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| photo courtesy Bryan Yorke |
An interesting development for the Different Moons project has been discovering a blog in which local people are writing about their own memories of the first Asian people to visit and settle in Haslingden. I was pointed towards the Haslingden Old and New blogspot by the author, Bryan Yorke; the blog itself can be visited by clicking here.
Bryan remembers a small group of friendly Pakistani men appearing when he was a boy and asking about property in Lower Lane (above), close to Station Road off Blackburn Road. They had a scrap of paper with a number of addresses written on it, listing property that was for sale. Several Asian families have reminisced to me about the ‘old days’ and the friendly, mixed, community in the Station Road area where locals and the Asian community lived side by side and celebrated events together.
There are also reminiscences about Asian men settling in to property on Blackburn Road, and the first halal grocery opening in that area. One woman remembers ‘Anna Mia’, who clearly is Mr. Aslom Miah, and readers of this blog will know that Mr Miah has been one of the people we have interviewed and who has recently written his own book about his experience of moving from Bangladesh to Rossendale.