NORWICH boss Chris Hughton is reportedly ready to step up his pursuit for McCann, who had a clause in his contract activated in May to extend his deal to next summer after starting 45 Championship games.

A potential move to Premier League Swansea for the 24-year-old Dubliner was muted after boss Brendan Rodgers took over the managerial vacancy at Anfield, but after securing moves for Rangers’ Steven Whittaker and Barnsley’s Jacob Butterfield, on top of keeping hold of striker Grant Holt, Hughton is looking to make McCann his third summer signing at Carrow Road.

Hughton said: “We are trying to make all efforts we can to have as strong a squad as we can.

“We’re building towards a strong future. It’s not an easy task because this is a very tough division, but I’ve got to have as good a competitive squad as I can.

“What we have is two new signings and someone in Grant Holt who also feels like a new signing.

“We’re quite happy with the business so far, and we’ll keep searching.”

Howe, who is confident goalkeeper Brian Jensen will finalise terms over a new contract at Turf Moor in the near future, may now look to add former Bournemouth team-mate Brian Stock, currently at Doncaster, to his ranks.

The Burnley boss was linked with a move for the 30-year-old in January, and may look to the midfielder again after Leeds’ Adam Clayton slipped the net, after being reunited with Simon Grayson at Huddersfield. Stock still has a year left to run on his contract at the Keepmoat Stadium but, as one of the highest earners at the South Yorkshire club, he may be allowed to leave for a nominal fee as Rovers attempt to reduce their wage bill following relegation to League One.

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on {http://bit.ly/LkG6ap|iPhone} and {http://bit.ly/P5PAfG|Android} devices.

LONG-SERVING goalkeeper Brian Jensen has signed a new deal at Turf Moor which will take him up to a decade of service for Burnley.

Jensen has penned a 12-month contract extension which includes provision for a testimonial in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Clarets.

And in a double goalkeeping boost, Jon Stewart has also signed a new contract to stay with the Clarets.

Jensen has made 307 appearances for Burnley since signing on a free transfer from West Bromwich Albion in June, 2003.

The 37-year-old Dane played just a handful of games last season due to injury and the form of Lee Grant but after regaining fitness and a starting place for the final game of the campaign has confirmed his place in manager Eddie Howe’s plans for a further year.

“I’m pleased he has signed,” said Howe.

“We always wanted him as part of the squad and his experience will be vital.

“He has a big part to play in being a role model for the other players and the young group of goalkeepers we are bringing through.

“It’s important to have good professionals around them.

“We were also delighted to offer him a testimonial which is recognition of the outstanding service he has given to the club.

“We are aware how popular he is and when he has his testimonial game I am sure it will be a special day for him and the supporters.”

Meanwhile, Stewart will start a second season at Turf Moor after joining the Clarets last summer.

The former Bournemouth keeper provided back-up to Grant and Jensen for much of the season before spending a successful spell on loan with Alfreton Town.

The 23-year-old played a massive part in helping the Derbyshire club retain their Blue Square Premier status, finishing on the losing side only twice in 11 games.

And Stewart may be allowed to move out on loan again to a Football League side to continue his development after spending pre-season at Turf Moor.

“I really enjoyed it at Alfreton and enjoyed playing. I played 11 games so I can’t wait to play for Burnley or get out on loan again,” said Stewart.

“My plan is not to hang around. I am going to push myself to try and get in this team or get a club on loan.

“That’s what going to happen. I don’t want to waste any more time. I’m 23 now so I want to push on.”

He added: “I will be trying my best in pre-season and see what I can do. I am confident I can play anywhere, but it’s up the gaffer.

“If not, I will definitely get a loan club and see what I can do, like I did last year.

“It’s a massive year. Last year I was just happy to be here to get back on my feet because I had some problems before.

“Going on loan at the end of last season I couldn’t have done any more, so this year I am just focused on playing.”

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on {http://bit.ly/LkG6ap|iPhone} and {http://bit.ly/P5PAfG|Android} devices.

PLANS for a wind turbine the size of Nelson’s Column on the Lancashire-North Yorkshire border have been thrown out by Pendle Council’s Colne and District Committee.

Residents living in the Warley Wise Lane area of Laneshaw Bridge spoke against the planned development by Huddersfield-based company DC21 Ltd, saying that the size of the turbine would have a detrimental impact on local amenities and the environment.

