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 and photographs of community events held at Burnley Central Library in the 1960's to 1980's are now on display at the library to celebrate the creation of the new Community Hub/Reference Library.
APRIL 2022 **GOOD NEWS** UPDATE: Our archive rooms are now fully operational although we continue to take a cautious approach. We WELCOME NEW VOLUNTEERS, all that is needed are some basic computer skills and an interest in local history.
PENDLE AND WEST CRAVEN images in the Surrounding Districts pages will also now include images from 1963 to 1970 which are scanned from negatives (in addition to those scanned from photographs). These image stories are being transcribed from Nelson Library newspaper film rolls.
50 Years Ago
The Black Bull Today.
From an Advertising Feature by Allan Halstead:
The "new" Black Bull Hotel at Lane Head is set fair to serve the customers of the space age with the same traditional hospitality found at the early coaching inns. But the welcome will be just as warm, the improvement scheme ensures that the beer is cool and the food hot! Bass-Charrington (NW) Ltd are to be congratulated on achieving the rare blend of the old and the new; maintaining the atmosphere of old oak beams, and still incorporating the virtues which modern science has made possible in comfort and hygiene. "Refreshment" has been served at the Black Bull for around 200 years and generations of Lane Headers have enjoyed the amenities of their day and age. The licensee, Mr Bill Pascoe, has acquired a handsome head (stuffed, of course) of a black Highland bull, with huge horns - now a feature of the bar display.
The date, carved in stone under the eaves, is 1778, but it is almost certain that there would have been an earlier building on the site. It was situated near the ancient pack horse trails between Clitheroe and Halifax, and Burnley to Colne, long before the valley road to Colne was opened up. By 1754 there was a farm on the spot, and by 1800 there was a hamlet of about 30 families at Lane Head and the Black Bull was operating as a combined public house and farm tenanted by a James Read, with farmland stretching towards Bullions Close.
