The second is an enlargement of part of that photo showing a very interesting, at least to me, detail. Ben has made the enlargement for which I thank him.

Slater's Clock was the feature that gave its name to Clock Tower Mill which stood, until recently, in Sandygate.
Originally, the mill was known as Sandygate Mill acquiring its later name in 1863 when the clock tower was erected by George Slater, the cotton spinner who operated the mill. We still have connections to this day with the Slater family in Burnley: Colonel Slater's Homes, named after George's son, are in Briercliffe Road. They are almshouses run by local trustees one of whom has connections with the founding family.

As you can see, the view from the platform below the clock was an interesting one. Here the view is of a part of Burnley which has changed very much. We are looking down Sandygate towards its irregular junctions with St James's Street, Westgate and King Street and at least one building can still be identified. Others some of you will recall without much difficulty.

In the first picture the building which still survives is in the foreground (on the extreme left) and is the old Maltings in Sandygate. This part of Burnley once contained the Bridge End Brewery which was founded in 1750 and Lord Massey purchased the business and the name of Massey's Burnley Beers was known throughout the district. You can see the Bridge End Brewery in the first picture; the tower in the centre, left and the 1908 extension can be seen almost in the middle of the photo.

Another building many of you will remember is the Atlas Iron Works. This is more difficult, I suspect, to see in the first picture but if you consider the second the Atlas Iron Works is the large building in the bottom right hand corner. It stood in Calder Vale Road and, in 1933, it was operated by James Pollard Ltd, and they described themselves as iron founders, machinists and makers of vacuum cleaning plant. At this time there was still a member of the family associated with the business, Mr William Pollard, who lived at 104 Rosehill Road. I have long since wanted to know more about this firm and if anyone can help me, please get in touch.

After marvelling at the number of mill chimneys in the town – you can see lots of them in the first picture – turn your attention to the second. In the centre of this photo you will see a square of houses. The telephone exchange occupies the site these days but what you are looking at are the club houses, some of the most interesting domestic buildings ever erected in Burnley.

The name of the property gives a clue as to the origins of these houses. The operative word is "club" because the people who constructed them "clubbed together" to build them. In actual fact they set up a club the aim of which was to build about 60 houses mostly for the members of what was properly called the Hall Union Club. The local historian Walter Bennett suggests the name might derive from the place where the members of the club met, the Hall Inn.

The building project can be dated from just before 1800 and the club was a terminating building society. We are more familiar with permanent building societies. The difference between the two is that the former had limited objectives which, once they were achieved, resulted in the club (or society) ending its existence. Permanent building societies – the Burnley Building Society and Borough Building Society – fall into this category, had on-going objectives and lasted rather longer. I would argue that the loss of the Burnley was a disaster for the town benefiting no one substantially other than a few financiers.

The Hall Union Club was founded to build the 60 or so properties that became known as the club houses though it is possible other houses were constructed in the same area but outside the square. We know some of the names of some of the people involved. Perhaps the most well-known was the Rev. John Raws, assistant curate of Burnley and headmaster of the Grammar School.

Some might be surprised by such a man being involved but when consideration is given to some of the other names – a list which includes lawyers, textile manufacturers, a miller and several innkeepers – one can see that it was not only working men who were involved.

A number of their names are also known and among them were cloggers, plasterers and staymakers. It is likely the houses were intended to be occupied by working people, some as owner-occupiers, others as tenants.

I was a bit disappointed to find the Hall Union Club was not dominated by working men who wanted to co-operate with their friends to put roofs over their heads. This is how terminating building societies are supposed to be but, on the other hand, the involvement of men with capital made this project a success.

The club houses provided accommodation for Burnley people for something like 130 years before they were demolished before the last war. Of course, as is often the case and largely because of their location, what were originally good houses became less desirable than once they had been.

Older readers might remember them at the end of their service and doubtless they were glad to see the back of them. But me, I would have liked to have seen the club houses when they provided homes to Burnley's growing artisan class, those largely forgotten people who made Burnley the most important cotton weaving town in the world.