One, Mr Alan Sheraton, said there would be “unacceptable visual damage” caused to the countryside if permission was granted.

Protesters also said individual farms had been encouraged to apply for turbines and the area was, in effect, becoming a small wind farm.

A DC21 representative, meanwhile, insisted his company was responsible and there would be minimal noise impact from the blade on the planned tower.

Members unanimously decided to reject the application.

There is much to enjoy in Stella Tillyard’s sweeping Regency romance ... but think more the subtlety of Jane Austen than the treacle tones of Georgette Heyer.

Tides of War, longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012, is Tillyard’s first novel and, as one would expect from an acclaimed historian, this is an absorbing history lesson as well as an epic story set against early 19th century England and the battlefields of the Peninsular War.

She creates a vivid, credible panorama, a superbly detailed and atmospheric portrait of a tumultuous period when the Age of Enlightenment was opening new doors and giving Europeans a taste of hitherto unknown freedoms – the opportunity for men and women to push boundaries and reach out to the future.

The focus is on the final three years of the Napoleonic wars and a fictional couple, Captain James Raven and his new wife Harriet, whose lives are changed not just by the conflict in Europe, but by a world teetering on modernity.

Their evolving relationship – its temptations and challenges – plays out against the darker diversions of war, the birth of banking, advances in gas lighting, and the work of battlefield doctors who experimented with the likes of blood transfusion as they fought to save critically injured soldiers.

While the Duke of Wellington, taut, alert and calculating, gets to grips with defeating Napoleon in Spain, and his long-suffering wife Kitty quietly invests her spare cash with the founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty in London, other progressive names of the period – lighting pioneer Frederick Winsor, Spanish artist Goya and astronomer William Herschel – also make memorable appearances.

Lively, outspoken and free-spirited, Harriet has a penchant for science inherited from her father and a quote from Shakespeare for every occasion. Husband James is far more conventional and is leaving to join the Duke of Wellington’s troops in Spain where his regiment is helping to win back Badajoz from Napoleon.

James is invigorated by the perils of war and admits that his life in England now appears ‘dull and insignificant.’ ‘Fighting suits me,’ he observes to a friend. ‘I am busy here, and my service to the army valued.’

Meanwhile, in London, Harriet is lodged with her aunt and taken under the wing of Lady Wellington who, in Tillyard’s seductive hands, becomes an early feminist determined to gain financial independence from her womanising husband.

While the women plunge into the new worlds of politics, finance and science, the men face the bloody reality of the battlefield, testing their endurance to the hilt. For Harriet and James, pursuing their destinies brings hope and heartache, and with betrayals on both sides, it is uncertain whether their love can endure...

Tillyard’s entertaining and ambitious novel has a huge cast of characters, some real and some imaginary, and its reach is impressively wide. Fact and fiction intertwine in a compelling network of plotlines which impress with their scope and enchant with the human realities of war, love and separation.

She brings to life the sights, sounds and smells of 200 years ago – Seville’s mantillas, clicking palms and streets like ‘torrid canyons,’ London alive with ‘redoubtable women with slabs of folio sheets over their arms, who shouted the news... milk-and-fruit-sellers, beggars and old soldiers, the slap of metalled boots on the flags, the screech and creak of laden carts.’

A thrilling and confident new voice in the ever expanding world of historical fiction.

(Vintage, paperback, £7.99)

NEW boy Jason Shackell is hoping to pull the plug on a nomadic career by settling down at Turf Moor.

The 28-year-old defender, who signed from Derby County on a four-year deal, has represented five clubs in the previous four seasons with spells at Norwich City, Wolves, Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley and the Rams on his resume.

But buoyed by the enthusiasm, positivity, ambition and persistence of Burnley boss Eddie Howe, the experienced centre-back believes he can find success at the club and make the town his home.

“I’ve moved around a lot so I’m ready really to settle down,” said Shackell.

“So I want to do well and hopefully we can do well as a team and I won’t be moving on in another year’s time.

“They have shown a lot of commitment to me and hopefully I can do the same back.”

The £1.1m signing, Howe’s top summer target, added: “It’s nice to be wanted – it makes a massive difference.

“Everybody likes to feel wanted, the boss has been keen to bring me in and that’s been nice. And once I met him and listened to what he had to say I was very impressed.”

Following discussions with management staff, scrutinising the facilities at both Turf Moor and Gawthorpe, and meeting his new team-mates for the first time as they reported back for pre-season training on Friday, Shackell is adamant the club has got the foundations and pedigree to mount a challenge in the Championship.

