REGULAR readers of this column may recall a 'discussion' through these pages which I have been having with Mr Lance Watkinson, of Manchester Road, Blackrod, about the origins of the Headless cross at Grimeford, just up the lane towards Rivington from the Millstone pub.

We agree that at one time it was sited in a pond in the grounds of Ridgmont, Horwich, that when Lord Leverhulme bought that estate, he had the Cross moved to his Bungalow at Rivington, and then it was later transferred to its present position.

But the question is: 'Where was it originally?' You may recall that it mentions distances to 'Blagburn', 'Preston', 'Wiggan', and 'Boulton', so it must have been on a road, and I said that I thought it was back in its original position.

'But why in that case', asks Mr Watkinson quite reasonably in his latest letter, 'was it found necessary to remove it and then transport it about three miles to dispose of it in a pond at Ridgmont? Obviously, in those far off days, the transporter would have passed numerous ponds, or other sites of which to dispose of his unwanted load - namely, the Milestone.'

And he has sent me a map, which unfortunately I cannot reproduce, pn which he has marked where he says is the original site of the Cross, on the Bolton and Nightingale Turnpike Trust Road, which used to run from Bolton to Horwich before Chorley Old Road was built, and went through Fleet Street, Horwich (just behind Ridgmont). Mr Watkinson says the original site of the Headless Cross was near the bottom of Fleet Street.

That is certainly a strong point of view. However, Joseph Ridgway, who owned Ridgmont House, was a big collector of stone artifacts, and that may be why the Cross found its way there, together with many parts of his collection, and may be the answer to the 'three miles' question.

Possibly the Millstone, or perhaps 'Milestone' as it could have been, may indicate that a singpost of some kind was nearby. And in historian M.D. Smith's book, 'Rivington, Lancashire', he says that after the Headless Cross had been in Leverhulme's Bungalow grounds, 'it was replaced at Grimeford from where it originally came.'

So with great respect to Mr Watkinson, it appears that the mystery remains. Can anyone else help with any definite information which might settle this discussion?