John & Judith Müller

Judith was born at Springfield’s in Blackburn but lived with her parents and elder sister in Great Harwood until married.

She was christened, confirmed, attended school and was eventually married at St Bartholomew’s Church in Gt. Harwood.

John was also born in Blackburn and lived with his German father, English mother and 2 elder sisters on Yew Tree Drive. John attended the original Mellor Methodist Church and Sunday school. He went to Lammack Primary school which had just been built.

Judith’s early years were spent in the quiet surroundings of Gt. Harwood, where her father was a very accomplished painter and decorator. She spent many happy hours with her father, on local country walks and also as a family on steam train rides to various destinations.

John’s early years were not always happy, being born of a German father not many years after the 2nd world war, was not acceptable to many. He soon found that if he were to survive, he would have to stand up for himself; this got him into many quite serious altercations. Mr Müller (Snr), who arrived in England in 1932, came from Offenbach (Nr Frankfurt) this was an area which specialised in the manufacture of leather goods. John’s father made handbags and started a company in Blackburn called “Universal Leather Goods”. Mr Müller was able to bring over to this country a number of his Jewish friends, which undoubtedly saved their lives. During the war he was interned and spent the duration in Canada. However, there was a good side, there were many relations that still lived in Germany and John’s family went on holiday there each year to visit them. In the 1950’s, going abroad on holiday was almost unknown.

Judith achieved a personal goal and went to Chester Teacher Training College, where she spent 3 happy years training for a career she had always wanted to follow. Things were about to take a turn for the worst, having lived and trained in tranquil areas of the countryside, she was placed into tough areas of Liverpool for her teaching practise. She survived, just!

John is a very sporting person, an accomplished footballer but unfortunately had a possible flourishing career with Blackburn cut short due to a badly broken leg at the age of 17 years. This did not stop him playing badminton, where he has represented Blackburn and Lancashire.

It was through badminton that the two J’s met, some 38 years ago, Judith became a member of Lammack Badminton club of which John was a member. Judith came along to the majority of tournaments about the country and John went to her after school activities. Eventually, the marital knot was tied in August, 1977 and they were blessed with a daughter, Joanne, who will be 21 this year.

Joanne attended Mellor School and still attends the church when possible. She is presently taking a Bsc degree in Equine Science at Myerscough College.

For nearly 40 years Judith has applied her teaching skills in Blackburn and presently in Clayton-le-Moors. However, this chapter is about to close as she will retire in August of this year.

John works for Hanson Building Products at Accrington (Accrington Nori Brick) where he is involved in the building, production and design of Power Stations, Petrochemical Plants and Vessel linings for the Chemical Industry. John’s has also recently been involved in obtaining the “Pear Project” in Qatar where land is being regained from the sea for the purpose of building Hotels and holiday villas. The majority of the material required will be delivered from the local works at Accrington.

The 3 J’s, as they call themselves, are very settled in the Mellor area. and are happy to have been made so welcome into the congregation. You can blame them for the occasional laughter at the back of the church during the service, usually caused by John cracking some witticism while Judith passes him a stern rebuke or typical teachers withering look. Unfortunately, for Judith she does not seem to have learnt, that after nearly 40 years, John has become immune to it all. Judith and John can be seen on many occasions walking from their home on Barker Lane around the village, if you see them, stop and talk, they are very entertaining.