The Stevenage-born defender has tasted promotion from England’s second tier with Norwich City, and is eager for another shot at the Premier League with the Clarets.

He said: “Obviously everybody wants to play in the Premier League and I’m no different.

“I want us to do as well as we can and try to win promotion.

“I’m not saying that’s going to be easy, this league is going to be tough this year, but there’s no reason why we can’t do well with the players that are here if we hit a good run.

“It’s 100 per cent achievable. Everybody already knows Eddie is a young manager with big ambition, and I’m sure he wants to manage at the highest level – and I want to be part of it.

“I think it could be exciting times for Burnley.

“He is ambitious and I know he wants to manage at the highest level, it’s such a fine line in this league.

“But, with the players here, if we can get on a good run, there’s no reason why that can’t become a reality.”

Shackell, who was voted the Tykes player of the year during the 2010/11 campaign and runner-up in the Rams’ fans player of the season last term, has been bestowed the captain’s armband while at Carrow Road and Oakwell, but has no plans to usurp Clarets skipper Chris McCann. However, he feels he has the necessary attributes to become a leader on the field.

“The captaincy is not a question at the minute. Obviously I’ve enjoyed being captain at my previous clubs and if it ever came about it would be fantastic, but at the minute I’m just looking to get my head down and make sure I’m playing well.

“I’m competitive and I’m quite vocal so that’s something I’ll bring to the side, I’m a natural defender, I’ll put my head in and try to make blocks, and try to play a bit when I get the opportunity, so I just try to work hard, keep my head down and do my job.”

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on {http://bit.ly/LkG6ap|iPhone} and {http://bit.ly/P5PAfG|Android} devices.

COMPARED to Hebden Bridge, which has endured days of flooding and made the national news, Burnley has got off lightly in the recent downpours.

The rivers Brun and Calder running through the town have been swelled by water running down from the hills but we haven’t seen the wide scale flooding of our neighbours in West Yorkshire.

As the heavens opened last week, Neil McGovern captured the raging Calder and Brun on film, showing the power of the raging water and how near we came to a fate like Hebden Bridge.

THE mother and sister of a Nelson soldier killed in action in Afghanistan have presented money raised at a memorial day to service charities in remembrance of his sacrifice.

Lance Corporal Michael Foley was killed in Afghanistan in March this year.

His family, from Nelson, sought the help of the Colne branch of the Royal British Legion to arrange a special event in his memory.

The event was held in May at the branch’s Keighley Road club and was well attended by family, friends and the local community who turned out in support.

During the afternoon, £1,500 was raised through raffles, a hog roast and auctions of items donated by local businesses and organisations. Debbie Foley, Michael’s mother, and his sister, Lisa, were pleased with the amount raised and have decided £1,000 should go to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and £488 to the Help For Heroes Charity.

Mrs Foley added: “We would like to thank everyone who donated prizes and cash for Michael’s memorial fund. We would also like to thank Gaynor Michaels and all the artists who donated their services for free on the day itself.

“Thanks must also go to all the people who bought raffle tickets and took part in the auctions and who made the day a real success in which we raised £1,488 for the Poppy Appeal and Help For Heroes. It has been a very difficult time for us as a family and we appreciate all the support and kindness that has been shown.

“Losing my son Michael in such tragic circumstances has left a huge hole that will never be filled.

“He was a remarkable young man and such a caring brother who I am so very proud of.

“He always put the needs of other people before his own, had such a caring nature and always went out of his way to help anyone who needed it. He had such a cheeky grin that would make anyone smile and was also a devoted husband and father. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.”

A TEAM of Vintage Clarets is set to take on Burnley Belvedere next month to mark the 20th anniversary of Burnley’s celebrated 1992 Fourth Division championship win.

Members of the 1992 side, that is still viewed with enormous affection locally, will once more take to the field to play against a Belvedere XI.

The Vintage Clarets Day event will take place at Burnley Belvedere Football Club, on Sunday, August 26th, with a line up that will whet the appetite of Clarets fans. There will be appearances from Roger Eli, John Francis, John Deary, Chris Pearce and many more.

Besides the match, which kicks off at 3 p.m., there will be many other attractions, including photo and autograph opportunities, as well as a barbecue and other attractions.

