My Burnley: Former Burnley Express editor Chris Daggett reflects on 30 years at the helm of the town's newspaper

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Chris Daggett and I have to confess to being a recently retired 61 year old who still thinks he is 21, make that 31, years of age! Married to Kate for nigh on 36 years, we have two flown-the-nest children, Tom and Mel, of whom we are extremely proud. Oh, I had better also give a shout out to our cat Maureen.

How long have you lived/worked in Burnley?

We have lived in the Ightenhill area of town since 1993. I started work in Burnley in 1992 while still living in Harrogate. I was honoured and privileged to spend the next 30 years as editor of the Burnley Express, as well as taking on the editorships of a series of other newspapers across Lancashire. My working life officially ended last June and I soon discovered the delights of Burnley Golf Club. Golf has become something of an obsession and the physical and mental benefits are amazing.

Why did you choose to live/stay/work in Burnley?

I have to confess that when I started work as editor of the Burnley Express our intention was to only spend a few years on this side of the Pennines before moving back to our hometown of Harrogate. But Burnley is an amazing place that sucks you in through an amazing strength of community coupled with an inner pride that best manifests itself in the town’s beloved Clarets. As the years went by and our children progressed through school our love affair with Burnley just grew and grew and, here we are 30 years later. We have made an amazing network of friends both Burnley born and bred and also many ‘incomers’ like ourselves.

One of the best things I did during my early days was to join Burnley Pendleside Rotary Club. Through rotary I feel a great sense of satisfaction at being able to support and help many local charities and individuals particularly through these most testing of times.

I may be a Yorkshireman by birth, but I am proud to call myself an adopted ‘Burnleyite.’

What do you think are the best parts of the town?

In a physical sense, the best parts of the town have got to be the amazing public parks and green spaces that many of us just take for granted. Our award-winning parks and historic Towneley Hall and Gawthorpe Hall are treasures that are often under-utilised by many of us. Our canal heritage also falls into the same category but the strides made in recent years are encouraging to say the least.

We recently had an engineer from Leeds come to fix our cooker. It was his first time in Burnley and he was literally gobsmacked by the countryside, green spaces and environment. Nuff (or should that be Neff) said!

It is impossible to ignore the massive impact that Burnley Football Club has on all our lives. The club gives us all a focal point and a sense of pride and belonging that must be the envy of towns and cities across the country.

Like Burnley, the club has been through good times and bad, but the success of the last 10 years is not just reward for the club, but is payback for a set of supporters who have stood by the Clarets through thick and thin.

Is there anything you dislike about Burnley?

It is hard to answer this question. Hand on heart one of my biggest gripes is the state of some of our housing stock and the number of empty, derelict buildings that unfortunately are sited on some of the main roads into our town. First impressions count a lot. Sadly, we still have a litter problem in many areas. While the town centre is massively Improved in this respect, we still have residents who don’t seem to care about our environment.

How would you describe Burnley to a visitor who has never been here before?

There is no simple way of describing Burnley to an outsider. As a founding member of the brilliant Burnley Bondholders organisation I have seen at first hand just how difficult it can be to change perceptions of our town.

The race riots of 2001 took their toll on our image and for years afterwards certain national media outlets really put the boot into us. Thankfully, that seems to have gone away and the success of Burnley Football Club has given brand Burnley a boost, not just on the regional and national stage, but the international one also.

Burnley is a town with a big heart, a great inner pride, a ‘can-do’ attitude and a town that is full of people with kind hearts and amazing community spirit. My message to anyone who has not been to Burnley would be simply: ‘Come and see for yourselves’.