[JohnW]

I'll tell you what Accrington as a community has to be proud of:-

Englands wealth was built on the back of the North-of-England working man. That is an indisputible fact. Lancashire and Yorkshire (for all their competitiveness) were the industrial might on which this country flourished. Accrington played a great part in this revolution. Factories like H & B, Broad Oak etc. were part of the big money-spinning era. Leyland Motors was another great company not too far away. Unfortunately, the profits from these great companies ended up in London with the central government and that is why the South is so much better 'looked-after' than the North. Let us never forget that our parents and grandparents were a part of that revolution. As well as doing all that, they went and fought, and won, two world wars as well.

You can't keep good people down. Accrington still has plenty of those, some of them post on this site. I am proud to be able to say that I come from such a place, even though, through no fault of its own, it has been in decline for many years. It is the fault of successive governments who have done nothing to help, but have depleted the manufacturing industries on which this country was built. I am also proud to have orginated from the great gene pool that is East Lancashire.

That's my two-pennorth anyway.