Hello all. Just to remind everyone that Floyd street will be partially closed tomorrow, near the site of the ongoing fracking, as we reach the climax of this year’s Allen Key Centenary Celebrations. For those who need reminding, 100 years ago this week local lock-smiths (and cousins) Cyril Key and Norris Allen invented their world famous large “hex keys.” Originally named Cyrris Keys the cousins quickly found no one could spell this (not helped by the fact that customers couldn’t read or write) and so changed to the less clumsy and more memorable name Alan Allen-Key’s Keys, in honour of their late grandfather Alan Allen-Key, a blind blacksmith. A year after first making the keys Cyril and Norris met a passing American travelling salesmen and accidentally sold the patents to him for a shilling and a pint of cider each. The cunning salesman took his find back to the USA, and after much experimenting truncated the name and downsized the keys to make them pocket-sized (the originals were 3′ long). In doing so he made a fortune. But the cousins weren’t bitter “shortening the name was the “key” to success” they said a few years later “and we would never have thought of doing that.” Happily the family business still thrived and today operates out of an alcove in the back of Sainsco supermarket near the nappy aisle. Descendants of the Allen and Key families are tomorrow planning a day singing allen key-based songs, giving away allen key shaped balloons and selling cheap badges made from recycled allen keys. The big draw will be the rarely seen original Allen Key Display team, led by local actor Michael Crawford, reforming for one day only to wow crowds with their death defying allen key based stunts. So come on down, it’s not often you’ll get to see original allen keys in action. Yours Gary Grimsby. Mayor. Beckworth Town Council

(Above) The original full-size Alan Allen-Key’s Key of 1913