The archive is extensive and we aim to make as many of these images available online as soon as possible.
We have Upcoming Events to raise awareness of the collection and our project at the Weavers' Triangle Visitor Centre from Saturday 29th May 2021.
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**GOOD NEWS** CORONAVIRUS UPDATE, MAY 2021: Our archive rooms are now open to a restricted number of volunteers who have been vaccinated. We are taking a cautious and gradual approach, especially in the light of the recent increase in case numbers and will review the situation continually, in the light of Government guidance.
50 Years Ago
Ray Gosling (centre) chairing the meeting. Next to him is Ken Pilling (left).
Two Burnley priests were accused at a public meeting held in the Central Library of being "Fascists" and "Paisleyites," when they condemned proposals to open a club for homosexuals in the town. Shepherded by police, about 250 people packed the library hall to hear three speakers discuss "Homosexuality and Civil Liberty." Afterwards the debate was thrown open. It was yet another round in the furore that first erupted two months ago when the organisers of Friday's 30th August 1971 meeting, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, announced plans to open a club in Hammerton Street. Homosexuals of all ages, both men and women, were there, some wearing the badge of the Gay Liberation Front - an organisation formed to promote the cause of homosexuality. Mixed among them were councillors from Burnley and district, magistrates, social workers, and a senior police chief. One JP sat incongruously dressed in a bow tie in the middle of a vociferous group of tee-shirted liberation front members.
Ray Gosling, a writer and Granada TV personality, who chaired the meeting, then threw the debate to the floor. It was to his credit that order, precarious at times, was preserved. It was a stormy two hours. By the end most views had been put.
