Blacko
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2008-06-17T01:26:45Z
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{{infobox UK place|
|country = England
|latitude= 53.869
|longitude= -2.217
|population= 595 ([[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]])
|official_name= Blacko
|shire_district= [[Pendle]]
|shire_county = [[Lancashire]]
|region= North West England
|constituency_westminster= [[Pendle (UK Parliament constituency)|Pendle]]
|post_town= NELSON
|postcode_district = BB9
|postcode_area= BB
|dial_code= 01282
|os_grid_reference= SD856415
|london_distance=
}}
'''Blacko''' is a village and [[civil parish]] within the [[Pendle]] district of [[Lancashire]], [[England]]. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 595.
The village is on the old [[turnpike trust|turnpike road]] to [[Gisburn]] ([[A682 road|A682]]). The village enjoys views towards [[Boulsworth Hill]] to its south east, the former cotton town of [[Nelson, Lancashire|Nelson]], about two miles to its south and [[Pendle Hill]] to its west.
Overlooking the village is Stansfield Tower (also known as Blacko Tower), which was built around 1890. A local grocer, Jonathan Stansfield, built this circular rough stone tower to provide himself with a view over [[Ribblesdale]] from the top, but the height fell somewhat short. A [[Bronze Age]] axe, believed to be 3,500 years old, was found near the tower in 1952.
Blacko is set on a hill overlooking [[Pendle Water]] and in 2002 was the winner of the Lancashire Best Kept Village competition. Blacko was runner-up in the competition in 2005, being beaten by the village of [[Wrea Green]].
Blacko was the childhood home of Lancashire [[comedian]] [[Jimmy Clitheroe]] (1921-1973), famous for his [[BBC]] radio series ''[[The Clitheroe Kid]]'', who lived there from 1922 to 1935. Jimmy went to school in Blacko and appeared in many amateur concert party entertainments in the village's [[Methodist]] chapel, before turning professional in 1936.
Also during the 1930s it was the home of the comedian [[Tommy Trafford]], who played many summer seasons in the Lancashire seaside resort of [[Southport]] between the 1960s and 1980s, so many in fact that he was affectionately known in Lancashire as 'Mr Southport'.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/image_galleries/blacko_gallery.shtml BBC Sunday Stroll in Blacko]
[[Category:Towns and villages in Pendle]]
[[Category:Parishes of Lancashire]]
{{Lancashire-geo-stub}}