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It was still pantomime season in Burnley and a number of local church Sunday Schools were playing in front of full houses. One such production was Cinderella by St. Oswald's Sunday School. It was a real family affair too, produced by Hazel Proctor of the Hazel Proctor School of Dancing, with Mr Leslie Proctor as stage manager and Mrs A. Proctor responsible for costumes.
The show, like many others by the Sunday Schools, were helping to raise much needed funds and this one had proved so popular that extra showings had to be swiftly arranged.
The children love a good panto - oh, yes they do - but that was not the case for one 12-year-old who had become a crime ringleader. He'd been involved in a number of stealing offences with boys older than himself but was undoubtedly the ringleader according to Mr T. Cook who was presiding at Burnley Juvenile Panel.
His father had left home and he took advantage of his mother, who was not in the best of health, and his grandmother's extreme age. His mother told the court: "I would like you to take him away if you don't mind. He is beyond my control." She added that some nights he didn't even come home until 11 p.m.
He was accused, along with others, of stealing 210 cigarettes, two boxes of matches and £7 6s 7d from a petrol station kiosk. The 12-year-old alone was accused of carrying offensive weapons, consisting of a knife, a length of chain and two pieces of leather fitted with brass studs.
The court decided to give him another chance when his uncle agreed to spend more time with him (presumably not when he was on the rob) and was placed under the supervision of probation officer Mr N. Yates.
Detectives found 187 raincoats in a garage in River Street Burnley and they were amongst some stolen from Lodge Mill, Barden Lane and as a result of their enquiries three men were in court.
All three were committed to custody after the police strongly objected to bail because ten coats were still missing.
Meanwhile, at the Co-op in Burnley, Aquatite raincoats were on sale for the first time in Burnley. It was never confirmed whether they just had ten on sale. But you could get them in an offer with Whytehart Interlock Underwear for Men. This modern style of underwear from Hartington's Textiles had a natural whiteness which meant longer wear and greater comfort.
Sometimes you had to admit that life was exciting in Burnley half a century ago. In this particular week in 1960 the annual luncheon of the Committee of the Industrial Life Officers took place.
The Rev F. G. Fuller addressed those who attended the luncheon and told them Noah was the first to take out life insurance. "He got all his friends and relatives together and collected from them timber, food and animals," said Rev Fuller, who added: "And what a wonderful investment it was! He was able to float a limited company while the whole world was in liquidation."
It was the big time for the Palace Theatre in St. James' Street Burnley with the appearance of sullen faced rock singer Adam Faith. The 19-year-old admitted to preferring Sibelius to rock music and to being an avid reader of modern novels.
There was no Sibelius around in the Palace that night as he rocked a full house to songs such as 'What do you want?'
On to the sport and there were concerns at a meeting of the Foden Bowling League at the White Lion Hotel when Mr. E. Sharpe, presiding, made allegations of bickering by the Parks Department.
The Foden League had done a great deal to foster bowling in Burnley. From it had sprung the Tuesday League and the Works' League but the charges on corporation greens had seen a drift towards private clubs.
"I would rather see the greens full at a charge of 3d for an hour's play than half empty for 6d an hour," said Mr Sharpe. He also said there was a real need for new woods, adding that it was no use encouraging young players if there were no bowls for them to use.
There was good and bad news for Lowerhouse Cricket Club. The bad news came about because of a number of cases of vandalism at their West End ground, and the club said they were determined to prosecute anyone found committing acts of vandalism.
Windows in the new scorebox had been smashed, forms had been broken and people were using the pitch to take a short cut to work. Mr Les Eastwood, secretary, said: "Much of the damage has been done by people old enough to know better."
The good news was that a new professional for 1960 had been engaged after Des Hoare had given back word. The new paid man would be Safdar Hamid (Jim) Minhas. He'd played for Lowerhouse in 1955 and 1956 as an amateur before playing two years as professional at Todmorden.
In 1959 he'd played for Kirk Burton in the Huddersfield League but he'd always held an ambition to return to Lowerhouse where he had many friends and had continued to practice at the club's nets.
However the big news was the football news and Burnley turned the tables on gallant Bradford City with a vengeance at Turf Moor when before an attendance of 52,850, who paid £7,648, they trounced them by five goals to nil in a game in which the superior skill and speed of the home side was everywhere and all the time in evidence.
While the Yorkshire side always showed the fighting spirit and were plucky triers, they were for the most part outclassed by a side who presented a different proposition to that given on Saturday, and were this time back on their old smooth running routine.
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Burnley were in front in the fifth minute when a POINTER shot bobbed through an opening into the net with City defenders out of position.
City could not cope with the swift close passing, varied by the long ball. They moved too slowly in their attempts to cover against nippy forward play. City did waste two chances though with wild shooting almost as high as the cricket field end of the stand.
Burnley went further ahead on eight minutes when McIlroy coolly avoided his bodyguard, hit a lofty pass into the centre and ROBSON was there with a jack knife header to beat the advancing Stewart.
The only surprise in the first half was that there were no further Burnley goals and with an hour gone the score remained at 2-0. Then, three goals in seven minutes completed the scoring.
Burnley's third goal came from a brilliant run by Pilkington, chased hard by Flockett. The wingman flicked a centre to POINTER who raced in and beat Stewart wide of the 'keeper's left hand.
The goal so roused the enthusiasm of a small boy that he ran on to the pitch and was brought down by a police officer who lost his helmet in the process.
CONNELLY, from McIlroy, swerved a shot to net the fourth one minute later and thus, Bradford City's hopes were eclipsed in this sudden goal rush, and with the home side well on top the Turf Moor passport into Round Six was assured.
Speed, skill and ball control, plus a team understanding par excellence beat and baffled the courageous City. ROBSON scored the fifth in the seventieth minute with a shot which beat Stewart who had not bargained for such a quick recovery from a two man tackle.
Right on the final whistle, Pilkington almost made it six but Stewart managed to save the shot low down and the final whistle blew with a 5-0 win for Burnley.
The teams were;
Burnley: Adam Blacklaw, John Angus, Alex Elder, Bobby Seith, Brian Miller, Jimmy Adamson, John Connelly, Jimmy McIlroy, Ray Pointer, Jimmy Robson, Brian Pilkington.
Bradford City: George Stewart, Tommy Flockett, George Mulholland, Malcolm Devitt, James Lawlor, Colin Roberts, Robert Webb, David Jackson, Derek Stokes, John Reid, David Boyle.
Referee: Mr E. T. Jennings (Stourbridge).
Attendance: 52,850.
On the same night, Wolves won a re-arranged league game against bottom club Luton Town and that took them into second place in the league with a two point lead over Burnley.
The following night saw another three games played with Sheffield Wednesday's win against Bolton taking Burnley down another place to fourth.
Click HERE to see the League Table
FA Cup 5th Round Replay Results 23rd February 1960
Burnley 5 Bradford City 0
First Division Results 23rd February 1960
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Luton Town 2
First Division Results 24th February 1960
Chelsea 2 West Bromwich Albion 2
Leicester City 3 Manchester United 1
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Bolton Wanderers 0