August 14^th 1880 - Abolition of the Tolls on the Rochdale and Burnley Turnpike Roads On Wednesday afternoon Mr Joseph Crowther, offered for sale by auction at the Market Hotel, Bacup, the tollhouses stone repositories, gates, posts, rails, boards, weighing machines and other property of the Rochdale and Burnley turnpike trust. There was a large attendance of persons wishful to be in at the death of the great road monopoly, but the competition was very inactive. Mr John Holgate clerk to the trustees was present and the following trustees were present.  Messrs E.J. Kay, J.P, H. Maden, J.P., Captain Patrick, J. Whitworth, J. Ormerod, Captain Aitken, J.P., Captain and Mr Kay, opened the proceedings by facetiously remarking that, as the roads would be free in future, he hoped that on that account a good price would be given for the lots to be offered for saleThe conditions of sale stated that the gates, post, toll boards, chains and things would require to be removed, and all injury to the road repaired, within seven days from the 31^st October next. Lots 1 & 2 the Burnley Wood tollhouse, and the Deerplay tollhouse had previously been sold privately. Lot 3 the Rockliffe tollhouse, opened at £20 and went up to £50 when the lot was withdrawn. Whitworth bar went up to £60 and was also withdrawn, the reserve being £90. Lot 5 the stone repository at Leavensgreave, was knocked down at £5 to John Buxton, lots 6 & 7 the repositories at Horsecroft, and had been previously sold privately. Lot 8 the stone repository at Tonacliffe was withdrawn, the reserve being £5 as was lot 9 the stone repository at Ending. Lot 10, the gate posts at Bulls Head bar on the main road to Cliviger realised 15s the gate posts at Ending bar and those at Newline were sold to Mr William Gill for 30s and 21 s respectively. June  1918 A brute Most people we think weill agree that the presiding magistrate at the Bacup Police Court on Monday had good reason for telling James Horan, of Stacksteads that he had behaved like a brute. Any other word is altogether too mild for a man who, whilst able to earn 28s a week, gives his poor wife, a miserable 11 shillings on which to maintain a family of seven children none of them able to work . Drink these men must have, it matters nothing to them if their wives many of them hard working and clean as in rhis case and children live a life of semi starvation. The alcohol washes away their conciences and deadens their humanity and the thrashing of the wife and the clemming of the children becomes a mere un-noted incident. Two months hard labour is altogether too little for such men, and to call them brutes is in a sense to insult the latter, for they at least provide for their offspring.  July 24th 1871 – Sad Accident at Lytham Regatta Three Men Drowned On Saturday afternoon, shortly before five o’clock a shocking accident occurred at Lytham. The annual regatta was commenced at two o’clock in the afternoon, and one of the stakes was the Lytham Cup, the contest being open to all fishing boats belonging to the Ribble. Seven boats competed for the prize, and it was in connection with one of these the Emily, belonging to Mr John Dewhurst, of Lytham, that the disaster happened. She had five persons on board and on returning the second time round the course, and whilst occupying the fourth position, she encountered a heavy wave, which shifted her ballast. She lost her equilibrium through this, and could not regain it and in a few moments capsized. The crowd on the beach and the pier, numbering many hundreds, saw the boat turn over and the excitement was very intense, through the fact the boat was at too great a distance to be assisted by any of them. The occupants of the unfortunate craft were thrown into the water, and were unable to seize anything with which to buoy themselves up. As soon as the accident occurred two steamers, the flagship and several smaller boats hurried of to the rescue. Two of the men named John Topping and Bonney, fishermen of Lytham, who were able to swim a little, were after being in the water about ten minutes saved. The remaining three were drowned. The names of three drowned are Mr James Munn, of Manchester, a visitor at Lytham, who was acquainted with the owner of the boat, and had frequently of late sailed in it. John Dewhurst of Lytham,  fisherman, about thirty years of age, and Frank Richardson, another Lytham fisherman about the same age. Saturday May 10^th 1873 Death in Prison Some months ago a young man named Young Pearson, was tried and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for stealing a top coat from the Queens Hotel Bacup. The coat was the property of a tradesman in St James street, who a few weeks previous had along with others subscribed to a defence fund on behalf of Pearson, who was awaiting trial on a charge of embezzlement. Pearson was the son of respectable parents in Walsden, and came to Bacup as assistant butcher at the Cooperative stores, but was discharged. It appeared je had been a long time subject of fits to kleptomania to that extent that the butchers in the town had who had taken him by the hand were obliged to have nothing to do with him. He died in the the Preston House of Correction on Monday.   April 18^th 1936 – Bacup Treasure Trove Inquest Eighteen Shillings Dug Up In Garden It is fairly safe to say there are few people realise that the finding of treasure nessecitates a coroner’s inquest. Particular interest was attached to a treasure ttove inquest at Bacup’s Court House, yesterday. The coroner said there were eighteen coins and they were found by a man after digging operations in a garden near Stubylee Park. It appeared that it was virgin soil and had not been touched for at least 50 years. After digging Mr Hall saw something white in the soil and after scraping away the ground, he found the coins in question. They were silver coins all packed together. Fourteen of the coins were of George III, three were of the reign of George IV and one of the reign of Queen Victoria. The last name appeared to be dated 1842. September 17th 1944 Mrs Ellen Tattersall, Stacksteads, who retired after 70 years as a weaver, for almost all of which she worked at Atherton Holme. September 17th 1944 Rossendale Police officers receiving instruction at Bacup in September on how to wear respirators previous  to passing through a concentration of tear gas in a mobile van provided by the Home Office.