Tourist chief slams scheme to

send away Crompton treasures A BOLTON business which brings foreign students into the town for fun and educational visits has blasted plans to send famous textile machinery out of the borough.

Marianne Murphy, of Euro-Family Connection, says she is "flabbergasted" by proposals to loan out Crompton's Mule and the Spinning Jenny to Manchester.

And she claims it indicates an underlying lack of commitment to tourism and heritage in the town.

As reported in the BEN, the council's arts sub-committee has recommended that the relics of the industrial revolution should be put on display elsewhere because they say there is no suitable venue in Bolton.

But Mrs Murphy said: "The one thing most of these students know about Bolton is the history of the textile industry. That's what they learn about in school lessons.

"Now it seems we'll have to say 'sorry, they're not here anymore.' I think it's absolutely dreadful."

She is convinced that a suitable building to display the machines could be found in Bolton if there was a strong enough determination to do it.

Euro-Family Connection plays host each summer to about 200 students aged 13 to 19 from around Europe and as far away as Japan, offering a mixture of lessons and excursions.

Mrs Murphy added: "There is little enough to see in Bolton anyway without moving these important items out.

"We have to take our visitors out to Liverpool, Bradford and other places to show them something interesting.

"That means they're spending all their money on afternoons out in other places and not putting it into Bolton's economy."

Dr John Gray says there is no suitable venue to safely display the textile machines and says it is better to display them in Manchester than keep them locked away.

A final decision on moving the machines will be made on November 1 by the full council.

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