Rose coloured criticism.

[chav1]

the one that cracked me up the most was " huncoat in bloom "

does this mean the boarded up estates turn into roses in teh spring ?

[WillowTheWhisp]

Haworth Art Gallery - yes I'd forgotten that, and the Tiffany glass collection. That is one thing worth mentioning.

Accrington Stanley - yes things are looking up for Stanley I agree but nothing unique or unusual plenty of towns have football teams.

Warner Street - nice street with some nice shops but plenty of towns have more than one nice street with even nicer shops.

Canal corridor at Church - not too familiar with this, apart from being aware of derelict buildings which seem to have been derelict forever.

Beautiful views from hills over Ossy - yes I agree there are plenty of nice views.

The Coppice and the views from it - see above

Foxhill Nature Reserve - a hidden gem and we could so easily have similar in Accy but haven't.

Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre - Council involvement is ..........?

Accrington & Rossendale College - Yes we had a look round this week as my eldest daughter is choosing her college for next year. But by the same standard you could put Springhill School which was recently newly built and has all mod cons and state of the art technology. They are hardly tourist attractions.

11 parks (more green space per person than anywhere else) - and more dereliction, rubbish, vandalism....

Ossy Cloggers - surely things like this are down to the individuals who organise them? Other towns have similar.

Hyndburn Comets - ditto

Huncoat in Bloom - yes nice to see floral decoration anywhere in the Borough. Huncoat certainly needs it.

Hyndburn Sports Centre - and a town of this size jolly well ought to have one. Many other towns have same or better.

Community groups like Prospects - I'll reserve an opinion on this one for the mo.


So, yes there are some points which do make it a nice place to live but if there are also some points which drag it down a bit surely it makes more sense to see them and want to improve them than to just ignore them and only look at the view from the top of the Coppice through rose coloured specs.

[AccyJay]

We could have more pretty brown signs all over town.

[Gayle]

And you've just proven my point - instead of adding to the list, you've picked it apart and picked up on the negative elements. I rest my case!

[AccyJay]

What i'm getting at is ...............

If you get a pile of dog sh*t, & put loads of pretty flowers around it, nothing changes. At the end of the day, it's still dog sh*t.

No matter how much you dress it up.

[chav1]

Originally Posted by AccyJay

What i'm getting at is ...............

If you get a pile of dog sh*t, & put loads of pretty flowers around it, nothing changes. At the end of the day, it's still dog sh*t.

No matter how much you dress it up.

very well put.............

[WillowTheWhisp]

OK Gayle, ignoring the fact that I did agree with some of them but see nothing spectacular in others, lets add to it in the same vein with:

The viaduct
The roundabout under the viaduct
Asda is being done up
We have a cinema and a bowling alley
We have a McDonald's and a KFC
I get a lovely view of the Coppice from Bullough Park.

I still end up feeling like saying "Whoopie Doo."

If a child was merely "acceptable" when I was at 'Accrington High School For Girls' Miss Horne would have said "Acceptable is not good enough. Acceptable means you are not a failure. It does not mean that you are a success."

I would much rather see HBC meet challenges head on and strive for improvement than wallow in a rose colourd bed of "acceptable" laurels if you'll forgive the mixed metaphors.

[AccyJay]

Most of the things that have been listed are either private ventures or natural feature of the area. The problem is, that Accrington is the heart of Hyndburn. If you were to visit Accrington town centre by bus, it's not very appealing.

Bus from Blackburn

Going through Ossy (Blackburn Rd) = Nice area.

Church = New housing development, not to bad.

Travel along Blackburn Rd towards town = some new development, but mainly empty spaces.

Still on Blackburn Rd near Glyn Webb = Old tatty shops & pubs.

Blackburn Rd, Town centre = Quite nice, Calder, Railway pub (both private), Town Hall.

Bus Station = Outdoor market that looks like a car boot sale.

Then there all the Pound shops / Charity shops / Ammusment Arcades & Bookies.


Even the re-development of Broadway is a balls up. Nice on the outside, sh*t in the middle.

[Billcat]

Gayle, I'd give you karma if I could, but will have to make do with praising your attitude!

I'll chime in with an outsider's view, as I visited Ossy this summer and plan to return. BTW, I to live in New Jersey, so I know a lot about living in a place with image problems (of course, some of our major highways run through the uglier parts of the state, and that is a more-than-slightly skewed view that many outsider have of this state). Funny, though, how so many Canadians love our sandy beaches!

When marketing your area to the rest of the world, of course you need to emphasize the positive. If the residents don't like the place, why would someone choose Hyndburn when there are many places that do a great job marketing their attractions?

Even among yourselves, a realistic but positive attitude is probably best. When you want a desired behavior from animals, positive reinforcement is the best tool. Same holds true for humans, although far too many folks attempt the negative "kick in the trousers" approach. Recognizing what's good and making a fuss over it generally will get you more of the same. Moaning over what's wrong just gets you a case of the blues. Not suggesting that you can fix all problems, but you can certainly look at them and make a start on something. As you make progress, it will surely alter your outlook. Sort of a "What's there to feel good about and what can I help change to feel even better" approach to life.

