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Acrylic-bob · 21-07-2004, 18:55

Spot on Bagpuss. West Accrington, is another case in point. During my childhood the area could never have been described as affluent, but it was always clean and tidy. Blackburn Road bustled with shops selling a bewildering range of goods all the way from Church to the centre of Accrington. It is hard to pinpoint the key event that tipped the area into steady decline, but what ever it was it began in the early 1970's. It may probably have been a combination of events. Certainly it was the opening of ASDA that sounded the death knell for many of the businesses along Blackburn Road, as it did for Accrington Market. The closure of companies like E.J. Riley, and the contraction of Howard and Bullough's together with the general decline of the textiles industry meant that people were forced to look further afield for work. this in turn led to people moving their homes too.

For the last thirty years, instead of being proactive in attracting high skill/high wage jobs to the area, HBC has been successful in attracting mainly those companies who require low skills and pay basic minimum wages. Thus driving the borough further down the road to decline. The last thirty years have been a challenging time for the country as a whole. But some boroughs have risen to that challenge and have met it head on with imagination and foresight. They, unlike Hyndburn, are now reaping the benefits.

It strikes me that the recent 30th birthday party was an unintentionally accurate portrayal of the state of the borough.

21-07-2004, 18:55	#26
Acrylic-bob God Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tragic Conn Posts: 4,007 Blog Entries: 15 Liked: 3 times Rep Power: 2473	Re: East Lancashire decline Spot on Bagpuss. West Accrington, is another case in point. During my childhood the area could never have been described as affluent, but it was always clean and tidy. Blackburn Road bustled with shops selling a bewildering range of goods all the way from Church to the centre of Accrington. It is hard to pinpoint the key event that tipped the area into steady decline, but what ever it was it began in the early 1970's. It may probably have been a combination of events. Certainly it was the opening of ASDA that sounded the death knell for many of the businesses along Blackburn Road, as it did for Accrington Market. The closure of companies like E.J. Riley, and the contraction of Howard and Bullough's together with the general decline of the textiles industry meant that people were forced to look further afield for work. this in turn led to people moving their homes too. For the last thirty years, instead of being proactive in attracting high skill/high wage jobs to the area, HBC has been successful in attracting mainly those companies who require low skills and pay basic minimum wages. Thus driving the borough further down the road to decline. The last thirty years have been a challenging time for the country as a whole. But some boroughs have risen to that challenge and have met it head on with imagination and foresight. They, unlike Hyndburn, are now reaping the benefits. It strikes me that the recent 30th birthday party was an unintentionally accurate portrayal of the state of the borough.