SPELLING out the time - quite literally - for everyone in Barnoldswick is the town's new millennium clock.

Officially unveiled on Monday, the unique handmade clock uses the 12 different letters of the name "Barnoldswick" instead of numerals around its face.

At its centre are the white and red roses of Yorkshire and Lancashire, signifying Barnoldswick's place on the boundary between the two counties.

The clock - sited on the front of Nutter's Newsagents, on Albert Road - was developed and manufactured from an original design by Pamela Oddie, of York Fields.

She won a competition run by Barnoldswick Town Centre Forum. It was her simple but very effective idea to use the letters of the town's name in place of numerals, and to incorporate the two roses.

At Monday's ceremony she said she was very pleased with the end result and sure that no-one would have any difficulty telling the time by the unique clock.

It fell to Mrs Oddie, and former town councillor Dorothy Carthy, to formally unveil the clock on Monday.

It was Mrs Carthy who first suggested the idea of a town clock some years previously, together with the idea of appointing a town crier.

So it was quite fitting that Monday's ceremony began with Barnoldswick Town Crier Kevin Griffiths getting everyone's full attention. In now customary fashion, he had penned a special cry for the event, as follows:

"Oyez, oyez, oyez!

"Good citizens of Barlick, come listen to my rhyme,

"I'm here with all these dignitaries to mark this moment in time.

"Time is of the essence here, so gather in a flock,

"And watch the ceremonial unveiling of the clock.

"As we mark the new millennium, with this timepiece so ornate,

"Let's hope the next 1000 years will be a joy to celebrate.

"God save the Queen!"

Town and district councillor David Whipp told onlookers: "I'm here to thank the two ladies who were instrumental in bringing about the creation of our unique town clock."

He explained that, when she stepped down as a town councillor, Mrs Carthy had put forward the two ideas of a town crier and a town clock - both of which had now been achieved.

The £5,500 double-sided clock had been a partnership scheme, with funding from the town council, the town centre forum, Pendle Council, Pendle Partnership and even the North West Development Agency.

Coun Whipp also thanked Mrs Oddie for her innovative and eye-catching design.

He added, somewhat tongue in cheek, that originally the red rose had featured larger than the white, but the "good Yorkshire clockmakers in Leeds" said there was no way they could do that and made it with the white rose bigger!

In fact, it was a purely practical consideration, as the smaller hour hand would show up better against a white background, especially at night when the clock is internally lit.

Finally, Coun Whipp thanked everyone involved in the project, saying: "It is a wonderful timepiece and I'm sure we'll be very proud of it for many years to come."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.