Thicknecks and Waterwalkers

[keckfaro]

Do you live in the Burnley area Kiki?if you don,t why don,t you ask one of the BWebbers that live in the area to pop down and do some photos for you.As far as I know the stepping stones were,coming from the Burnley end,just to the left of the bridge that is there now,I can,t recall if there are any of the stones still there,it,s longer than I care to remember since I was down there.Good Luck.

[keckfaro]

Originally Posted by vetbike

Being from Padiham ( left there in 1956), the story I heard was that people from Burnley considered themselves mentally superior to their sturdy, stockily built neighbors from Padiham and continually put them down.
The Padihamites had some posters printed and displayed in Burnley. These announced that a well known person was going to appear on a certain day at a spot near the old stepping stones and walk accross the river Calder. As this location was close to Burnley a large crowd appeared on the appointed day.
Naturally no one appeared, the Burnleyites having realized they had been duped , dispersed. From that day on they weren't allowed to forget they had been taken in by this joke. From then on they were known as "Burnley watterwalkers"!
My father used to tell this story, hope it helps to solve the puzzle.
Cheers, Vetbike.

I also heard a story similar to that one Vetbike,the one I heard was about a chap who was a very good athlete and strongman who was advertised as doing a standing jump across the canal somewhere in Burnley,it was said that he would do the jump and halfway across he would dip one toe in the water and then complete the jump,seems a bit incredible to me but I was told this story by a very old man in the seventies,he did say that the event was advertised and like the story by Vetbike people came to see it but the chap never turned up.

[Kiki]

[quote=keckfaro;95304]Do you live in the Burnley area Kiki?if you don,t why don,t you ask one of the BWebbers that live in the area to pop down and do some photos for you.As far as I know the stepping stones were,coming from the Burnley end,just to the left of the bridge that is there now,I can,t recall if there are any of the stones still there,it,s longer than I care to remember since I was down there.Good Luck.[/QUOTE -I live out of Burnley now ,near Skipton would like to Know if the stepping stones mentioned are the iIghtenhill ones or the Heasenford ones?

[keckfaro]

Ightenhill Kiki.

[Kiki]

ok! Thanks for info K! will find out the post card of them before Im off on hols ( Thurs)

[bryaned]

I remember all that....I am a Padiham "Thickneck" and I remember walking down Ightenhill Road to the "Stepping Stones" Up to Roughlee to see the Red Ars..d Monkey at the Roughlee Fair. Always on at Easter, then on to Pendle Bottom Gardens for a picnic.

[oldstyle]

I once read that the term "thicknecks" for Padiham folk arrises from when the town had a bottle making factory that produced bottles with very thick necks. Just another theory.

[Kiki]

Originally Posted by bryaned

I remember all that....I am a Padiham "Thickneck" and I remember walking down Ightenhill Road to the "Stepping Stones" Up to Roughlee to see the Red Ars..d Monkey at the Roughlee Fair. Always on at Easter, then on to Pendle Bottom Gardens for a picnic.

That monkey was Old Moore,s monkey not sure if i saw that ,cant remember?