Rotary club: Even if the proposed Foulridge bypass goes ahead, the 11-and-a-quarter-mile rail link between Skipton and Colne should still be restored, Andy Shackleton, liaison officer for SELRAP (Skipton and East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership), told Barnoldswick and Earby Rotarians. He said the line could connect Liverpool, Manchester and Preston with Leeds and Hull and would be a catalyst for economic growth, jobs and prosperity. The restored line would be a passenger route as well as one for freight. He said the campaign had the support of local authorities and MPs. The Rotary Club also heard a talk from Phoebe Robertson, assistant curator of Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe. She said the college had the oldest museum collection in the English-speaking world and items had been loaned to the V&A and British Museums. The speaker told of the thousands of items going back to Medieval times, including books, manuscripts, vestments, paintings and scientific and animal exhibits. Education programmes are run for schools and visits are by appointment only, but it is hoped the collection will eventually be open to the public.

History Society: There was a packed house for the January meeting of Barnoldswick History Society when Lois Green gave an illustrated talk, Reminiscences of the Railways in Barnoldswick. The talk was built around photographs, postcards and cine-film taken or collected by her late father, a railway man all his working life. An early tank engine operating the service from Barnoldswick gave rise to the nickname Spud Roaster, since the fireman or driver could do just that on a shovel in the fire-box whilst on the run to Earby. Views of the station, water pump, sidings, level-crossing and coal yard (now the Town Green) during the pre-World War Two days were shown, along with shots of passenger and goods trains coming up the incline from Salterforth plus special trains for Sunday excursions and the annual Wakes Week holiday.