The organiser of the event, Phil Ashton, said: “The Vintage Clarets Day will be an excellent opportunity for Clarets fans to see the stars of the 1992 championship team in action and it will help raise much needed funds for grass roots football in our community.”

“The efforts of the 1992 team are remembered very fondly by Clarets fans and it’s fair to say that their success built the foundation for all that has gone since. As a Burnley fan myself. I can’t wait to see them don the famous Claret and Blue shirts one more time,”

Tickets for the event are on sale at £5 for adults and £3 for juniors and can be bought from the Burnley Belvedere club house in Holden Road, by calling Phil on 07966 322 908, or emailing {mailto:belvederefc@yahoo.co.uk|belvederefc@yahoo.co.uk}. The event is ticket only and numbers are limited.

THE Clarets’ scheduled pre-season friendly at Accrington Stanley has been postponed.

The game was due to be played on Wednesday, 18 July as a testimonial for former long-serving Stanley assistant manager Jimmy Bell.

But the recent bad weather means pitch remedial work at the Crown Ground is behind schedule and the playing surface will not be ready in time.

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on {http://bit.ly/LkG6ap|iPhone} and {http://bit.ly/P5PAfG|Android} devices.

STUDENTS dressed to impress as they celebrated the end of their days in the classroom at plush Prom events.

Pupils from Blessed Trinity RC College travelled to Bolton for their celebrations and Burnley College students kept it local at Rosehill House when it came to their turn to stage an end-of-term ball.

A NELSON woman was first introduced to shoplifting by her mother when she was just six years old.

Blackburn magistrates heard Leah George turned to what she knew best after drug dealers decided she should inherit her partner’s debts after he did a runner.

The court was told George had fallen out with her boyfriend when she discovered he had drugs in the house they shared with their three children.

She flushed his drugs down the toilet and that brought the relationship to an end despite the fact she was pregnant.

But she ended up facing his dealers who wanted their money back and blamed her for disposing of the drugs and went shoplifting to try to make ends meet.

George (23), of Carleton Street, Nelson, admitted stealing spirits and clothes worth £114 from Asda, Accrington. She was sentenced to 14 days in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £40 costs.

Mr Trevor Grice (defending) said George was introduced to shoplifting by her mother when she was just six years old.

“That continued throughout her formative years,” said Mr Grice. He said after the row which ended with the drugs being flushed down the toilet, the boyfriend fled to Rochdale leaving George to face the music.

“The drug dealers came to her house and told her she was responsible for their loss,” said Mr Grice. “She was desperate for money even after arranging a loan from the Credit Union which went straight to the dealers. She is now pregnant by the man who brought all this on her and then fled.”

“WAR is hell” and so is war gaming at times, gone are the days when we just blew stuff up, killed mindlessly, without any thought to our actions , because with the release of SPEC OPS :THE LINE from 2K STUDIOS things are changing folks.

Set in DUBAI somewhere in the near future, the worst series of sandstorms have hit the country, six months prior to the game, causing a complete breakdown of society, the rich have flown the coop, and left the locals to deal with it, and we all know that is not going to be good.

A highly decorated colonel is sent in with his battalion to sort things out, and surprise, surprise he turns rebel ( sound familiar?) and it`s your job to go in and take him out as we all know negotiating is not much of an option.

SPEC OPS: THE LINE is a very thinly disguised rehash of APOCALYPSE NOW! The 1979 war movie starring MARTIN SHEEN.

Your job as Captain Walker is to protect citizens and find the rebels to take out their leader Colonel John Conrad, yes the same story line as APOCALYPSE NOW!

With an excellent voice over cast and a nice story, this has all the hallmarks of becoming a classic game, unfortunately the actual game mechanics let it down, which has turned a potential great game into just another shoot `em up.

With incredible graphics (apart from the sand simulation) and some great set pieces this game has it all, yet playing it can be a frustrating experience, why did the developers simplify the game mechanics so much? If this game had had the brilliant mechanics of TOM CLANCY`S GHOST RECON: FUTURE SOLDIER, then this would have rivalled not only that game, but CALL OF DUTY as well.

For example the duck and cover is a nightmare, your character can take cover, but the minute he starts firing he just stands up, and then when you try to get to cover again, he either doesn`t, or just jumps over the obstacle and gets killed, another problem I found, was when you aimed and fired your character started moving backwards ,these are serious errors that should have been ironed out before release, and ruin the whole experience ,with enemies jumping up and down like a funfair shooting range, or being unrealistically reckless.

