WITH 2009 dawning to the woes of the credit crunch and fears over job losses, this week's memories harks back to a similar time of high unemployment.

Early in 1981 the jobless rate for Ormskirk was 17.2% of the working population, well above the national figure of 10%. At the time there were only 22 vacancies in the Ormskirk unemployment office.

More than 50 people were made redundant at Universal Bulk Handling on Orrell Lane, Burscough. The news came as a blow to workers as the company had only announced a £150,000 order a few weeks before.

ORMSKIRK farmers were counting the cost of one of the worst winters in living memory in January 1982.

The frost destroyed 40 acres of leeks at Ray Jeffs' Halsall farm.

He said the attack of frostbite had cost him in excess of five figures and 15 staff had been made redundant.

WEST Lancashire people were appearing on our national television screens in the early months of 1981.

In January Parbold ventriloquist and actor Dawson Chance started his own television show called "Take A Chance".

Dawson's partners on the show included a bull and a donkey in a kilt and was proving a big hit with children all over the country.

WEST Lancashire firefighters were making a big splash for a television programme in September, 1977.

The Ormskirk crew were hired by Granada Television to provide water to make it look like it was raining for the filming of a television programme called 'The Last Romantic'.

Television crew members were filming a stormy night scene at Bickerstaffe Mill. Firefighters turned the hoses on for the filming and soaked the production team who didn't get out of the way quickly enough.

Although the series was filmed in Bickerstaffe it was actually set in Suffolk. Large crowds of people came out to watch the show being made.

In November, 1977, there was a firefighters strike and 14 brave volunteers from Scarisbrick came forward to plug the gap.

They were Phil Scarisbrick, Alan Walsh, Steve Davey, Neil Charsley, Arthur Poole, John Forshaw, Alan Jones, Chris Bound, Gordon Tattersall, John Stringman, Chris Halsall and Andrew Horner.

The crew members all came forward after Alan Walsh sounded the rallying cry for volunteers.

They were all trained up and reported for duty after working hours to deal with emergency calls from the Heaton's Bridge, Narrow Moss and Smithy Lane areas.

WEST Lancashire sports fans rubbed shoulders with some of their heroes when they visited the town in October 1980.

Former world snooker champion Terry Griffiths played to a packed house at the Comrades Club in County Road, Ormskirk.

He beat former world amateur champion Cliff Wilson by five frames to four over nine exhibition frames.

CHILDREN from St John's CE Primary School in Burscough celebrated harvest festival in October 1980 by taking a close look at where their food comes from.

Pupils went along to farmer Jim Hesketh's barn and sat among the bales of hay for the traditional autumn service.

After the sermon the children went on a tour of the farm to see how Farmer Jim worked. They enjoyed the trip so much they painted pictures about it when they got back to the school.

THIS week we take a look at a Rufford teenager who was saddled with a mammoth task back in 1982.

Guy Turnball, 18, set out on a sponsored cycle ride around all the Benedictine monasteries in Great Britain.

Guy, a former St Bede's pupil took on the 1,836-mile journey to coincide with the 1,500th anniversary of the birth of St Benedictine and to raise £10,000 for the Society of the Protection of Unborn Children.

THIS week we have soccer mad Darren Donnelly who dreamt of becoming a professional footballer back in 1986.

The football fanatic from Flordan, Birch Green, Skelmersdale had already gained a place in the Blackburn Rovers before being named as 'best pupil' during a course for the Lancashire Schoolboys team.

Darren, 14, was a pupil at St Thomas the Apostle, and was picked as cream of the crop out of eight other West Lancashire boys competing.

THERE were double celebrations all round for twins Colin and Mark Aspinwall who got matching degrees in 1987.

The Aspinwall brothers from Sandy Lane in Holmeswood both attended Loughborough University of Technology.

The brothers, whose family own Holmeswood Coaches, studied automotive engineering and design.

GOLFING legends Tommy Armour III and Christie O'Connor Jnr made a young Lydiate lad's day at an international golf tournament at Royal Birkdale in 1987.

Graham Birchall won the Whitegates Junior Putting Trophy and got to meet some of the finest golfers in the world.

Armour first joined the PGA Tour in 1981 at the age of 21.