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Wed 29
Nov 2006 |
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Chorley Parish Church of St Laurence.
Several members of the Society
attended the presentation of the Marque of Excellence to the Chorley
Parish Church of St Laurence. The presentation was for their work in the
Multi Faith Tourist area and the presentation was by Lady Shuttleworth.
I can't say I understand just what multi faith tourism is but it was
certainly a good do.
Ed Fisher gave an excellent slide presentation all about the history of
the Church and the families associated with it. Ed has kindly agreed to
give the full presentation to our Society at some future date. A very
entertaining item was 'Letter Home' a short drama presentation
written by Michael Harvey and performed by Tom Bell. Tom played Myles
Standish as he approached the American coast and composed a letter home
which told of the trials and tribulations he and his fellow travellers
had to face. |
Lady Shuttleworth makes the presentation |
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Ed Fisher gives his presentation |
Myles Standish returns in the form of
actor Tom Bell |
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Thu 16
Nov 2006 |
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FRANK RANDLE.
About 130 people attended the Film Society's afternoon show on 16th Nov.
12 of them being our own members. The afternoon was introduced by
impresario Chris Lee, and the grandson of the original director of the
films, Mr. Blakeley, was also there. Frank
Randle was born in Standish in 1901. He moved to his beloved Blackpool
when he was 16. His first job was a Gymnast, then he joined an acrobatic
troupe, performing at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool in 1922. At the time
he was also a 'front cloth comic' (warm up man). In 1935 he was placed
second on the bill to George Formby, at the Blackpool Opera House, by
promoter Jack Taylor. 1940 gave him his own touring revue
'Randals
Scandals'. His first film, in 1940, was
'Somewhere in England' followed
by numerous 'Somewhere' films, all made during the forties. One of which
is missing 'SOMEWHERE IN POLITICS' 1948. If its whereabouts is known
please inform; www.itsahotun.com as all the films are hoping to be put
on DVD in the future. At the peak of his career in the mid 1940s he was
earning in the region of 1000pounds per week, comparable today to David
Beckham. Frank Randle died on July 7th 1957. A celebration of his life
is planned to be held in Blackpool on July 7th 2007. |
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Tue 14
Nov 2006 |
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Harry Yeadon came
to the Society to talk to us about the history of the motorway network
in the north west.
Some interesting facts I didn't know were that there are 18 numbered
motorways in the NW, 1 million trees were planted along the NW motorways
and Chorley Nab had 2.5million cubic yards of rock removed from the top
to be used in motorway fill. So as you drive along the M61 towards
Manchester you're driving over the Nab! |
Harry Yeadon and Mike Bennett after the
talk. |
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Tue 07
Nov 2006 |
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Yarrow Valley Country
Park Advisory Group |
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Joan and Boyd attended the first of our
meetings with this group. We didn't know what to expect but were very
pleasantly surprised to be involved with a hard working team who all had
something to say and all were doing something positive to extent the
activities of the park. We made some comments on how we could contribute
and I hope by the time the next meeting in Feb 2007 comes around we will
have more to offer from the society. |
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Mon 06
Nov 2006 |
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Four members of Chorley
Society attended the Leyland Historical Society meeting in Leyland. The
speaker was Dr Alan Crosby giving a presentation on the 13th Earl of
Derby and his estate at Knowsley. Alan will be visiting Chorley to speak
to us on Tue 9th Jan 2007. |
Dr Alan Crosby, standing on the left,
giving his presentation. |
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Sun 05
Nov 2006 |
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Joan Dickinson has been
busy transcribing the diary of John Winstanley, one of the founder
members of the Society. You will find reference to this in the notes by
Jack on the history of the Society. Many thanks to Ten Unwin for
donating the diary to the Society. The transcript can be seen in full on
the 'Notes from the Archives' page.
It makes fascinating reading about the early days and many wanderings
around the moors. |
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Wed 01
Nov 2006 |
Laura, Dot and Boyd
attended the Wigan Archaeological Society meeting in Wigan to hear Ian
Miller of Oxford Archaeology talk about their recent work on the Roman
excavations etc. in Wigan. Ian will be visiting us at Chorley in March
next year.
Wigan has recently obtained a grant for new projection equipment.
They've got a new digital projector and are about to buy a screen.
Unfortunately the rooms they use are not very suitable for winter use as
the heating is often faulty. On the night it was off and everyone sat
shivering. I stuffed my newspaper up the inside of my jacket. It nearly
worked. |
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Some of the excavations in Wigan.
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Ian Miller answers questions after his
presentation. |
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