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Blackburn - This article is about Blackburn in Lancashire, England. For other uses of the name, see Blackburn (disambiguation).
Blackburn is a town in Lancashire, England, with a population of about 140,000. It was a key centre for the textile industry during industrial revolution and is popularly known as the home of Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Also the inclusion of the lines beginning "4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire" in the song "A Day In The Life" by the Beatles, (a reference to an effort to fill an estimated 4,000 pot-holes in the streets of Blackburn). Politics Blackburn is administered by the Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Authority, which is presently controlled by the Labour Party. It sends one MP to Westminster, the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. Previous MPs for Blackburn incluce former Labour cabinet minister Barbara Castle, who represented the town in Westminster from 1945 to 1979. Blackburn Rovers The Premier League football side Blackburn Rovers is based at the Ewood Park stadium. The club has done much to raise the profile of the town, winning the Premier League in 1995 and the League Cup in 2002. Blackburn is known to fans of The Beatles as the town featured in the song "A Day in the Life". An article in the Daily Mail about a plan to fill potholes in the town caught John Lennon's eye as he was writing the song, giving birth to the lyric: "I read the news today. Oh, boy. 4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire". This lends itself to the title of the unoffical fanzine of Blackburn Rovers, which is called "4000 Holes". History In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Blackburn like this: - "Blackburn. parl. and mun. bor., par. and township, NE. Lancashire, 9 miles E. of Preston and 210 miles NW. of London by rail -- par., 48,281 ac., pop. 161,617; township, 3681 ac., pop. 91,958; bor., 6974 ac., pop. 104,014; 4 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-days, Wednesday and Saturday. It is one of the chief seats of cotton manufacture, besides producing calico, muslin, &c., there being over 140 mills at work. There are also factories for making cotton machinery and steam-engines. B. has heen associated with many improvements in the mfr. of cotton, among which was the invention (1767) of the "Spinning Jenny" by James Hargreaves, who died in 1770. There are several fine churches and public buildings. A Corporation Park (50 ac. in area) is on the outskirts of the town. Several lines of railway converge here, and pass through one principal station belonging to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Ry. Co. B. returns 2 members to Parliament." http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/Travellers/place_page.jsp?p_id=955
Features Education Colleges Secondary Schools Coat of arms The coat of arms show in the picture here, has many distintive emblems, these are described below: - Three bees in flight. The bee is an emblem of skill, perseverance and industry. “B” also stands for Blackburn; and further, as the Peel family sprang from this neighbourhood and bears a bee in flight on its shield, the idea naturally suggests itself that Sir Robert Peel had adopted the Blackburn bee.
- The shield is silver or white, and thus emblematical of calico, the product of the Blackburn bees.
- The broad wavy black line represents the Black Brook (Blakewater) on the banks of which the town is built.
- The silver bugle horn was the crest of the first Mayor of Blackburn, William Henry Hornby, It is also the emblem of strength.
- The gold lozenges, or fusils (diamond shaped), are the heraldic emblems of spinning, derived from the Latin “fusus” or “fusilium,” meaning a spindle, and they refer to the invention of the “Spinning Jenny” in 1864 by James Hargreaves, a native of the district. They also denote the connection of Joseph Feilden with Blackburn, as Lord of the Manor, as he bore lozenges on his shield.
- The background of green is there to remind us of the time when Blackburn was one of the Royal Forests in the time of Edward the Confessor.
- The shuttle is the emblem of weaving, the trade which has contributed more than any other to the prosperity of the town.
- The dove taking wing with an olive branch in her beak (the emblem of peace) attached to the thread of the shuttle, represents the beneficial results emanating from the art of weaving.
Famous Blackburnians The following people were born or brought up in Blackburn: The arts - Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway spent most of his childhood in Blackburn, moving there after being born in Morecambe in 1961. He attended the local private school for boys (QEGS - see above) http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/lifestyle/2003/06/04/hemingway.shtml.
- Film maker Michael Winterbottom, director of 24 Hour Party People, was born in Blackburn.
- Actor Ian McShane, famous for playing antiques dealer Lovejoy in the BBC drama series of the same name, was born in Blackburn on 29 September 1942 http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/faces/ian_mcshane.shtml.
- Kathleen Harrison, one of the greatest British film character actresses of the Forties and Fifties, was born in Blackburn on 23 February 1892. She found a new audience on television in the Sixties with the hugely successful comedy-drama Mrs Thursday.
- Actor Jon Walmsley was born in Blackburn on 6 February 1956. He gave his voice to the character of Christopher Robin in the 1968 Disney film version of Winnie the Pooh and went on to portray Jason Walton in the TV series The Waltons from 1972 to 1981.
- Musician, singer and composer Tony Ashton was born in Blackburn on 1 March 1946. A gifted organist, Ashton came to fame with his trio Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, best known for their 1971 smash hit "Resurrection Shuffle". He also played on sessions with Jon Lord of Deep Purple and with Jerry Lee Lewis.
- Writer Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, setting many of her novels in Lancashire. Her annual sales in Britain total nearly one million copies.
- Actor Steve Pemberton was born in Blackburn in 1967 and is most famous for co-writing BBC television comedy The League of Gentlemen. He has variously been involved in theatre production, performance and direction, and is a founder member of 606 Theatre.
- Alfred Gregory, official photographer for the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, was born in Blackburn.
- Broadcaster Russell Harty was born in the town on 5 September 1934. He will probably be best remembered for an edition of his chatshow in which he was physically assaulted by the black American singer, Grace Jones.
- Wilfred Greatorex, writer and television script editor, was born in Blackburn on 27 May 1922.
Sports Business Science Books about Blackburn - Jeremy Seabrook, "City Close-up: Blackburn", Penguin Books, 1973 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140037217/qid=1101666879/sr=1-46/ref=sr_1_0_46/202-4420309-5128661
- William Woodruff, "Billy Boy: The Story of a Lancashire Weaver's Son", Edinburgh University Press, 1993 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1853310476/qid%3D1101668180/202-4420309-5128661
- William Woodruff, "The Road to Nab End: A Lancashire Childhood", Abacus, 2002http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0349115214/qid=1101668288/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/202-4420309-5128661
- William Woodruff, "Beyond Nab End", Abacus, 2003 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0349116229/qid=1101668288/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_10_2/202-4420309-5128661
- David Allin, "Blackburn Since 1900" http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0948946180/qid=1101666397/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_10_5/202-4420309-5128661
- Derek Beattie, "Blackburn: The Development of a Lancashire Cotton Town", Keele University Press, 1992 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1853310212/qid=1101666568/sr=1-11/ref=sr_1_0_11/202-4420309-5128661
- Jim Halsall, "Blackburn in Times Gone By" http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1872895395/qid=1101666724/sr=1-40/ref=sr_1_0_40/202-4420309-5128661
- Matthew Cole, "Blackburn's Shops at the Turn of the Century" http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/187289528X/qid=1101666724/sr=1-39/ref=sr_1_0_39/202-4420309-5128661
- M. Baggoley, "Blackburn in Old Photographs", Sutton Publishing, 1996 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750912626/qid=1101666879/sr=1-50/ref=sr_1_0_50/202-4420309-5128661
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