Apart from that it`s a nice game, with plenty of action and a great atmosphere especially the story in which you get to make moral decisions about your actions, and not a click yes or no scenario but you have to make tough decisions.

SPEC OPS: THE LINE is a very well thought out game, story wise and visually, it’s just a pity the same thought wasn`t put into the actual game play.

Talking of gameplay SPEC OPS: THE LINE does offer some really nice variables actually, with some scenes involving sandstorms, sunlight or obstacles getting in your line of vision, and with the ability to give commands (alright somewhat simple ones) to your squad, gives the gameplay some realism, which is great, until the bad game mechanics kick in and it`s back to controller chucking time.

With all these type of games there is the usual on-line multiplayer which in this case is pretty disappointing and comes across as some kind of an afterthought on the part of the developers, with the usual stuff like death matches and an interesting yet flawed buried mode.

Ok I get what the developers are trying to do here with this moral and complex insight into the horrors of war, and it is indeed a marvellous and engrossing story making us all question the futility of war, but at the end of day this is no good if your games mechanics are rubbish.

Summary

SPEC OPS: THE LINE could have been up there with the greats, instead it let itself down on the most basic of things, and that is a real shame, if you can tolerate the mechanics then please indulge yourself in a different and thought provoking game, but if you like your games to work properly then avoid this one

I give SPEC OPS: THE LINE 7 out of 10 like I have said, the game mechanics let this game down big time

• Spec ops: The Line

• Developers: Yager Development, Darkside Games

• Publishers: 2K games

• Xbox 360®

• Playstation 3®

• PC

• Genre: Tactical Shooter

FANS will have a unique chance to take their place on the Clarets’ official team photograph when Turf Moor opens its doors for a pre-season special.

The Clarets are hosting an open day on Saturday, 11 August with supporters invited to watch Eddie Howe’s first-team squad train on the pitch at Turf Moor as part of a fun-filled day.

And before kicking off the session, the team will line up for a photo-call with fans seated behind them in one of the stands to form part of the historic team picture and take their place in the Clarets’ squad.

Copies of the unique picture will then go on sale at a later date to give supporters a permanent record of the day they ‘signed’ for Burnley!

Admission to the day is FREE and as well as first-team training and a signing session with the players, fans will be able to enjoy a host of entertainment laid on around the ground.

A fun fair will be in full swing in the car park behind the James Hargreaves Stand, while local radio station 2BR will broadcast from the event along with live bands and dance groups.

As well as the music zone, there will also be a fans’ zone, sports’ zone, kids’ zone and an exhibition zone.

Entertainment will include a magician and Punch and Judy show for the youngsters, Bertie Bee, children’s five-a-side football, sports demonstrations, a farmers’ market, Hollands Pie sampling, a climbing wall, Space Bus, and several static displays of new cars and vintage military vehicles.

The open day will run from 11am to 4pm with the team photo taking place at noon.

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on {http://bit.ly/LkG6ap|iPhone|Download our football app on iPhone} and {http://bit.ly/P5PAfG|Android|Download our football app on Android} devices.

A PLAYBUS which has helped generations of children in Burnley and Pendle get a good start in life looks set to close after government funding was slashed.

The Burnley and Pendle Multi-Racial Playbus Association, which cares for tots aged between two and four who do not go to nursery, was set up more than 30 years ago.

Since then, thousands of youngsters, many of whom have little access to social play or facilities, have benefited from activities to encourage and develop early learning.

But its three full-time staff have now received redundancy notices and limited funding means the bus can only operate until August, prompting angry parents to start a petition to save the service, which received a good rating from Ofsted following its last inspection.

Mrs Carol Hopkins, Playbus leader, said: “It is a very sad time for all of us, the children who come to the bus gain so much confidence.

This July, 60 children will be leaving to start nursery school, and it is so upsetting that the remaining 35 will not be coming back in September, and that there will be no places for the 75 children on our waiting lists.”

Staff and volunteers have tried to secure more funding to continue to run the Playbus and have written to Burnley and Pendle MPs Gordon Birtwistle and Andrew Stephenson for help.

Mrs Hopkins said: “It’s looking grim for us at the moment. The Playbus helps the children get a good start to their education before they start nursery.

“It’s so rewarding to see a child gain confidence, thrive and become an individual in their own right.

She said the Playbus was needed even more since cuts were made to services provided by children’s centres.

