The Barlick War Memorial Group

[Stanley]

Thomas, welcome to the site. You make a good point about visibility.
Ian, thanks for a cogent and well-argued piece. I agree with everything you say.

[Tardis]

They reckon £20,000 to move the cenotaph, and even point at the fact that roads will need to be closed to do so.

It doesn't, however, mention any timescale in the report I saw, and now can't find online, or for that matter what happens if when they pull it apart they find a substantial amount of damage.

[PanBiker]

I have just called into the Rainhall Centre hoping to see the Town Clerk. I understand from the article in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph that the issue will be discussed at the meeting on Wednesday night. Apparently the Clerk is only in until 12 Noon on Monday. I have emailed him for an agenda and indicated a wish to speak on the matter at the meeting.

I thought the £20,000 projected costs to be somewhat on the low side seeing as it cost £8,500 to move it 30 years ago. No indication whether this figure included the extensive foundation work that would be required prior to a move either. I will ask at the meeting given an opportunity. I want to put over the points I have made in my previous posts on here to the whole council rather than just the 3 that were disseminating the false information in the marquee last week.

This proposal should be a non starter as it fails in so many different ways. They could have saved themselves a lot of bother if they had just took the trouble to get the correct information in the first place.

[klondyke49]

Hello Ian, Peter,

Apologies for missing the meeting yesterday, but for personal and totally unplanned and unavoidable reasons I had to attend to medical priorities.

If you email me with your private email address I will send you the Wednesday meeting agenda by return. I am fully aware of, and respect the points you have made, It is my wish to ensure that all considerations are taken into account on this issue. I am currently working on the wording for a resolution to put to council on wednesday which should answer your concerns. The Town Clerk will not be in the office again until wednesday but i will pass on to him your wish to speak on this issue.

Kindest regards
ken
kenknhrt@hotmail.co.uk

[PanBiker]

Thanks for that Ken, I have received a reply from Richard along with the agenda so I have the information I need.

The meeting went well yesterday and we pushed a few ideas around that should allow us to move the project forwards.

[Stanley]

On a related but non-connected matter. I once talked to a mason and asked him how they managed to get large pieces of stone in exactly the right place. Think of putting the obelisk on its foundation. He said that one method he used was to spread a thin layer of granulated sugar on the foundation before they lowered the stone into place. This meant that while there was weight on the joint they could adjust the position using a soft tup before putting the full weight on. Once in place the sugar dissolved naturally as moisture got to it.

[Thomo]

At last a short break from domestic requirements, gained whilst awaiting a delivery. I confess that I have not yet had the time to learn much about this new site other than the bare essentials and all the good stuff will have to wait a while longer yet. On Sunday last I along with Ian had the pleasure of finally meeting Chris Foster and John Richardson of the CPGW site and I would like to thank them both for taking the time to attend. Ken as I now know could not be with us but much was gained from the meeting, I would also like to thank Ian for the PM, maybe we will not have to poke sticks in as many hornets nests after all to achieve what we have set out to accomplish, this would indeed be a blessing. I still have work to do on the other missing names but this does not match the scale of the earlier research. The next task after that is to prepare the material for a book, intended to be an updated and localised version of the original, also to cover other conflicts. In order to complete this task in all respects before the centenary I am going to have to research and collate all of the information and present it in a usable form, if I can manage five individuals per week it should suffice, six or seven would be a bonus. I have the kitchen to finish and the bathroom to rebuild. That's it now, the stuff has arrived, back to work!!

[Tardis]

The Town Council is not going to push for the Cenotaph to be moved.

The consultation threw up quite a few concerns apparently

[Whyperion]

The Town Council pushing the Cenotaph would be interesting to see.

[Stanley]

"The Town Council is not going to push for the Cenotaph to be moved." Good! However watch them, there is some covert reason why the move was mooted in the first place which won't have gone away.

[klondyke49]

Hi All,

The following resolution was passed unanimously at last nights meeting of the Town council.


