Clubs for cacti and cockerels

IN this week’s Memory Lane feature we are shining a spotlight on some of the clubs and organisations which ran in the Valley in years gone by

Our regular nostalgia contributor Peter Fisher has shared with us a selection of photographs taken down the decades.

We have shots of some intellectual, fun-loving and... curious clubs, from a medal presentation ceremony to an event for cacti, from the finest fowl to black pudding.

Our first picture of the week (top left) shows the top award, the medal of the National Association of Conservative Clubs, being presented to William Hirst, aged 85, president of the Bacup club, for 50 years of service.

Next (top right) is a shot of people admiring one of the birds at the New Year’s Day game fowl show at Holcombe Old English Game Fowl Club in Ramsbottom.

Below that (right) is a snap taken at a country market jointly organised by Bacup and Stacksteads Conservative organisations.

We also have a picture of the first show of the Rossendale branch of the National Cactus and Succulent Society (bottom right).

Finally, (bottom left) is a shot showing a meeting of Rawtenstall Townswomen’s Guild.

Were you part of any groups in Rossendale? Can you spot yourself in any of these pictures or do you have any of your own to share? Please get in touch. Thanks to our nostalgia contributors.