“It’s absolutely gutting, it’s very upsetting, but we won’t let it affect our work with the children.”

DERBYSHIRE police have appealed for help to find a missing man whose car was spotted in Gisburn.

Tim Beardsley (44) who lives in Old Tupton, near Clay Cross, was reported missing by his wife on Monday.

He was last seen when he left home around 8-30 a.m.. He did not arrive at work and his family has not heard from him since.

Officers know his car, a green Ford Focus estate, was in Gisburn on Monday and would like anyone who has seen Mr Beardsley to contact them on 101.

Mr Beardsley is white, 5ft. 10ins tall, with short brown hair. He was wearing a pale blue and maroon striped sweatshirt and blue jeans.

IT was good weekend for Read in the Ribblesdale Cricket League.

Barnoldswick’s latest abandoned game of the season allowed teh Whalley Road side and Baxenden to make up ground on another soggy Saturday..

Barlick haven’t lost in 16 senior division outings but six matches have been washed out including their most recent fixture against Great Harwood.

So with Read winning at Ramsbottom Cup semi-finalists, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel, and Baxenden defeating Settle at Marshfield, their lead at the top is down to 17 points.

Champions Baxenden were dismissed for 170 but Settle’s rain interupted reply towards a revised target saw them eventually marooned on 97-7 with 13 overs remaining. Kamran Younas top scored for the visitors with 52 while Andrew Davidson took 5-59.

Second placed Read piled up the runs at New Lane.

Mohammed Jamal was unbeaten on 91 and Jordan Clark contributed 57 out of 249-4. ‘Ossie’ needed 218 to take the points but made only 162-7. Jon Harvey claimed six of the wickets to fall for 73.

The only other top flight match to reach a conclusion came at Preston Old Road. But Cherry Tree’s successful attempt to get the game played wasn’t rewarded with a win.

The home side were dimissed for 130 with Chris Holt and Steve Meehan sharing the wickets. Holt took 6-39 and Meehan 4-86 from 22 overs apiece.

Holt was the hero again as Padiham chased 127 for victory. He top scored with 50 with the visitors 22-4 at one stage. Chris Swift (22) and Tom Mustoe (20 not out) made vital contributions.

All other games were abandoned, including Ribblesdale Wanderers game at home to Salesbury. The home side were on 15-2, chasing down Salesbury’s total of 132-9, when the heavens opened.

A GROUP of Pendle walkers were lucky to escape serious injury when a recently installed wooden footbridge they were crossing cracked and nosedived into a river.

The bridge, over Wanless Water on the Nelson-Colne boundary, collapsed while members of “Trish’s Trekkers”, a local walking group, were on their weekly outing.

It is thought the bridge has been deliberately chainsawed.

The bridge, which belongs to Lancashire County Council, links an area of public open space owned by Pendle Council to a public right of way across privately owned land.

It provides a shortcut from the Leeds -Liverpool Canal across Wanless Water to cottages on Greeefield Road and an entrance to Greenfield Local Nature Reserve.

One of the walkersrs, Elaine Ingram, said: “There were about eight of us walking that night.

“Luckily the three of us who were on the bridge when it broke kept our footing and managed to scramble off at the other side.

“The others then followed one by one.

“The broken bridge embedded itself into the riverbed, but we had to either crawl under the side bit of the bridge to the riverbank or step right up on to the remaining part of the bridge.

“Although we laughed about it at the time, it could have had serious consequences, especially if there had been children present.”

Coun. David Whipp, who looks after Community Safety and Engineering for Pendle Council, said: “This is a clearly a premeditated act of vandalism and the police are carrying out investigations to find out who did this.

“It will cost the taxpayers of Pendle thousands of pounds to replace it and I am appealing for anyone with information to contact the police.”

Tom Partridge, Pendle Council’s Countryside Access Officer, added: “The footpath had been obstructed for many years and was only reopened about 18 months ago after the bridge was installed.

“The footpath is very attractive where it crosses over Wanlass Water. And we hope that many people and groups have enjoyed rediscovering the right of way since we completed the work to get it reopened.

“However, we’ve had to temporarily close the footpath on safety grounds until a replacement can be installed.

“This is very frustrating for everyone who worked hard to get the path back into use.”

When an early 19th century pitman chose a wife, it was rarely her looks or personality that won his heart ... a sturdy frame and evidence of muscle power were much more to his liking.

