Burnley Historical Society
Noticeboard
New Publication
Nadin, Jack
The Rossendale coalfield
History Press. £12.99. paperback. Published 6 February, 2012
This is a detailed historical record of the area's coalfields, delving into the lives of the men who worked these smaller coal mines in East Lancashire, while recalling captivating stories of an industry long gone.
Available from all good book shops, Amazon and the History Press (via 01235 or www.thehistorypress.co.uk)
Condolences
Harry Bartram
It is with sadness that we report the death of Harry Bartram on November 3rd. 2011 aged 92 years. Harry had been a member of Burnley and District Historical Society for over twenty years and held a position on the committee from 1983 up to the time of his death. His last attendance was at the September meeting.
His working life was spent in engineering as a skilled machinist firstly at Lucas and afterwards at Platers and Stampers which became Prestige. It was during his time at Lucas, operating a milling machine in the tool room that he inspired generations of apprentice engineers. Every apprentice had to be taught how to operate a milling machine and Harry was particularly patient and caring in his role as teacher. He joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union in 1937 serving in many capacities over the years including that of local branch treasurer and money steward. He was still attending meetings up to a few months ago.
He was actively involved in the community as a member of local dramatic societies and The Towneley Hall Society. When the North West sound archives were asking for volunteers Harry made a recording of his experiences for them.
Following the death of his wife Annie, he continued to live in the house in Fairview Road which they had shared for fifty-six years, then in recent years moved into sheltered accommodation. He retained his independence maintaining an active involvement in his many and varied interests and regularly dining out with friends from his various luncheon clubs.
Harry was always modest about his achievements though extremely proud of his family and their achievements and it is to them that we offer our sincere condo
Harry Nutter
The Society has learned of the death of another of its members, Mr. Harry Nutter. Harry, who had formerly worked at Michelin's in Burnley, lived with his wife, Kathleen, at Overtown, Cliviger. A member of the Historial Society for many years, Harry was also interested in gardening and natural history; in retirement they enjoyed many trips out in the car, where the photographs they took provided the basis for the talks which they gave to the Over 60s meetings in the village.
Local History Fair
Our Society's Local History Fair was held at St. Peter's Church, Burnley on Saturday,29th October 2011.
Over 20 groups and organisations were represented from Burnley and the surrounding area. The event was opened by the Mayor of Burnley, Councillor David Heginbotham and was a great success as the many visitors were able to wander through the various stalls and displays, reading the information, looking at the illustrations, studying the objects and even buying the occasional book. A tasty lunch was provided by volunteers from St. Peters.
Click here to view photographs of local history fair
added 6/11/11
The refurbished Lancashire Record Office has now re-opened after a £1.1m air-conditioning refit. The Record Office is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.00am to 5.00pm, on Tuesdays from 9.00am to 8.30pm and on Thursdays from 10am to 5.00pm. It will also open on the second Saturday of the month from 10.00am to 4.00pm, beginning on November 12th.
To use the archive, take along proof of identity showing name, address and signature. More information is available from www.archives.lancashire.gov.uk or on 01772 - 533039.
(Information courtesy of The Burnley Express)
added 31/10/11
Libraries under threat
You may believe your library is safe in "their" hands but you would be wrong.
Although our local libraries seem to have fared better than those in authorities such as Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire, this is a false illusion. The county councillors in Lancashire have insisted that no library should close but this does not mean the library service has not been cut. Instead, the county council is shedding staff at an alarming rate and, at a rough guess, almost 50% of the library staff across the county have been made redundant. Most of these have been long serving, experienced and knowledgeable staff so the quality of the service must deteriorate. This is not to denigrate the efforts of the hard working and enthusiastic staff who are left behind and doing their best in difficult circumstances. However, it is impossible for them to be trained to the same level of expertise as the staff who have left, because they are all too busy doing the jobs of those who have gone, leaving little time left in the timetable for proper training.
A lady visited Burnley's Community History Library recently and asked for photographs of the Mechanics' Institute and was told there weren't any! This inaccurate service must be replicated in many other libraries.
If you are disappointed with the level of service you have received in any of Lancashire's libraries, write to
County Councillor Geoff Driver 19 Hoylake Close Fulwood Preston PR2 7EB Tel No 01772 865029
Email: geoff.driver@lancashire.gov.uk
A note on the current state of play in our own Community History Library.
We learn that the umpteenth proposed reorganisation of the Lancashire library service envisages Community History being transferred from the control of the County Library Manager (in former days known as the Country Librarian) to that of the County Heritage Manager, who will be responsible for Archives (Record Office), Museums and Community History Libraries.
