rovingmick

[rovingmick]

Venky’s Mossing About With Rovers

Many Rovers fans have been complaining about the state of Ewood Park.  They say it’s beginning to look shabby and is gradually being overrun  by moss. But club owners, the Venky’s, hit back by saying this moss is there for a specific purpose.  It’s actually a microbe based prototype cleaning agent, used for removing rust around the ground.  As is often the case with good inventions, this was…

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Spy School For Blackburn?

Britain’s secret intelligence service wants to set up a northern college.  Blackburn has been mentioned as a possible location. Spying, the second oldest profession in the world, is as relevant today as it ever was and new recruits are always very much sought after.  But this is not a simple process.  They must have at least a decade of work experience, so cannot join straight from school,…

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Eustace Leaves Rovers, Do Venky’s Care?

Draining the lifeblood from Rovers John Eustace triggered a clause in his contract enabling him to leave the club despite not completing a full season. He joined our Championship rivals, Derby County, who are fighting for survival, whereas Rovers remain in a play-off position.  This seems a very strange situation, but not dissimilar to when Paul Lambert left in 2016 or when Eustace’s…

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East Lancs Hospital Shuttle Bus Facing Axe

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust are proposing to end their shuttle bus service connecting the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Burnley General and Pendle Community Hospital in Nelson. This service is very popular with patients, staff and visitors.  Its journey uses motorway connections down the M65, knocking hours off journey times between these three hospitals.  Now our health service provider is…

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Popping Up To Escapades In Blackburn

Escapades was the latest incarnation of Blackburn’s Ribblesdale pub on Blakey Moor. Described as a ‘Pop Up’ bar, it opened during the run up to Christmas 2024, selling food, drink and hosting entertainment.  This followed an initiative from our council to try and boost Blackburn’s town centre day and nightlife over the festive season. I left it late to pay my first visit to this pub in donkey’s…

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Extinct Animals For Blackburn

Blackburn College is interested in taking part in a scheme to bring back extinct animals using the latest DNA technology. Under a partnership between different learning facilities, Blackburn has been pencilled in for an attempt at bringing back the Dodo.  Some may say they look to have drawn the short straw here.  This unfortunate bird is certainly not glamorous, but more of a sign of pity.  It…

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Dog Tags Take Their Lead From Blackburn

Due to current overcrowding in British prisons, people on bail in Blackburn are to be given a choice of either being fitted with a normal leg tag monitor or receiving earlier release by taking part in an experiment which uses a robot dog to monitor their activities. Some years ago, my girlfriend and I were sat in one of Blackburn’s town centre pubs having a beer.  Then a lad came in wearing…

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Blackburn’s Cutting Edge Mask

A Blackburn inventor has come up with an idea for a face mask which also acts as an electric shaver. This cutting edge idea came to him during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Like many other people who were confined to their dwellings during this outbreak, he had plenty of time for reflection and to think about things.  It helped keep his mind sharp.  He also had plenty of inspiration from various kinds…

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Yank Wants To Buy Blackburn Cathedral

A rich American wants to buy and relocate Blackburn Cathedral across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA. Due to recent bad publicity in Blackburn Diocese, there was speculation the cathedral could have been closed down.  This prompted interest from a billionaire American property developer with local connections.  He was already interested in building a replica of St John’s Tavern, which he used to…

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Chinese Government Wants To Buy Blackburn Pub

Photo by a befendo on Unsplash Interest has been submitted by the Chinese government overseas property arm over their intention to buy an empty pub in Blackburn town centre. They have indicated their desire to set up a Service Centre, providing administrative services such as passport and driving licence renewals.  This would help to bring Chinese people from all over Britain to Blackburn. …

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Blackburn Morri’s Expanding Into Its Walkways

Morri’s surprised many people in Blackburn when they pulled out of their move across the road to the old Thwaites’ Brewery site.  But maybe an alternative had already been found within their current premises. Over a period of time a strange phenomenon has begun to take place in this superstore.  Tables started appearing in the walkways with assorted items on sale.  These started off with bakery…

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Blackburn Clock Tower's Dodgy Dials

Blackburn town centre used to have a clock, built in 1848,  which was the pride and joy to many of our fellow townsfolk. When it was demolished, due to town centre redevelopment, some people thought it was the end of the world.  Unfortunately these modernist styles used on its replacement didn’t go down very well with many folk.  It did look very tacky, not giving a good impression of our town. …

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Blackburn Rovers Being Run By The Peter Principle 

For two years running, there appear to have been embarrassing mistakes made by Blackburn Rovers staff over technical issues when attempting to sign players on deadline days.  There have also been other less high profile issues in regard to the general running of the club which have drawn concern from our fans.  It is being said by some Rovers fans, our club is being run on foundations of the…

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Blackburn’s Sands Of Time

Blackburn could be in line to cash in from these sand and dust storms which keep blowing over from the Sahara Desert. A project is being considered to try and collect this sand and use it for various cottage industries.  We might even find ourselves in a ‘Coals to Newcastle’ scenario,  where we end up selling sand back to the Arabs.  From Blackburn’s Barbary Coast to theirs. This phenomena of…

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Could We Soon See Blackburn’s Fleece Open Again?

Blackburn’s Fleece pub has stood derelict on Penny Street for years.  But with signs starting to appear that Morrisons may be on its way to moving across the road in the near future.  It could mean the Fleece being reinvigorated as a new public house for Blackburn town centre. Morrison’s intended re-location to Thwaites’ former seven-acre brewery site is seen as a major part of a £250M Master…

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Blackburn Bull Running Revival

A long forgotten Blackburn tradition could be revived as a way of boosting tourism to the town. It seems Blackburn was known for being one of a few British places where running of the bulls took place.  Many people will have heard of these kind of events taking place in Spain – Pamplona being its most famous festival – but bull running is far more widespread than just Spain.  It also takes place…

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Blackburn’s Mothballed Monolith

Due to financial cutbacks in local government and relocation of staff, Blackburn with Darwen Council now finds itself with a 14 storey office block surplus to requirements. It begs the question of what should be done with our town centre tower block.  This has led to various debates including demolition, turning it into residential accommodation, perhaps a hotel, or simply finding some other use…