Local heroes

Back in November as a tribute for Remembrance Sunday we listed the names on the War Memorial in Church Road, Leyland.

It was great then to hear recently from a relative of two of the soldiers named on the memorial who found the names and image on our website and who then provided further details of his family -Harry Bowman Jackson and Will Jackson.

Harry B Jackson, pictured left, was working with the Leyland Paint and Varnish company in South Africa at the outbreak of the war. He served with the 4th Regiment South African Infantry (South African Scottish). Having gone through the war he unfortunately died of Spanish Flu just 4 weeks before the Armistice.

Harry and his brother Will died within a week of each other in barracks down in Woking in October 1918. Here they are together in South Africa around the outbreak of the War.

Many thanks to Paul, grandson of Harry Bowman Jackson, for the information and photos.

Paul's dad grew up in a house on Bow Lane. He went to Liverpool university but left in 1939 to join the army and was a despatch rider with the Border Regiment and escaped from Dunkirk by the skin of his teeth. He then joined the RASC and ended the war in East Africa and then was part of the British Military Mission to Ethiopia until 1947 or so.

Paul was born in Africa and his family remained there until 1972 and eventually settled in Lincolnshire but Paul is proud of his Lancashire and Leyland roots.

You can read an article Paul wrote about his dad's WW2 experience over at the BBC People's War website

Other members of Paul's family also served the Leyland community. One of his grandfather's older brothers was Fred "Pop" Jackson who was headmaster of Balshaw's School in the 1920s -Paul's dad Allan Jackson was a pupil there at the same time.

Great Grandfather, Levi Jackson, also a teacher, taught at St James' School Moss Side and was also a Councillor on Leyland Urban Council at some time-around 1909 representing St James' Ward.

Paul's great grandfather on his grandmother's side was Thomas Williams and he was a chief inspector of police possibly based at Chapel Brow police station.

Once again, a big thank you to Paul for providing a slice of Leyland history and to the Jackson family for service to Leyland.

Post Office closures

Regrettably Bent Lane Post Office in Leyland is set to close on May 1st as part of the Post Office's network change programme.

South Ribble MP David Borrow has been helping local residents to make their case to keep the post office open and vowed to see if there is grounds to appeal the decision.

Mr Borrow also spoke up in parliament on behalf of all four post offices in South Ribble earmarked for closure. You can read this here and continued here.

Local Tories tried to turn the whole issue into political point-scoring by seeming to oppose post office closures but without actually declaring any policy or pledge to match the £150 million a year funding subsidy the government currently provides for the post office network of 14,000 branches.

The Tories in parliament only called for a delay. They were not arguing that all the current post offices stay open. They also admitted that only 'viable' post offices should stay open.

Post Office Ltd have said that as a purely commercial concern the post office network would only comprise around 4000 post offices and the Tories would not say how many, if any, above this they would subsidise to stay open. Currently the government has backed the network with £1.7 billion of investment until 2011.

There were 3500 post office closures while the Tories were in power and no subsidy to support the network. Additionally, the Tories spent a good deal of money trying to encourage people to have their benefits paid into a bank account rather than through the post office and some advocated the wholesale privatisation of the Post Office.

Their concern for the post office without a proper costed policy will appear as mere political opportunism.

The independent watchdog Postwatch and the National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) have both stated that the current subsidy while the post office is losing customers as more people are using alternative technologies for communications is "unsustainable".

The NFSP did not welcome the Conservative proposal for any delay, indeed, opposed it stating that this would simply lead to more uncertainty and financial losses for their members.

David Borrow will continue to work hard on behalf of South Ribble residents.

Continental market back in town

Last year shoppers in Leyland enjoyed the tastes and crafts of continental Europe and this weekend sees the return of the popular continental market.

It is a veritable feast for foodies and anyone else who fancies trying something a bit different but there's plenty for traditional tastes too.

The market will be in town from Friday 25th April until Sunday 27th. The town's own market will also be open throughout the event. We would encourage residents from Leyland and beyond to support both the local and international traders and help make Leyland a vibrant shopping centre.

Also this weekend there's a chance for families to exercise their own craft skills at the Spring Arts and Crafts Fair at Worden Arts Centre. Activities to learn or have a go at include, on Saturday, card making, sun catchers, water colour painting, and Raku -painting and firing a pot and on Sunday flags, kite making, paper craft, post cards, and even circus skills.

There will also be items for sale by local artists in glassware, mosaics, jewellery, cards and original paintings. We hope you will support them.

Travelling Lite

The Conservative and Lib Dem leaders of Lancashire’s District Councils have got together and decided how they will introduce the Labour Government’s new free travel scheme for the over 60’s.

They knew that it was a worthy and popular measure and so they decided to undermine it.

Before even giving the scheme a chance to work they complained loudly that funding that the government had provided was insufficient.

At a recent House of Commons Transport Select Committee, Transport Minister Ruth Kelly explained that the funding had been the subject of consultation with the Local Government Association, that there was a substantial cushion built in, that with the introduction of smart card technology journey and passenger data would be collected and that the policy's operation would be reviewed as necessary.

Instead of co-operating and trying to make the scheme work the Conservatives further tried to make the elderly and disabled feel guilty about using the scheme by suggesting in the media that other services would have to be cut to pay for it.

Most disgracefully they decided to save a very small amount of money by withdrawing the arrangements for peak hour concessions for the over 60’s and the disabled. This hits those valiant people who are trying to retain their independence, by working, rather than relying on benefits

Instead of undermining it the all parties should be celebrating and supporting a policy which enables participation in community, family and work for vulnerable groups at risk of being excluded.

Find out more about the free travel scheme at www.nowcard.org