Parade takes to pavement
JON MACPHERSON
SCOUTS and girl guides from across Hyndburn gathered to celebrate St George’s Day with a parade through Great Harwood.
The sun shone as around 250 youngsters and family members took part in the march featuring the Accrington Pipe Band before a service at St Bartholomew’s Church.
However, participants were forced to parade on the pavement instead of the road for the first time ever because of unaffordable traffic management costs.
Mick Shackleton, leader of the 1st Oswaldtwistle St Paul’s, said everyone had a good time but lamented enforced changes to the parade.
He said: “It was a good day and the weather turned out. It was done in the spirit it was meant to be done in.
“There was drama leading up to it with not being allowed to parade on public roads and the police not covering it. We had to parade on the foot pavement near Memorial Park.
“A couple of years ago the police funded it no problem but they’ve come back saying they can’t do it because it’s not of ‘national importance’.
“Last year we had to pay £1,000 for traffic management and being a Scout group that’s a lot of money that we can’t afford.
“The police said the only way we can do it is by doing the parade on the footpath. So there were about 12 different groups all with their flags and standards and they were taking people’s trees out and all sorts.”
Mick said they could now be forced to only hold the parade in Accrington in future years.
The 48-year-old, who has been involved with the Scout group since he was a child, said: “What normally happens is each Scout group hosts the event.
“Last year it was in Oswaldtwistle and this year it was in Great Harwood
“But because of all the dramas with traffic management I think we will just hold it in Accrington town centre from now on.
“When you look around now it only seems to be the uniform organisations that take part even though it’s supposed to be the national patron saints day.
“It’s just the young kids who are keeping the tradition going.”
A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “We have adopted the Association of Chief Police Officers’ ‘National Guidance’ which means that the police do not undertake any traffic management for an event on the highway other than those events that are deemed to be of national importance.”