Sunnyhurst Woods Gala & Dog Show

People flocked to Sunnyhurst Woods Gala on Sunday despite heavy downpours in the morning.

The weather actually eased off for the afternoon with some bright spells, however, the show ring became something of a mud bath - especially for some of the smaller dogs!

The gala included stalls, a tombola, the dog show, musical entertainment and a BBQ.

The dog show organisers were over-joyed with the amount of people who turned up to enter their pets into the local competition which included prizes for the dog with waggiest tail, best non-pedigree and best veteran.

A wide range of dogs were on show, from small toy dogs to working dogs and a large Bullmastiff. The event ran smoothly, although selecting a winner was often difficult for the three judges - especially when there were such a wide selection of different dogs to choose between.

The event, organised by Friends of Sunnyhurst Woods, was once again very popular with families and helped raise money for the group who help maintain this local tourist attraction.

The woodland area, which was opened to the general public in 1903 remains popular with locals for dog walking, family days out and picnics. When the land was purchased by the corporation from Eccles Shorrock it was declared to be 'for the full use and enjoyment of the people of Darwen for ever’.

Teenager Jeff Hodgson, Darwen Died Of Asthma Attack

A young man died following a severe asthma attack in Darwen. Jeff Hodgson, who would have celebrated his 18th birthday on 1st September, fell ill infront of his 3 year old brother at his home in Darwen.

The toddler informed their parents that his older brother couldn't breath and he was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital after an ambulance was called for. Despite doctors efforts Jeff never regained consciousness and died last Saturday night.

His mum, Sandra said “Jeff loved life and was looking forward to everything that was to come. I don’t know how we are going to manage without him. Our lives are not going to be same"

“We are going to miss everything about him. This has left a big hole in our lives. It’s going to be hard without him for the rest of our lives. Being his mum, like a normal mum, one minute you argue the next minute you would be laughing."

“Even when you were serious he was cracking jokes.”

His father Geoff described how the teenager had suffered with asthma since he was 2 years old but reported that he'd not had a serious attack for about 4 years.

An online memorial has been set-up for Jeff at website GoneTooSoon.co.uk where people have left messages of condolences (http://jeff-hodgson.gonetoosoon.co.uk/my_index.php).

Jeff's funeral will be held on Monday at St Clare's Parish Church, Fulwood, at 11.30am followed by committal at Lytham Crematorium. As a tribute to Jeff's love of motorbikes, a Harley Davidson style motorbike will pull the hearse along on a trailer

Blackburn Rovers 1 - 1 NAC Breda (Friendly Result)

A goal from striker Jason Roberts wasn't enough to give Paul Ince a winning start at Ewood Park. Ince's first home game since taking charge of Rovers was against NAC Breda, the Dutch team striker Maceo Rigters was signed from in 2007.

The forward missed the opportunity to face his old team following his loan move to Championship side Barnsley earlier this week. Instead Rovers strike force included Matt Derbyshire, Jason Roberts and a substitute appearance from Robbie Fowler.

The away side opened the scoring after Rovers failed to clear a first half corner. Hungarian international Csaba Feher's netted after homing in on Matt Derbyshires header following the corner kick.

Rovers had multiple chances to draw level before Roberts finally found the back of the net with a fine header at the back post. Keith Treacy was credited with the assist after fine work down the wing, beating a defender to supply an accurate cross.

Former Liverpool player Robbie Fowler was provided with another opportunity to impress when he came on as a substitute with 20 minutes remaining.

The match represented the final pre-season friendly before the Premiership kicks off next Saturday with an away game against Everton.

The game ended is stale-mate at 1-1 but Ince will take some positives from the game, although he should be concerned his team weren't able to convert more of their chances into goals.

Landfill Expansion Rejected - Near M65

The controversial landfill site based at Abbey Village (between Junction 4 and Junction 3 of the M65) won't be extended.

Local protesters have won their battle to prevent the expansion as Lancashire County Councillor voted unanimously to reject the Withnall Quarry proposals.

The site is located just off the M65 and the smell often drifts into your car/van as you pass between Junction 3 and Junction 4. Any extension would presumably had made the stench even worse!

Spare a thought for those who live close by! Luckily with more local people recycling a higher percentage of their waste than ever before the area can manage with other alternatives than extending the landfill site at Abbey Village.

Darwen Gala 2008 (Saturday 16th August 2008)

The 43rd annual town gala will be held on Saturday 16th August 2008 on Borough Road.

The parade starts at 12.30pm from Anchor Road before making it's way through the streets of Darwen to Borough Road where the Gala will be officially opened by the mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, Coun Mohammed Khan at 1.30pm.

There are set to be lots of events, stalls and parade vehicles at this years event and the long range weather forecast provided by Metcheck.com predicts fine weather albeit with below aveage temperatues of 16 degrees C.

The event is run to provide a free day out for the whole family, to enable local charities to raise money and promote themselves and also to provide a showcase for local talent. Gala chairman John Sturgess said: “There is going to be something for everybody at Darwen Gala."

To add to the atomosphere and allow people to get involved they are encouraged to turn out in fancy dress and walk in the parade. A prize for the best costume will be donated by local fancy dress shop Wizards Den.

