The famous line in a Beatles song, "A day in life" is "10,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire". This is about that town.
On the front line of segregation UK: NEIL TWEEDIE visits a Blackburn dominated by hilltop mosques and afflicted by 'worrying levels' of division
In borough of Blackburn with Darwen, 1/4 of its 150,000 people are Muslim
There is one street, Bastwell Road, with only one remaining white family
There are more than 40 mosques in the borough haunted by segregation
These districts are unrecognisable from the Blackburn of 50 years ago
By Neil Tweedie for the Daily Mail
Published: 18:59 EST, 5 December 2016 | Updated: 05:44 EST, 6 December 2016
What a strange thing it is to stand in a street in Britain asking someone if they know of a white family living in the neighbourhood.
This is liberal, multi-cultural Britain of the early 21st century, after all, not apartheid South Africa.
One would imagine that people of all races in this country mix, to some extent at least, in all towns and cities.
But this is Blackburn, in central Lancashire, a prime candidate for the title of Britain's most racially segregated community.
The young lady answering the query is British-Pakistani and says politely that she thinks the white family live in the house with the Ford car outside.
Behind us, a hilltop mosque dominates the surrounding streets, crescent moons pointing skyward. Minarets have replaced mill chimneys in Blackburn, once the centre of the cotton industry.
There are more than 40 mosques in the borough of Blackburn with Darwen, and about a quarter of its 150,000 people are Muslim. And that Muslim population is heavily concentrated in certain parts of the town, run-down areas like Whalley Range, Audley and Bastwell.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4003670/On-line-segregation-UK-NEIL-TWEEDIE-visits-Blackburn-dominated-hilltop-mosques-afflicted-worrying-levels-division.html#ixzz4S4N6MSXY
