BACK in the sixties, you only had to say ‘Uncle Ernest’ in Rossendale and everyone knew who you were talking about.

For Ernest Culpan of Derby Terrace, Rawtenstall, had been a Sunday School teacher for 60 years.

He had been a household name for generations of Rossendale children, who attended St Mary’s Rawtenstall, where he had started teaching at the age of 13 at the turn of the century.

Ernest used to work in his family’s foundry business and was also a member of the Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors Club in Rawtenstall.

A lifelong member of St Mary’s he also belonged to the Kay Street Baptist Men’s Fellowship.

For Ernest Culpan of Derby Terrace, Rawtenstall, had been a Sunday School teacher for 60 years.

He had been a household name for generations of Rossendale children, who attended St Mary’s Rawtenstall, where he had started teaching at the age of 13 at the turn of the century.

Ernest used to work in his family’s foundry business and was also a member of the Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors Club in Rawtenstall.

A lifelong member of St Mary’s he also belonged to the Kay Street Baptist Men’s Fellowship.