There will be a Senior Community History Manager and under him/her there will be six Area Community History Managers responsible for the twelve Library Districts, of which Burnley is one. There are now twelve Community History Managers, one for each District, like our own Margaret Nuttall, who has now, sadly, retired, so the six will have to spread themselves out some what. They will, of course, be supported by staff in lower level posts, who will operate the various Community History Libraries on a day-to-day basis but these have also been scaled down in number. And we do not know how experienced or well-trained and supervised these assistants will be.
There will also be reduced amounts of funding available to each Community History Library for the purchase of books etc.
Our thoughts are with the front line library staff who would like to provide an efficient and helpful service and one which meets the needs of the public but who are being frustrated in this by government cut backs and a senior management who do not seem to be able to decide on how to reorganise the service
added 11 12 2011
Thursday, 8 September, 2011
Dr. John Hargreaves gave a talk entitled "General Scarlett. Radical Burnley and the General revisited.
After giving a brief outline of General Scarlett's early life in Burnley and his subsequent military career, culminating in the famous charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaklava, Dr. Hargreaves went on to describe in detail the political scene in the Burnley of 1868 when General Scarlett, as the Conservative candidate in Burnley's first general election, clashed with his Liberal opponent local solicitor Richard Shaw. He narrowly lost a bitterly fought contest. This interesting and lively talk was well received.
Dr. Hargreaves is a Burnley man by birth, leaving here in his late teens after an education at Heasandford School and Burnley Grammar School. He is included in one of Ken Spencer's papers. This is "Burnley men of note" and it may be found in the Community History Library. It is in the Reserve Stack at Oversize G2. Ask the staff for it.
The Walter Bennett Memorial Lecture
The Walter Bennett Memorial Lecture was held on October 13th 2011 and was well attended. The lecture was entitled "Burnley in 1861" commemorating the 150th. anniversary of the granting of the Charter of Incorporation of the Borough of Burnley. As President of the Historical Society during his term of office The Worshipful the Mayor of Burnley, Councillor David Neil Heginbotham, was invited to chair the meeting. The Mayor made a short speech and introduced the two speakers.
The speakers were two of Burnley's most well known historians, Councillor Roger Frost M.B.E. and Brian Hall M.B.E. Brian delivered the first half of the lecture by describing what happened in 1861 both nationally and locally and what Burnley was like at this period of time. Roger delivered the second half of the lecture by describing how Burnley was governed before the Charter of Incorporation and the story of local government since then.
The Mayor thanked the speakers afterwards and distributed commemorative badges which he had commissioned in celebration of 150 years of local government to every member of the audience. Copies of Retrospect commemorating the anniversary of the Incorporation were also available for distribution earlier than usual thanks to some hard work by Brian. It was a very enjoyable evening and thanks must go to everyone who contributed to its success.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Mr. Peter Iles of the Lancashire County Council's Archaeological Department gave an informative PowerPoint presentation on the work of his department. He explained both the remit of the department and how the staff carried out their duties on a day to day basis, illustrating this with many interesting diagrams and photographs of sites and digs throughout the county but concentrating on our own district
Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Nigel Hampson gave an absolutely splendid PowerPoint presentation (everything worked!) entitled "The Titanic", which sank exactly 100 years ago.Mr Hampson had the subject at his fingertips and showed many interesting photographs. He also came upon with some equally interesting and not very well known facts about the disaster.
If you missed this talk you can still find out more by visiting The Titanic in Lancashire Museum, The Old Grammar School, Church Street, Colne (01282-861833 or www.titanicinlancs.com), where Mr. Hampson is the Curator.
added 24/01/2012
Ken Spencer's writings
Ken Spencer, as we all know, has written many books and articles and much unpublished material. Hitherto, the entries for this body of work in the Lancashire County Library online catalogue has been arranged under a number of versions of Ken's name, making them difficult to find. This unsatisfactory situation has now been resolved and now all of Ken's writings are listed under SPENCER, Ken G in alphabetical order of title (SPENCER, Ken will also find the same list). If you happen to know the title of the item you want you can access details by just using the title.
Unsurprisingly there are 198 entries in Ken's name in the catalogue and many of these items have already proved of value to other local authors and researchers and to the public in general.
added 13/10/2011
Nelson and Colne Local History Societies
Members may not be aware that they are entitled to attend meetings of the above-named societies free of charge upon production of a valid membership card of Burnley and District Historical Society.
The programmes for the 2012 seasons will be posted on the web site when they are received.
Nelson Local History Society
All enquiries to: Harvey Manning. Tel. 01282 - 830458
Meetings are held in the Christ Church Centre, Carr Rd... and start at 7.30pm.
Colne and District Local History Society
Meetings are held at the Peter Birtwistle Trust Centre, Keighley Road, Colne and start at 7.30 pm
All enquiries to Mrs Margaret Heap ( Hon Secretary) 01282 865061
(amended dec 2011 )