In those far off days when mining was becoming a thriving commercial enterprise, a woman was more useful to her man as an underground coal carrier than as a dedicated housekeeper.

While the men hewed out the coal with pick-axes, their wives loaded the rocks in tubs on their backs and hauled it to the surface where they ensured that everything the men mined was credited to their accounts.

It was crippling, back-breaking work, carried out in stifling heat, low ceilinged seams and in darkness lit only by candles. Young children were either left at the pithead to play unsupervised or taken to underground crèches and put into the care of unsuitable crones. When big enough, children – some aged only eight or nine – would also help to carry their father’s coal.

So when a Royal Commission into female miners was ordered in 1842, the nation was shocked ... but not so much by working conditions and labour too severe for a woman’s strength as the fact that half-dressed women and girls had been witnessed working alongside naked men.

Thus morality, rather than compassion, would be the key to the 1842 Mines Act which finally put an end to women’s work in pits throughout the country.

Denise Bates, whose own family history lies in the mining area of Barnsley, digs deep into the nation’s coal seams and beyond to unearth the story of Britain’s ‘pit lasses,’ the hardy women who were the backbone of coalmining communities.

On the 170th anniversary of the publication of the Report of the Commission into the Employment of Children and Young People in Coal Mines, she examines the social, economic and political factors affecting 19th century women miners and uses fascinating, largely untapped evidence to challenge the myth that these women were somehow morally inferior to other female workers of the time.

About 500 women and girls aged from nine to 40, many of them from Lancashire and Yorkshire pits, gave statements describing their lives and what working in mining was like both in 1842 and in earlier years. Bates shows how their evidence paints a comprehensive, and previously unexplored, picture of how they lived when not at work, how they were regarded by the wider community and just what they could achieve.

In Lancashire, women were an integral part of the underground work mainly because the seams were thin and there was a lack of investment in underground infrastructure. During a factory inspector’s brief visit to a mine in Worsley, near Salford, in1833, he discovered children working in holes too small for adults and concluded that ‘the hardest labour in the worst room in the worst-conducted factory was less hard and less demoralising than the labour in the best of coal mines.’

When the working conditions of women miners were finally investigated in 1842, the report’s authors came across some amazing individual stories including a Scottish woman who was employed as a ‘getter’ (those who dug out the coal) when her husband became too ill to work. She started work at 4am and on one occasion worked until only an hour before she gave birth.

At another Scottish mine, an 11-year-old girl moved a ton of coal each day using a basket worn on the back and fitted against her neck. Twenty times a day she climbed four 18ft high ladders and walked through miles of passages.

But hostility amongst male miners was growing. Many were members of miners’ associations who feared women were taking their jobs and held the view that ‘women’s work was anything men did not wish to do.’

When they were finally banned from working underground in 1842, not all women miners were happy. Parliament received petitions from women in Lancashire who claimed that they faced hardship, starvation and even prostitution in places where no other work was available.

But women were still allowed to work above ground and in the second half of the 19th century around 3,000 continued to be employed at the pit head. These were mainly the famous pit brow lasses of Wigan who caused much fascination by wearing trousers to work.

Enterprising photographers persuaded the pit women to pose in their trousers in studios and the pictures were sold as postcards to the middle classes who regarded them as ‘an exotic species.’

Bates’ superbly detailed and well-researched book, which contains photographs and new illustrations of the evidence of some of the women interviewed by the Commission, reveals that female miners were decent, moral women fully capable of making decisions about their own lives and their own jobs.

Pit Lasses adds enormously to our understanding of the role of women in coalmining as well as shedding new light on Victorian society and its values.

(Wharncliffe Books, paperback, £14.99)

MANY people will have been saddened to hear of the death of former Fence man Mr George Walsh at the age of 84.

His funeral will be held at the Torrisholme Cemetery, Morecambe, on Monday and will be conducted by an Army padre from Mr Walsh’s old regiment, the Parachute Regiment.

Mr Walsh died in hospital at Lancaster after a final brave fight for life, but pneumonia took its toll. He had previously survived complicated bypass surgery.

In recent years, Mr Walsh lived in the flats at Wheatley Close, Fence, and spent much of the summer and autumn at Ocean Edge caravan park, near Heysham, where the family enjoyed a static caravan for many years.

Unfortunately, while at Ocean Edge, a bout of serious illness meant Mr Walsh had to move into accommodation at Torrisholme, but once again he settled in happily, because of his ability to make friends wherever he went.

