Archive for the ‘Blackburn’ Category

Blackburn’s Thwaites Brewery has a new Managing Director. Liverpool-born Peter Morris will return to his native North West from Hampshire, where he is currently Operations Director for Scottish and Newcastle.

Ann Yerburgh, Chairman of Thwaites, said ‘We are delighted to welcome Peter to Thwaites and believe that his experience and reputation within the brewing industry will help us significantly as we confront a challenging marketplace.’

Blackburn’s new bridge on Freckleton Street is to be named after guidebook author Alfred Wainwright after a poll conducted by the Lancashire Telegraph. Wainwright was born in Blackburn in 1907 and is best known for his guides to the Lake District, in particular the seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

Demolition of the Lord Square section of Blackburn’s Mall shopping centre started yesterday and is expected to take around 15 weeks. The work marks the start a £66 million pound redevelopment that will see the shopping centre extended and refurbished.

Primark will be the anchor tenant in the new development, and existing tenants New look and WHSmith will move into larger units. The development is due to be completed in 2010.

The annual Northwest Tourism Awards will be held at Manchester Central on October 10. The event, organised by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, will be hosted by BBC TV presenter Ranvir Singh. The finalists include:

Large Hotel of the Year

Grosvenor Pulford - Chester
Lakeside Hotel - Windermere
Lancaster House Hotel - Lancaster
Radisson Edwardian Hotel - Manchester
Holiday Inn - Liverpool

Small Hotel of the Year

Alderley Edge Hotel - Cheshire
Swinside Lodge Hotel - Keswick
The Millstone - Mellor, Blackburn
Great John Street Hotel - Manchester
Hillbark Hotel - Wirral

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year

Chester Zoo - Chester
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery - Carlisle
Blackpool Zoo - Blackpool
Urbis - Manchester
Walker Art Gallery - Liverpool

Plans to demolish Accrington train station and replace it will a £2.5 million environmentally-friendly version have been approved by Lancashire County Council. The new station will use electricity generated by wind turbines and solar panels, and will use rainwater in sinks and toilets.

The continuing bad weather has led to the cancellation of yet another festival in the North West. After inspecting the site at Witton Park yesterday, officials from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, have cancelled this weekend’s Arts in the Park festival. A smaller concert is being organised at King George’s Hall featuring as many acts as possible from original event.

Blackburn’s Mela Festival has been cancelled because of muddy conditions at the festival site. The town’s annual Asian festival was due to be held at Witton Park on July 7-8. It will be replaced by a 6-hour music festival on Sunday July 7 at King George’s Hall.

The Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board held its annual awards ceremony at the De Vere Heron’s Reach hotel in Blackpool last week. The winners were:

Bed and Breakfast of the Year: Riverside Barn, Ribchester
Small Hotel of the Year: The Millstone at Mellor, Mellor
Large Hotel of the Year: Lancaster House Hotel, Lancaster
Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: ILPH Penny Farm, Blackpool
Large Visitor Attraction of the Year: Blackpool Zoo
Caravan Holiday Park of the Year: Sunset Park, Hambleton
Self Catering Holiday of the Year: Clough Bottom Farm Cottages, Bashall Eves
Taste of Lancashire and Blackpool Award: Kwizeen Restaurant, Blackpool
Business Tourism Award of the Year: Bartle Hall Country Hotel, near Preston
Best Tourism Experience of the Year: Keeper for the Day, Blackpool Zoo
Best Tourism Business Newcomer: The Fat Giraffe, Padiham

Blackburn with Darwen Council is to introduce free short-stay car parking in a bid to revitalise town centre shopping. Council leaders hope the measure can be introduced within the next couple of weeks. Motorists currently pay 50p for 30 minutes and 90p for one hour.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has applied (to itself) for planning permission to turn the former Lewis Textile Museum into a centre for rehabilitating former drug addicts.

The council closed the museum in 2006 as part of a supposed cost cutting exercise. Its collections are now housed at the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery.

The Lancashire Telegraph reports that the savings made by closing the museum amounted to £23,000, while the conversion to a rehabilitation centre will cost £500,000. This doesn’t seem like cost cutting to us.