Rivington 'bazaar' shock SIR: After an interesting and enjoyable walk at Rivingon with friends from outside the area, we called at the Great House Barn for light refreshments - and to see the visual display units featuring the histories of the area, local landmarks, personalities, the countryside around Rivington and the histories of the Rivington and Anglezarke reservoirs. But they weren't there. Neither was the small information section with its counter manned by the Ranger Service and set aside to provide information to walkers and visitors.
Instead the space commandeering the whole of one side had been allocated for what I can best describe as a three-penny bazaar. On sale were goods varying from a bar of soap to a cuddly toy. Most of the merchandise could have been bought in any town centre in any part of the country and, irrespective of its quality, had little if any connection with the locality or the countryside.
On inquiring, I discovered that the idea was to move the exhibition, and, presumably the information service, to the upstairs room in one of the cottages 50 yards away and next to the toilet block.
I understand that, in order to "make things more convenient" for people with disability, discussions are taking place about installing a lift in the new venue. If this does happen, which I doubt, it eludes me as to how anyone could suggest that the changes could be more convenient for elderly or disabled people (or school parties) than before, when they simply entered through the front door of the Barn, where they have been able to take refreshments and also see the exhibition in one venue. I would suggest that most disabled people who visit Rivington (often in groups) would prefer to find out about the area rather than be confronted by an assembly of goods for sale. It is a move which should not be taken in order to appease the retailers.
Great House Barn is one of the best examples in northern Lancashire of a Cruck Barn with its handsome timbers. It has been a place where school parties and walkers of all ages have been able to enjoy a cup of tea while browsing around the exhibition, with the Barn fulfilling an educational as well as recreational use. Unfortunately, the ambience is now more akin to that of a shopping mall than an information centre. It contrasts starkly with the information centres at Roddlesworth and Haslingden, packed with local countryside information and illustrations and complete with their own well-displayed exhibitions. Furthermore, when the recently-depleted Ranger Service is not available to man the exhibition in its new abode, the room will be closed - which I am told will not be infrequent.
It is ironical that this decision has been approved by the West Pennine Moors management group after North West Water had been rightly praised for extensive repair work last year to the roof. More than a decade ago the building was reopened by Sir Derek Barber (later Lord Barber), the then chairman of the Countryside Commission, as an information centre and was partly financed by public money through the Commission. Please think again.
A Shaw,
Higher Dunscar,
Egerton, Bolton.
PS: Although the most popular of all the West Pennine Moors' beauty spots, Rivington is at present the only one without an information centre. ?
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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