Locally, he will be remembered walking his dogs through Fence, where the family once lived at Laundgate.

The Walsh family ran the Forest Hotel in Cuckstool Lane in the 1980s/90s. Mr Walsh’s former wife, Maureen, was mine host and it was the last time the Forest could truly be described as a “local” pub selling pints to farmers, stockmen, villagers and businessmen who made up the surrounding community.

After serving with the Paras, Mr Walsh worked as a window cleaner, market trader, but most of all he was something of a saviour for people who had suffered the ravages of cancer. From his cosmetics stall on Burnley Market, he ran a welcomed and essential service selling and fitting wigs and toupees for those who had lost their hair. It lead to him being widely known as “Wiggy George”. He was a martial arts exponent.

His family was at his bedside when he lost his final fight. His daughter, Mrs Michelle Davies, said: “He fought hard for his life, as he has always done and we were with him - all he wanted was his family.”

A BRACE of braces from Ryan Bradley and Joe Holden were not enough as Burnley and Pendle went down to Crosby St Marys on Saturday in sun swept Liverpool.

The game started at a frantic pace, as both teams attacked with pace and looked to move the ball wide whenever possible.

It was the Reds who eventually broke the deadlock. After a tackle from Mick McCarthy, the following play saw Joe Holden throw a dummy and sneak over the line. The simple conversion was missed by stand in kicker Steve Harrison.

Crosby were quick to hit back though as the forwards gained territory and got the Crosby outfit near the Burnley and Pendle line. Captain James Smith opted to pass instead of kick on the last tackle and played through hooker James Foy to score in the corner.

Burnley were quick to put the momentum in their favour, introducing powerhouse prop Ryan Bradley, who helped himself to two quick tries – the first an 85 metre sprint to the line and the second a trade mark five metre effort, hitting a superb inside line after crafty play by the Burnley pack.

With the half time hooter soon approaching a bit of urgency was called into play by the Crosby forwards. With Danny Coyne and Stuart Robinson driving forward, it allowed space for James Foy to scoot over from dummy half, converted by Sean Taylor. Burnley took a half-time lead of 16-12.

Crosby started the second half stronger and got their breakthrough when James Smith took the ball to the Reds line and played through man of the match Sean Taylor who stetched out to score in the corner and take the scores level.

Burnley responded quickly however as 16-year-old James Henderson leapt impressively to collect the short kick off and get to within 10 yards of the Crosby line. They were able to spin the ball wide and take back a four point lead through ageless winger Mark Bertenshaw.

Crosby were not going to lie down and forced their way back into contention. Stong running from Tom Corder and Nick Hayes got Crosby into Burnley’s red zone. A quick play from Hayes got John Baybut free and he side stepped the onrushing defender to break through the line and score just right of the posts.

Crosby kept up the pressure and came close to increasing the lead when James Smith grubber kicked the ball behind the line for Chris Jones to touch down, he was howerver just beaten to the ball.

The pressure was maintained, and a strong defensive set forced Burnley to kick the ball from their own half. Sean Taylor collected the kick a a strong hand off and step allowed Taylor to break the line and sprint the length of the field to score under the posts.

Complacency and an increased penalty count allowed Burnley back into the game. Burnley then pressurised the Crosby line and allowed them two more scores, firstly through young Henderson and then through Joe Holden to take a lead of 32-28 with eight minutes remaining.

Crosby went in search of another score and came close twice when James Armstrong was caught just short and then when Jay Corder raced down the side of the field but with the try line beckoning the ball slipped from his grasp.

The resulting scrum forced Burnley to drive up from their own line and a ferocious tackle from centre John Hughes on captain Crowley knocked the ball loose to give Crosby the possession once more. This allowed a quick play and Tom Tinsley played in debutant Ross Green through a gap to draw the scores level. Tom Tinsley was left with a difficult kick five metres in from the touchline. Large cheers followed as Tinsley kicked the ball just inside the far post to give Crosby a 34-32 win.

The B&P man of the match, awarded by Crosby, went to 17 year old centre Jack Wilkinson who seems to be made for Rugby League with with quick hands, tough tackling and line breaking skills.

With just three games to go before the team breaks up for the Rugby Union season, players are asked to give their all at training this Thursday, 6-30 p.m. at Prairie playing fields, ahead of a home encounter against Mancunians RL.

FINAL SCORE: Crosby St Marys 34, Burnley and Pendle 32