"The council wishes to thank all those who responded to the survey on the proposed move of the Cenotaph.
That Council note the results of the consultation process, and that by a majority of Two to One the respondents were generally supportive of the proposal.
However, The Council also notes the various concerns of respondents over issues of costs, parking and potential for Vandalism. The Council also recognises that local, national and international organisations also have an interest in the proposal, and the recommendations and polices of the Royal British Legion, the War Memorial Trust and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission should be respected.
Therefore The Council recommends that the Cenotaph remain in its current location, and that Pendle Borough Council be asked to improve the visibility of the Cenotaph, its accessibility and the attractiveness of the immediate surroundings by thinning out the overgrown shrubberies and rose beds, screening off the adjacent recycling area and opening up the access to the rear of memorial.
The Council wishes to recognise the valuable work being undertaken by the Barnoldswick War Memorial Group who are researching those names missing from the Memorial, and that funding be provisioned against the future requirement to add those names to the Cenotaph. The funding to be made available at a time when the research has been completed, a definitive list of names has been finalised and an acceptable method of addition has been agreed."

[Tardis]

The Town Council pushing the Cenotaph would be interesting to see.

Not quite as funny as Cllr Whipp saying he was a fan of biogas

[PanBiker]

Very good news Ken. The resolution is entirely in line with what I had wished for and the council is to be commended for upholding the recommendations and guidelines of the War Memorial Trust.

As you know, I had asked to speak at the meeting before I knew what the modified proposal would contain. In the event I could not attend but was content in the knowledge of what the lines of the new proposal would be. As it now turns out we can move on now and start thinking about the various ways we can add the names in keeping with recommendations. All in all a very good result.

[Thomo]

I would like to add my thanks for that post Ken, it is indeed good news and will reduce greatly any of the problems that we may have encountered.

[Thomo]

Ian, I have just been looking at the pics I took at Ghyll and comparing it with the list of names you gave me last Sunday, I came up with this this one, Pte, Alice Seymour ATS Killed in 1944, do you have this girl in your data?

[PanBiker]

Alice is on my distribution list for a remembrance cross but is not included on the memorial. I have not come across any report on her in the BET either. I will add her to my list of potentials. Alice is on the CWGC site with her burial details at Ghyll.

My next sessions at the library will be to check the Craven Heralds 1939 - 46. You will see from the list I gave you that there are still quite a few who are on the memorial that have not had a mention in the paper or I have missed it of course. The CH should give a cross check and I'm also hoping it will fill in some of the gaps.

[Stanley]

What strikes me is how influential your research has been of late. Wonderful!

[Nolic]

I'll echo what Stanley says. Well done to all of you. Nolic

[Thomo]

At last work on our kitchen is almost complete so I will shortly be able to learn how to drive in this new site, and continue with my research. Thanks to something that arrived through the back door of my computer recently which by degrees was preventing me from accessing the onboard tools I had to restart in safe mode and reboot the machine, its just as well that all the valuable stuff is stored on the second hard drive and to some degree on discs. Onwards and Upwards now its kitchen artwork time.

[PanBiker]

Light at the end of the tunnel Peter and from the other thread it seems like Mrs Thomo is on the mend, good news on both counts.

I have made a tentative start into the Craven Herald research, which is going to be a tad harder than trolling the BET's. I'm going to try a different approach via the index that's available and see if there is any mileage there before launching full tilt into reading each issue.

[Thomo]

Another blow has just been dealt. We have just been told that the wifes Sister Liz who's husband Patrick died two weeks ago has had a breakdown and is now in the less pleasant part of Burnley Hospital. This is not good.

[Stanley]

Hard luck Peter. Troubles tend to come not singly but in battalions.

[Thomo]

The going is still a bit heavy and there has been little time for relaxation. However, yesterday I saw a WW1 Lorry pass here but didn't have time to identify it, still capable of a good speed though! This afternoon John Richardson of Threshfield and the CPGW site is coming over to load all of their stuff onto my PC, it will be nice to see him again and I will be able to continue my work without going online for hours.

[Thomo]

That was an afternoon well spent with one of life's true Gentlemen, all that is on the CPGW database is now on board this PC and there is much material not otherwise accessible, ie articles from other newspapers, pics and plans of all the overseas war cemeteries and memorials, in short the full monty. John also told me that due to our interest they are now specifically looking at Barlick and I will be advised of any new information that comes to light. As is the way with any research of this kind there will be errors, and thus, working together, we can reduce these to a minimum. There was a brief interlude of levity when I recieved a call from my Brother in Law who was visiting our Liz in Burnley General, an urgent request for more homemade toffee, apparently now being used in place of money in card games!! I think she is getting better.

[Thomo]

I have just spent the morning streamlining my database for this project, and as the final act I have brought in my old Packard Bell I-Extreme PC and re-installed it, my latest rig would not open the Soldies died disc as my system is 64 bit, the disc is 32. So now I have two PCs in the lounge, two monitors, two keyboards and two mice! its all down to remembering which PC does what now.