Is Hyndburn the most enchanting place I've ever visited? No. But, as Gayle points out, there are a number of things that are good. Okay, a lot of places in the UK have football, but Accrington Stanley is still a community asset (especially if you have football fans visiting). The place is better off with it than without it. You have some nice pubs, a big attraction for this Yank. I enjoyed the market in Accrington, the local cheeses, visiting the nearby Pendle Hills, going to a Church & Oswaldtwistle cricket match with someone who bothered to explain the game. I enjoyed being able to get to Ossy by train, as here in the USA, the places one can get to by train are pretty limited.

I also enjoyed a walk by the canal in Church. At one turn in the canal is a really interesting but abandoned Canal warehouse. Not a huge eyesore, but some unused potential, IMHO. Here in the USA, we'd have developers fighting one another to redevelop that diamond-in-the-very-rough! There was also another old warehouse across the road that seemed to have potential.

Well, this is one post that is way too long. But one other thing I enjoyed when I visited Hyndburn - the people I met!

[Billcat]

Originally Posted by AccyJay

What i'm getting at is ...............

If you get a pile of dog sh*t, & put loads of pretty flowers around it, nothing changes. At the end of the day, it's still dog sh*t.

No matter how much you dress it up.

If that is what you receive, suggest that you mix it with leaves and lawn clippings, put it in a pile and let it age a few months. The resulting mixture will help you to produce many more pretty flowers. Success is not so much determined by what you get, but what you manage to do with it.

The old saw goes, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." It's a step in the right direction, but maybe a better choice would be to open a lemonade stand!

[WillowTheWhisp]

There's lots of potential Billcat. It's just that some of us get a bit fed up of it remaining potential for so long. An old warehouse may strike you as attractive, but a derelict pub with tatty posters daubed onto it, ripping off and fluttering in the wind is not a pretty site.

The market is cramped compared to what it was and compared to Blackburn market it's hardly worth calling one. We used to have a large flourishing outdoor market but that was demolished in order to build the Wilkinson's block and shops, half of which are empty. Some have been tenanted and empty, tenanted and empty, tenanted and empty which would seem to indicate that either the rents are too high or there is no call for more shops.

The current market occupies land which was once part of the bus station and now the buses don't fit in and stops have had to be put in other places such as round the corner or up by the shops (making it even less likely for the shops to succeed as they are hidden by the bus queues.)

I'm not against progress and regeneration, in fact I'm all for it but we seem to have change for the sake of change and much of it is retrograde.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Gayle

Haworth Art Gallery- Unimaganative curatorship, not very challenging exhibitions. Tiffany less well displayed than previously.
Accrington Stanley- Fair enough.
Warner Street -Struggling independent retailers, not well enough supported by the council, who are on a mission to create even more retail spaces, even whilst we have new ones empty. Seem to think Accrington is centred on Broadway.
Canal corridor at Church -Crying out for regeneration. Would have been great if the much touted Zeri had ever taken off.
Beautiful views from hills over Ossy. Thankfully.
Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre -Again under used, as it was in the past for professional touring companies. Now the home of licky-likey tribute bands and amateur groups. No offence.
Foxhill Nature Reserve -In need of money for path maintenance, and a ranger to empty the rubbish bins at least twice a year, and to chase out underage drinkers.
The Coppice and the views from it -Thankfully still unspoilt.
Accrington & Rossendale College -Shamefully downgraded so that it now doesn't offer A-levels.
11 parks (more green space per person than anywhere else) Most dismally a shadsow of their former glorious selves.
Ossy Cloggers -Fair enough.
Huncoat in Bloom -Whoosh, that must have passed me by, which as a nosey beggar equals not very well publicised.
Hyndburn Sports Centre -Fair enough, but no better or worse than any other sporting venue in the country.
Hyndburn Comets -Pass.
Community groups like Prospects -Agreed.

See. Critical...and constructive.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Accrington & Rossendale College - is offering an excellent course which Mimi is looking for which can be entered at different levels depending on her GCSEs and which will eventually, if she so wishes, lead to a degree. At least she is chuffed about that.

They boast having taught various TV successfuls in their drama department too.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Gayle

And you've just proven my point - instead of adding to the list, you've picked it apart and picked up on the negative elements. I rest my case!

She's done the same as I have. Yes there are some wonderful things in Hynburn, and I'm proud to have come from here.

Like Willow said, quite a few of the things you listed are no more than we deserve, and aren't that different from similar things elsewhere.

If I was being crirical, here goes-

Terrible, expensive housing, with no public housing plans which are well maintained.

The worst maintained roads in the country.

A town centre full of empty shops and charity shops.

A generation of mothers who have come through the local education system only to chose the career of state funded parent.

Lastly, but not leastly an ill sorted bunch of numbskills at HBC, who don't have the common sense that some in the real world were born with.

P*ss up and brewery spring to mind.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Dare I post my photoshopped PB image again?