The Gobbin Lamp is to be restored 
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Oswaldtwistle's Gobbin Lamp set to shine again (From Lancashire Telegraph)
;Oswaldtwistle's Gobbin Lamp set to shine again (From Lancashire Telegraph)
The Gobbin Lamp
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- oswaldtwistle
In my 1940s childhood there wasn't a lamp there, although the phrase 'above t'lamp' was in use.
I was glad to see that the news article makes this clear
"The original lamp, a gas lamp, was removed many years ago and a campaign for its return saw two lamps, based on the original style, installed in the early 1970s, although only one of those now remains. "
It may well have been melted down for war munitions, just as house garden railings were.
I was glad to see that the news article makes this clear
"The original lamp, a gas lamp, was removed many years ago and a campaign for its return saw two lamps, based on the original style, installed in the early 1970s, although only one of those now remains. "
It may well have been melted down for war munitions, just as house garden railings were.
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Jaysay - if you have to ask that question, then clearly you are a gobbin and, in my humble opinion, a Gobbin.
I am told that there are no photos of the original 'big lamp' , so if you know of one, I will arrange for it to be copied and made available.
The position of the big lamp is a source of embarrassment to me, as I wrote a book in the 70s in which I said that it was situated outside the Palladium. I had sought the opinion of Benita Moore before penning it. Luckily, the book went into a second edition and I was able to put the record straight. 'Big lamps' figure in the folk-lore of several Lancashire towns, marking the line or position above or below which a resident is a gobbin or similar word meaning a person of little intelligence.
I am told that there are no photos of the original 'big lamp' , so if you know of one, I will arrange for it to be copied and made available.
The position of the big lamp is a source of embarrassment to me, as I wrote a book in the 70s in which I said that it was situated outside the Palladium. I had sought the opinion of Benita Moore before penning it. Luckily, the book went into a second edition and I was able to put the record straight. 'Big lamps' figure in the folk-lore of several Lancashire towns, marking the line or position above or below which a resident is a gobbin or similar word meaning a person of little intelligence.
Think you got me wrong Bob, Where I live I think must be just above the place the lamp was situated, but I'm not 100% sure, I can't see through houses, but by my reckoning I'm on the boarder line, I was born bellow the Lamp by the way, a long way bellow
The lamp sits in LCC land at the library.
There was a proposal a few years ago to move it across the road to Jubilee Gardens which is HBC land.
That was a very interesting Area Council meeting, one of the best I have attended
Here's the "move the lamp" thread;
http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f103/removing-the-lamp-12391.html
If I've told you once I've told you a million times don't exaggerateand about four miles west!
If I've told you once I've told you a million times don't exaggerate
You were the one who told me your were born in Blackburn when I was on one of my "support your local football club" rants!
Ya thats right but was brought up from being about 5 days old bellow the lamp in Ossy, but those 5 early days were enough to make me a life long RoverYou were the one who told me your were born in Blackburn when I was on one of my "support your local football club" rants!
Ya thats right but was brought up from being about 5 days old bellow the lamp in Ossy, but those 5 early days were enough to make me a life long Rover
Yes, well, I have given you special dispensation, so carry on with my blessing.
What exactly is meant by this phrase 'below the lamp'? The library stands on that part of Union road which roughly runs in an East-West direction. So is anyone north of the line where the lamp stands a Gobbiner/Gobbinlander? Or is it the other way round? Or is it something to do with it's position just by Union Rd, in which case it's totally meaningless - which is something to be expected from anyone from Ossy.
The land is lower - think Tinker Brew.
Are you one of those people who thinks a trip to Scotland is all uphill?
I have always had the view that the Black Dog is at the top of Union Road, and so anything on that side of the lamp would be 'above', whereas on the railway station side it would be 'below'. The house numbers run 'up' from the Church boundary on Union Rd. That settles it. -nowt to do wi' bein' gawmless.
Sorry, Bob - but I'm not convinced. Union Road starts from the Church boundary with Market St at which point it runs in a southerly direction, gradually turning west until at Union Rd it runs roughly east-west until at Stanhill the same road runs in a North-West direction (towards Blackburn). I don't know therefore, what is above and what is below.
The Black Dog is some distance away from the lamp and is far closer to the old, alternative route between Ossy/Stanhill and Church (parts of that route still being a public footpath) so if you're now suggesting that the original site of the lamp was by the Dog then that complicates things even further.
I am saying that the early inhabitants chose to call the Church side of the lamp 'below' and the Stanhill side 'above'. I can see logic in this despite what the compass tells.
I am not suggesting that there was an early/original lamp at the Black Dog. I used that pub so that readers could picture what I was describing. I do think, without checking, that the Black Dog is at a higher point above sea level than the railway station and if so, folk would need to walk up to the Dog and down to the railway from the library.
I am not suggesting that there was an early/original lamp at the Black Dog. I used that pub so that readers could picture what I was describing. I do think, without checking, that the Black Dog is at a higher point above sea level than the railway station and if so, folk would need to walk up to the Dog and down to the railway from the library.
Having mixed with many Gobbiners during numerous visits to the Stop & Rest with my old fella back in the day, my understanding of the situation is this - "above" the lamp means the area from the library to Stanhill which is Gobbinland. "Below" the lamp is the area from the library to Church which isn't.
Albert Wilkinson/Mike Booth place the site of the lamp near where the library is now, and suggest a reason as to why those who lived above were Gobbiners. Though they offer no photographic evidence.
Why we're so very proud to be Gobbins! (From The Bolton News)
People still refer to the top and bottom of Ossy.
That's because of the mainly dowhill gradient, from Moor End down to Church.
Local myth is that the meandering route of the main road was laid down after following the path of a runaway pig.
Why we're so very proud to be Gobbins! (From The Bolton News)
People still refer to the top and bottom of Ossy.
That's because of the mainly dowhill gradient, from Moor End down to Church.
Local myth is that the meandering route of the main road was laid down after following the path of a runaway pig.