Yep, Fr Stuart. Thankfully never taught me. They say he had mellowed from what he was like back in the day.

For Arbitro and Exiled in Toronto. Staff football team in 1970 with Joe Pilling as referee. The other photo is one of the staff at around the time we were there. Joe Hamilton, front row far left, I think. Tony, I can remember we were in the away changing room at Ewood but virtually the rest of that day has been erased from my memory. Can’t remember the ‘lemonade celebrations’ or owt. Can’t remember doing owt with the ball either lol.

Yep, I started in September 1970. I remember a good number of those lads in your photo. I was in our first year football team that beat Witton Park 2-1 at Ewood. I’m fairly sure that Arbitro was in goal as well. I have a photo of our team but it’s up in the loft with a million others.

Is that not Mike Duxbury, third from the back? He was in the year below me.

I never liked the place either. Walked out on my last day there and never looked back. SMC catered for those carrying on to university. Either that or a career in banking, insurance, customs & excise or something similar. If you fancied a trade like joinery, engineering or an electrician, it was neither use nor ornament. If I remember correctly, Inthink the grounds an was called Joe Pilling.

Just watched it, great programme. I’d seen that last kick before but hadn’t realised that the weather conditions had been so bad. Don Fox’s face, when being interviewed by David Coleman after the game, said it all. Poor fellow, wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Just about to start my third book of Lockdown. Supposed to be a good ‘un.

Robbie Fowler probably wouldn’t have made the team but he was particularly sh!te in my book. He was only 33 when he came and bearing in mind the player he had been, particularly for Liverpool, he was a major disappointment in his all too brief stay at Ewood.

James Thomas was a good call, earlier in the thread. He was equally as good as James Beattie when they played up front together for the youth teams, usually causing havoc, as we had a first class youth team back then. You could probably include Beattie in the list of under achievers as well. He had a reasonably decent career but never really reached the expected heights once he made the first team. He had the confidence and cockiness (which you need) but I think he thought he had already made it when there was clearly much more work to be done. I used to regularly watch the youth teams down at Brockhall and that team, with Thomas and Beattie up front with Duff and Johnson out wide, was a joy to watch.

Absolutely no way. My nickname for him, which caused some amusement with my mates, was ‘silky magnet boots.’ Silky skills and the magnet boots was a reference to his ability of being able to control the ball easily, not the other way round. Ok, he was a class above what we had been used to in the 2nd Division and once we had established ourselves in the PL, it was clear that, if we were to reach for the very top, we needed to recruit a better player to play alongside Big Al. His return from injury at the most crucial stage of the season was the main reason we were promoted to the PL. Without him then, I don’t think we would have made it. One of my favourite players.

Presumably then, they must have used some inside shots from the Textile Museum. The guy I spoke to mentioned a mill in Shipley for the bulk of the mill shots.

Not sure where you got that from. I spoke to a guy who was on the film set as a mill worker and he said it was filmed in Saltaire. No mention of Burnley.

An extremely moving book. I read it a few years ago.

??

There’s some great moorland up behind that massive house at the top of Bury Fold Lane. Can’t remember its name. Between there and Cadshaw Valley and Hanging Stones. Most Darreners won’t have heard of it, let alone walked there because it’s way beyond the tower. Beautiful countryside but I guess it’s rather isolated and would have been problematic getting the camera gear etc up there. A shame.

That was a pretty lame excuse Ian, if you don’t mind me saying so..?

Fergie Suter lol

There is a discussion on one of the Darwen Facebook sites where a guy commented that he was one of the mill workers in the programme and was ‘on set’ for a month. I asked him where both the moorland and town scenes were filmed as I knew they weren’t Darwen. The town was actually Saltaire, near Shipley and the moorland was nearby in Yorkshire.

Haha, nice turn of words there John.

Just watched up to the third episode. The only two who are able to pronounce Darwen correctly (not Darwin) are Suter and Love.

Please don’t use that word. It’s maroon.

No problem mate, don’t mention it. I think I’ll milk this for a bit...? Seriously, it’s Ian/Herbie you need to be thanking.

? Great stuff

Great watching these Ian, keep ‘em coming! I know I’ve got all mine upstairs (tfd from VHS) but it’s so much easier watching on here. We went to the Coventry game whilst on our way up from Cornwall and I couldn’t remember the score.

Just watched the first episode. Not a Darwen accent to be heard anywhere. One Bolton type accent with the others being stereotypical ‘northern’ accents but from nowhere in particular. A few shots of ‘Darwen’ the town which weren’t Darwen and a quick shot of the moors which, again, wasn’t Darwen Moors. Apart from that, it was fine lol. A bit slow moving but, on the whole, a decent watch.