A NOTE of sadness tinged the opening of a new exhibition on the cotton industry in Barnoldswick, just hours after the town's last link with its textile manufacturing past was severed.

On Friday, 92 workers clocked off for the last time at Lontex Industries, which produced quality cotton yarns at Fernbank Mill. The company's closure sounded the final death knell for the textile manufacturing industry in a town built on cotton.

Thankfully, Barnoldswick has adapted over the years, embracing new industries and new ideas.

The boom years, when cotton was king, are just a memory, but a memory kept very much alive by the new heritage exhibition. It was officially opened on Saturday, in the gallery at the town's library.

The opening keeps a promise made 18 months ago, when the former Heritage Museum was lost. It had been put together and developed by Tourist Information Centre manager, Kath Bennett, in a room at the rear of the centre, then located in the old library, on Fernlea Avenue.

However, when Pendle Council opened its Council Shop, on Station Road, the Tourist Information Centre was moved there. Sadly there was no room for the Heritage Museum, which had to be dismantled.

Many people protested at the loss of the museum. But West Craven councillors promised it would be replaced, setting up a working group and assigning funds to the project.

Saturda's opening was the culmination of that work, which has involved councillors, the library service and invaluable help from local historians.

The new exhibition is different to the museum in that it will change approximately every three months, covering a variety of topics such as transport, school days, and the impact of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Coun Whipp, as chairman of the working group, thanked those involved in the project, including Pendle Council's West Craven Committee for providing the funding.

"It's a partnership that has made this exhibition happen today and I think all those partners can be proud of what's been achieved," he said.

But Coun Whipp added that while Barnoldswick was indeed "built on cotton" and indebted to the textile trade, they were not necessarily the good old days.

"We're not looking at a rosy past but at a raw past. We look back with nostalgia and say 'Aye, they were grand days', but they were hard days too," he said.

The formal opening was carried out by the Mayor of Pendle, Coun Colin Waite, who said: "I'm quite certain it will give a lot of people a lot of pleasure."

As well as artifacts including shuttles, weaver's clogs and shawls and even a model of a loom, the exhibition features a range of display boards with old photographs, information on the cotton industry, what life was like in the mills, how the cotton boom affected the town, and how it all came to an end.

There is also a map showing the 15-or-so mills which once thrived in the town.

The free exhibition will run until November 28 at the library, which is open every day except Tuesday and Sunday.

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