I was particularly pleased to see the name of my former colleague Noel Coates among the contributors though all those who have been involved can be very pleased with what they have achieved. Noel wrote, some 30 years ago, what is regarded by many as the best book written on our local railways though, somehow, I have contrived to lose my own copy.

If I had access to Noel's book I am sure I would not have had the difficulty I have had with the photo I publish today. I wanted to publish an image illustrative of Burnley's railway history without interfering with the current exhibition. As you can see, the image is taken from a postcard entitled "Pendle Hill from Danes House Bridge", but, since the photo was taken, so much has changed in this part of town I have had difficulty in getting my bearings and, when that has been achieved, I have been engulfed by doubts the picture might be of Reedley or Brierfield.

However, I am confident the makers of this splendid card have described its location accurately. Daneshouse Bridge is some yards behind the photographer and this added to my initial confusion. I could not think of a reason for the lines leaving the main track (bottom right), the purpose of the fenced "lane" (bottom left) and how the building with the large doors into which two small vehicles are disappearing (extreme right) was used.

The only way to resolve these problems is to consult a map and, fortunately, the Ordnance Survey's Burnley edition of 1912, which was surveyed in 1909, provides most of the answers. The lines to the right served Daneshouse Yard which was run by Burnley Corporation. One tends to forget just how many there were of installations similar to this yard. Some were publicly owned, others were in private hands but they were necessary in the days when the railways were the dominant force in goods transport.

The building on the extreme right was within the yard and served as the terminus for a small tramway doubtless run by the corporation. It seems the tramway gave access to both the main line and another tramway which is off the photo but visible on the 1912 and other maps.

What appears, in the picture, to be a lovely tree-lined lane, left, appears to have been the farm which gave access to Old Hall Farm. Only one of the maps I have consulted – it was made by a Burnley Corporation official in 1896 – shows the lane in the position in which it appears in the photo, but that is good enough for me. At one time I was thinking the lane might not be a highway or access road. The other alternative was that which appeared to be a lane might be part of another tramway – the one from Clifton Colliery, round Stoneyholme to Daneshouse.

If you look closely at the picture you will see there are a number of signs that some kind of building work adjacent to the railway is getting under way. This can be seen most clearly in the middle distance, right, where it appears turf has been removed from the land in preparation for the widening of the line. It is known this happened when the famous Oswald Street Gas Works was built, but this picture was taken some years before that.

Little has been written of the history of the gas industry in Burnley but I know the decision to construct the gas works (Burnley's third) was taken in 1922, work beginning three years later.

In fact, in writing this article, I feel rather guilty in that I have not contacted, in recent times, one of my readers with whom I share an interest in Burnley's gas undertakings.

He would confirm that Oswald Street Gas Works came to occupy part of the field roughly in the middle of the photo and this changed what was, as you can see, a rural view into what became a predominantly industrial one.

This picture reminds us what this area was like before industrialisation and urbanisation. Note the woodland. It is possible a part of Crow Wood can be seen (extreme left) and Spring Wood (middle distance) and perhaps Heald Wood (in the further distance) are visible. Woodland apart, the land in this part of Burnley is some of the best for agricultural purposes that we possess.

It is sad to remind ourselves that, along with parts of the Royle Estate, much of it is now under the M65.

In the background, you may be able to see Pendle. It serves to remind us the stories associated with that great hill are as much our story as they are those of the borough which takes its name from the hill.

Before I sign off, I would like to thank Burnley Reference Library for permission to use the photo which accompanies this article. I also want to encourage readers to visit the exhibition itself.

You will not be disappointed. The Steam Locomotives and Engineers of Rosegrove and Burnley exhibition runs until August 23rd.