No Truth Please, We’re Accringtonites!

Stuart Maconie, a BBC 6 Music presenter and a regular on TV, travelled to Hyndburn while writing Hope and Glory to retrace the history of the Accrington Pals, who fought in the First World War.

However, the book paints a less-than-flattering portrait of the town today, complaining of ‘pallid youths’, ‘chain-smoking women’, graffiti and the prevalance of shops like Cash Converters that offer payday loans.

Sounds a lot like Southend!

Maconie writes: “The main street is a crowded, unlovely hotchpotch of cheap shops, minicab offices and fast-food outlets that can fur your arteries just by looking at their logos and a few desultory and cheerless pubs.”

Oh, no, not really that much like it, then. We mostly have coffee shops…

But the description hasn’t gone down well with the worthies in Accrington:

Michael Whewell, a chamber of trade member and owner of Whewells of Accrington in Bridge Street, said: “I live and work in Accrington and it is not very comforting to have these sorts of comments from outsiders. It is insulting.

“The town centre has had its problems but we have tried to improve its image.

“Cash Converters is a national chain. We also have a Costa Coffee and a Marks and Spencer but I notice he doesn’t mention those.”

Wow! A Marks and Spencer AND a Costa Coffee! Accrington’s going up!

Hyndburn Council leader Miles Parkinson added: “We would all like to be like Knightsbridge or Monte Carlo but we are a hard-working town that’s going through change to make it better.

“It is very easy to knock from the outside.”

The comments – usually vociferous in condemning the outside, are surprisingly in favour of Mr Maconie’s outlook, though...