Headlining the entertainment this year is one of Europe’s largest and best known dedicated mount-ainbike stunt trials display team - Team M.A.D (http://www.m-a-d.co.uk)

As always there will also be the Darwen Gala Fell Race which takes runners on the 3.7 mile route up to Darwen Tower and back. The race starts and finishes in Bold Venture Park and for £3.50 you get entry into the race and a T-Shirt. Last years race saw Ricky Graham (Horwich RMI) finish first with an impressive time of 23min 18seconds. However, the race is open to anyone willing to join - you don't have to be a competitive runner.

You can view a PDF document of the route via the Darwen Dashers website here: http://www.dashers.org.uk/images/Darwen%20Gala%20Route.pdf

We'd be interested in receiving any photographs you take at this years event, please feel free to email us - we may use them on the site!

In addition to the parade, Team MAD and the fell race there will be stalls and other entertainment on show. Why not show your cupport by attending this years Gala?

Alternatively if you want to get more involved you can book a stall by contacting June on 01254 725958 or enter a float, vehicle or arrange to walk in the road parade ring Bob on 01254 706510.

Team M-A-D in action

Soul Night Photographs (August 2008)

Photographs from Saturdays Soul Night Event are now online.

The event, arranged by Eileen Connell, was a roaring success with all tickets being sold for the evenings entertainment at the ICI Club in Bridge Street, Darwen.

Tickets were quickly snapped up from Cue Music, Clive's market stall and the ICI Club as people gathered to watch two local singers perform popular soul songs from the past few decades.

Watch this space for announcements of future events. The Soul Night is just part of the regular entertainment organised by Eileen Connell - other events include a Salsa Party and Ballroom Dancing.

If you attended the ICI Club on Saturday we'd love to receive any photgraphs you might have taken. In the meantime see if you can spot yourself on these images:

Wolves 4 v Rovers 2 (Friendly)

Wolevs recorded a 4-2 win over Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.

Paul Ince's return to the Molineux didn't go quite as he might have planned but the defeat could have been much worse following a first half injury to striker Santa Cruz.

Luckily it would seem the injury isn't serious and he should be fit to play in the first Premirship game against Everton at Goodison Park.

"Roque's fine. He got a knock on his Achilles," Ince told Sky Sports News. "I had my heart in my mouth for a minute sat up there in the directors' box

"I've had a chat with the physio and it's going to be two or three days, but he'll be ready come the start of the campaign. Roque's 19 goals were very important for us in how well we did last year.

“He's fine and he's all geared for the start of the new season."

The defeat will have come as quite a shock to many Rovers fans who are yet to make their minds up about the coming season. Many are worried that we might be part of a relegation battle despite finishing 7th last season. There's no question that we are set for an unpredictable season following the change in manager and loss of two key players in Bentley and Friedel but pre-season friendlies are simply allowing the new manager to try out various players and formations before our furst competitive match.

Paul Ince decided to go with a 4-4-2 formation on this occasion with the line-up as follows:
Robinson; Reid, Samba, Mokoena, Warnock (McCarthy, 76); Judge (Treacy, 62), Tugay (Vogel, 69), Dunn (Khizanishvili, 80), Pedersen; Santa Cruz (Roberts, 28), Derbyshire (Fowler, 76)

Rovers twice drew level in the first half after going a goal behind but the second half saw Wolves extend their lead with two further goals without reply from the Premiership opposition. Derbyshire scored the first goal after George Elokobi opened the scoring for Wolves. Andy Keogh quickly restored the home sides lead but Santa Cruz managed to square the contest just before he picked up an injury on 24 mins.

Second half goals from Chris Iwelumo and Matt Jarvis secured the 4-2 victory for the midlands side.

It would be nice to see Ince field a strong starting 11 against NAC Breda in the first home game of his Ewood career.

Work starts on "Duck Pond" Sunnyhurst Woods

Work has begun on the paddling pool which is commonly known locally as the duck pond in Sunnyhurst Woods, Darwen. The beauty spot was damaged in the 2002 floods. Much of the woods was damaged on the storm on June 14 2002 caused over £100,000 worth of damage along the banks of Sunnyhurst Brook which runs through the woods.

The downpour washed away paths, damaged bridges and created massive holes where the river of water created a new path.

Friends of Sunnyhurst Woods arranged various fund-raising events shortly after the floods to help Blackburn with Darwen council meet the huge repair bill. With the help on kind donations the damaged paths and duck pond were restored to their former glory.

Six years on and work has started on the duck pond again, this time probably following months of planning. The work will no doubt help prevent future damage on the scale seen in 2002. With more freak weather being witnessed every year it seems that Sunnyhurst Woods needs to prepare the paddling pool to accept more rain water following heavy downpours.

In recent years various parts of the country have felt the full force of nature with flash floods damaging hundreds of homes and in some cases resulting in the loss of lives.

Closer to home Sunnyhurst Woods has recovered from the damage to recveive the prestigious Green Flag award this year. Work being carried out on the Duck Pond and the restoration of Ellis Gibson pond higher up the stream will only help to increase the woods reputation.