Plans for the Easter holidays in 1969

The Thursday, April 3rd, edition of the Express carried a front page story about the forthcoming holiday activities and destinations for Burnley folk.

Today, holidays are much more fragmented, taken throughout the year, but this was not always the case in the not so distant past when set weeks were taken by much of the working population.

We also think holidays abroad are a very recent past-time, but it seems Burnley folk were venturing overseas.

“From the dizzy heights of the Eiffel Tower to the top of Pendle Hill...Norway’s fjords to the sand dunes at Best Bank...Boating on Thompson Park to strolling the decks of a cross-channel ferry...Faraway places and home fire-sides...These will be the contrasting attractions for Burnley folk this Easter weekend,” ran the editorial about “the first holiday of 1969”.

Schoolchildren, too, were set to enjoy themselves with the paper reporting the first school party to leave on a holiday trip was from Barden Secondary Modern School, off to a camp school at Hest Bank, near Morecambe.

Meanwhile, seven schoolchildren – from the Technical High School, Burnley Grammar School, Paddock House Convent Grammar School in Accrington, the Burnley High School and Rosegrove County Secondary School – were chosen to represent Burnley at its twin town of Vitry-sur-Seine, France.

Interestingly, not one of those schools exists today.

Meanwhile, it was “Bob a Job Week” for Scouts in the town according to full-page advert.

Billed as “the week Scouts lend a hand with Britain’s odd jobs”, the boys were available for baby sitting, car cleaning, carpet beating, errands, exercising dogs, lino polishing and much more.

On the nation’s television screens, 1969 would see the first appearance of the cult, surreal comedy “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.

Marriage was on the mind of musicians as Lulu tied the knot with Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees while Beatles’ Paul McCartney and John Lennon married Linda Eastman and Yoko Ono.

Finally, in the skies, Concorde made its maiden flight while the Harrier jump jet entered service with the RAF.