littleborough’s
Hare Hill Park was awarded
the prestigious Green Flag, an
event that marked the
culmination of five years hard
work renewing and
refurbishing the Park.
Five years ago, increasingly
dismayed at the condition of
the Park, local people led by
Jill Roberts held a public
meeting with the aim of
organising a Friends Group.
Some of the initial committee
had experience of volunteering
before, but many of us had no
experience at all! We were
however bound by common
aims: to improve the Park’s
infrastructure, most especially
repairing the broken
Bandstand, and to get people
back into their Park.
The Friends drew up an Action
Plan of the things they would
like to improve. We looked for
sources of funding to improve
facilities and undertook
practical activities like bulb
planting and litter picking. We
also organised events like
Carol Concerts and A Fun Day
for the Queen’s Golden
Jubilee.
There have been times when the group felt we would never reach our goals, and the condition of the Bandstand continued to deteriorate - but in 2003 a major stroke of luck came our way. The Council was eligible to bid for capital funding to improve green spaces under the Fair Shares scheme - and Hare Hill Park was included as part of Rochdale’s overall bid. Here the importance of community involvement became clear. The presence of an active Friends group made a big difference to the chances of success for the bid, and our then Chairperson, Gill Brierley, worked tirelessly to pull together all the necessary information.
The bid was successful and
now finally the Council had the
funds to carry out the
refurbishment of the
Bandstand and other vital
capital works like renewing the
footpaths and replacing
benches and bins.
The new Bandstand roof went
on in November 2004 - in time
for our Christmas Carol
Concert, and I for one had a
10 LCT Newsletter Autumn 2006
lump in my throat when the
Band struck up the first hymn
that Sunday before Christmas. Since then the work has
continued, and it has been
lovely to see more and more
people using the Park again.
At the end of 2005 the decision
was made to enter the Park for
assessment under the Green
Flag awards - Hare Hill Park
being the first Park in
Rochdale Borough to be
considered. The last six
months has seen a huge
amount of activity in
preparation for the judges’
assessment and great credit
goes to the Park’s gardeners
and all in Park Services who
worked so hard to get
everything ready. The night
before the judging, I and
another member of the
committee walked around the
Park and it really did look
beautiful.
And now that Hare Hill is a Green Flag Park? Well the work carries on. Getting the flag is one thing, keeping it is something else. The judges will be back again next year and like any person with a garden will tell you - there’s always something that needs improvement!
Left to right on photo.. Tracey Glover L.B.A Kathleen Morrison, Gideon Scurr (Victoria House) and Carol Troy L.B.A |
FUND GETS STARTEDProceeds of Victoria House table top sale have today been presented to Carol Troy and Tracey Glover of Littleborough Business Association’s sub committee. |
June Retallic, Unit leader of Victoria House said “Everybody worked really hard collecting items, pricing them up and selling them on the day but we all had a great time and thank you to everyone who donated their bric a brac. Community team work made the day”. Various items were on sale ranging from a bar of soap to thatched bird tables and even floral arrangements made by the people who use the centre every day. Tracey Glover of the L.B.A said “This is a fantastic gesture by all at Victoria House, mainly because they have to fund raise for many of their own activities, it goes to show what a great asset they are to our community”.The sub committee has been set up to raise funds to ensure Littleborough has the biggest and brightest Christmas lights in the future instead of always being ’last on the list’. Fund raising events are already in motion, the first being a Northern Soul Dance Night at L’Boro Cricket Club on Friday the 23rd of March and monthly car boot sales on the cricket club car park. |
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