Former English teacher becomes Ribble Valley Mayor

Jan Alcock, who has volunteered at Clitheroe’s Cancer Research shop for an astounding 40-plus years, was born and raised in Ribble Valley and has been appointed as the new mayor for the area.

After studying English at Leicester University, she undertook a PGCE at Moray House, Edinburgh, before Alcock went on to enjoy teaching stints at Wakefield Girls’ High School, Westholme School in Blackburn, Oakhill School in Whalley and Clitheroe Grammar School.

While working in schools, Jan took up skiing and accompanied school groups to Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, France, Canada and the USA. Alcock later joined Ribble Valley Borough Council as representative for Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley – now Hurst Green and Whitewell – over 25 years ago and is a former chairman of the council’s licensing committee.

She served as a magistrate in Blackburn and Hyndburn adult and youth courts for 20 years and was a member of the Lancashire Magistrates’ Courts Committee. Jan is a trustee of the Ribble Rivers Trust and regularly joins volunteer groups to litter-pick and tidy vegetation, her best haul being a fridge-freezer and a six-foot gas canister at the Primrose Lodge Nature Reserve in Clitheroe.