It was no better this past week, in fact worse, when the wife, my sister-in-law Pat Kenny, who many of you A. H. Leach & Co employees will fondly remember and my grandson Daniel went to spend an afternoon in Todmorden.
It was plainly depressing and the only bit of good news I gleaned while in Tod was that the presently closed Black Swan opposite the market and the Town Hall on the Burnley Road could be opening down the line as, amongst other things, a posh wedding venue.
Being a news hound and keeping one's ears open while I enjoyed my scones and raspberry jam and a pot of tea, I overheard a conversation while in the Costermonger Café next door that the owner had grand designs on it. The self same owner who I noticed had a framed Castleford Tigers RL shirt on the wall, a scarf and a team picture leading into the kitchen.
With Burnley FC only 10 miles or so up the road, one didn't expect to find an oasis for Super League rugby league in Todmorden, a place I have always associated with Burnley and cricket with the local ground at Centre Vale said to be half in Lancashire and half in Yorkshire!
I will be sending a copy of this issue to Tigers' commercial manager Craig Poskitt.

YOU may have seen that Bradford Park Avenue have gone top of the UniBond Premier League as they head for Blue Square North and another step towards one day getting back into the Football League.
Their Brighouse Supporters Club section led by my old mate, Pork Scratchings Pete from Tofts Grove, Rastrick, have something of a celebrity playing for them right now.
Former Oldham and Stalybridge Celtic striker Chris Hall made his debut in Coronation Street last Friday as Craig Breakwell, an old mate of Steve McDonald's. They happened to bump into each other in the "other pub" – the Flying Horse – and Chris, who has also appeared in Hollyoaks recently with the delightful Emma Rigby, Shameless, Grange Hill, Spooks, Blue Murder and Survivors, was delighted to see his old mate.
He is hoping, I understand, to be retained in Corrie with Steve about to become a father.
Friday was something of a cameo appearance filmed six weeks ago. Hall scored Park Avenue's second goal in their 2-0 win over Marine to put them above Retford Utd and Boston Utd.

TALKING of personalities, Brighouse Town's top four rivals Teversal, who play within a good goalkeeper's punt of Chatsworth House on the borders of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, are receiving coaching from Chris Waddle.
The 49-year-old former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday forward is a summariser these days for the ESPN channel but when his commitments allow he is down with the Teversal boys.
I remember him as a gifted player who could make that ball do magical things and his tips to the Teversal lads will prove invaluable.

MANY of your sporty types may well have seen the Crusaders RL team make their Wrexham debut last Friday night on Sky Sports at a snowy Racecourse Ground.
Obviously these days and with summer rugby, they don't make rugby balls with a total orange coating, but that game needed an orange ball.
When I was with Mansfield and Huddersfield rugby league clubs I had to spray white balls with Holts touch-up spray, bought from Halfords.
The paint never ran and soon dried and the balls were seen by the spectators, reporters and the players alike.
When snow was on the ground we used to do our pitch markings with the old dolly blue which our mothers used to put in their washing machines. Ironically, that comes from a village en-route to Barrow-in-Furness, but it did the trick.
Looking at the Crusaders I feel they will do very well from their new northern base once they have played together a few more times.
Congratulations to them on landing a quick shirt sponsor in Suffolk brewery Greene King and pocketing £70,000 while the football club pocketed £70,000 as well.
Weather permitting Super League gets off the mark from this weekend with all clubs playing and on our doorstep what a derby to get things moving. Huddersfield Giants entertain Bradford Bulls tomorrow night.
I expect a real close run match. I thought they would have been putting that on Sky but they have plumped for Brian Noble taking his Crusaders back to his old club Wigan in the hope of a shock result.

TALKING of Sky and my lot, Doncaster Rovers, are on Sky tomorrow teatime (5.20) at home to the Royals of Reading.
It should be well worth watching as Reading are coming out of their shell right now under new manager Brian McDermott and we are through our post-Burnley shock of them wanting our manager.
Monday night on BBC 1, around 11.30pm, my boss at the club, chairman John Ryan is featured.
They are following him on Saturday and showing the end result in their local Football League programme.