There are certain mysteries in life which beguile us, but we tend not to pursue their meaning.

One of these is what is that little pocket inside a pair of jeans, above the front right hand one for?  Another is the black diamond mark on those annoying metal tape measures.  The tape nearly cuts your hand when you let it return on its own after trying to measure your height.

But one of the strangest mysteries of all are these obscure carved signs which appear on some of our older buildings.  At first they look like the sign of the ancient Carthaginians, before the Romans finished them off.  But on closer inspection, the sign looks more like a three legged stool.

These are known as ‘Benchmarks’.  They are used as a way of measuring height above sea level and are placed there by the Ordnance Survey.  Many of us are familiar with maps from this government agency.  Some of us even understand what the symbols mean, such as a church with a spire, or a tower, or even a triangulation (trig) point.  But Benchmarks are a different kettle of fish altogether.

Some of these chiselled signs, usually a line with an arrow underneath, can date back as far as the early 19^th century.  The Ordnance Survey started to use them during mapping and surveying projects.  They were used to define a precise height above sea level.  This process was carried out using spirit leveling.  The horizontal marks were used to support a stable ‘bench’ for a leveling stave to rest on – hence ‘benchmarks’.  This design ensured that a stave could be accurately repositioned in the future and that all marks were uniform.

Unfortunately to many of us, this process sounds a bit complicated.  So it was probably a good idea leaving it to the surveyors and stone masons to carry out the work of calculating how far above sea level these buildings where.  At least we were safe in the knowledge Blackburn was too high up to be deluged by the sea.

There were over 500,000 benchmarks created, but this number is diminishing as roads change and buildings are demolished.  The advent of Global Positioning System (GPS) has replaced Benchmarks due to its highly accurate way of measuring and coordinating height above sea level anywhere in the world.  It has become the international standard for mapping and surveying.

Benchmarks may now have been consigned to the history books and old mapping archives.  As is the way of all technology, there’s always something approaching round the corner to replace the current norm.  But they played a valuable part in the surveying of our country and helped the Ordnance Survey to produce much needed accurate maps.

Blackburn still has a few public clocks in its town centre.  Not all of them tell the time correctly, or even at all.

Due to most people these days wearing watches, or using their mobile phones, finding the correct time is now at your fingertips or in your handbag or pocket.  But a couple of clocks not only tell the time, but let you know all about it.  Best one to start with is Blackburn Cathedral, which makes a big noise about its timekeeping.  Its three dials all tell the same time and it’s always correct.  Although its near neighbour, in Morrisons, chimes the same time a bit later.  Whether it’s the lamb or the lion which meets the pips, is up for debate.

Unfortunately the triangle which makes up Cathedral Square has another clock.  This one is high up on Blackburn Railway Station.  It stays as quiet as a mouse when its neighbours sound off.  Its fingers don’t seem to have moved for years, a bit like trains on a strike day.  Fortunately for travellers, this clock doesn’t determine what times trains are running.

As well as the aforementioned timepieces, Blackburn’s most well-known public clock must be its tower one on King William Street.  Sadly, only one of its dials tells the correct time.  Though the other couple do so twice a day.  This must be Blackburn’s most confusing clock.

Many Blackburners don’t realise there are more public clocks to be discovered in our town centre.  If you look across from St John’s Church on Victoria Street, you will see a clock on the building at the side of a local solicitors.  This timepiece always seems to be running and keeping good time.  Being connected to a law firm, it should know all about doing time.

Perhaps the most mysterious public clock in our town centre is the one at Sudell Cross.  It actually used to be based in one of Bradford’s railway stations.  There is a plaque next to the dial which says:  ‘Bought and erected in 1984 by J.H. Cartwright for the people of Blackburn’.  It’s worth remembering how standard time came about due to the advent of Britain’s railways.  Like the one at Blackburn Station, this tyke clock doesn’t seem to keep time on this side of the Pennines.

Time is one of those few things most of us want to believe to be accurate.  But like the news, it often gets distorted.  Maybe there are more public clocks ticking around Blackburn town centre?  Finding them just takes a bit of time, but don’t let it wind you up.

Britain’s secret intelligence service wants to set up a northern college.  Blackburn has been mentioned as a possible location.

Spying, the second oldest profession in the world, is as relevant today as it ever was and new recruits are always very much sought after.  But this is not a simple process.  They must have at least a decade of work experience, so cannot join straight from school, college or university.  There is a very long painstaking application form, which includes potentially embarrassing questions on both the application form and during the job interview.

Candidates will also have to go through a stringent vetting procedure.  This can not only include yourself, but close family members too.  Advice here is don’t put on Facebook that you’re applying for a job with British Intelligence.  All previous convictions for misdemeanours must also be declared.  Being the intelligence service, they will find anything on your record – or not declared – no matter how far back or so trivial, you don’t mention it.

Our town has been suggested as a venue for the spy academy due to its reputation for having an amiable local population.  Blackburners are known for being friendly, some may say even nosy.  This could make it a good place to test intelligence gathering skills.  These would include dead letter drops, microdots, bugs and the use of invisible ink.

This spy academy, by its very nature, will wish to keep its location as secret as possible, like the MI6 building at Albert Embankment in London.  One form of this secrecy will be the college having a ‘Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ style entrance to its premises.  This is where a laundry acted as a front in this hit American spy TV series.  It then led through secure corridors to a covert operations unit.  Something similar was done in the British series ‘UFO’, were the spies came from outer space.

Hopefully any such facility in Blackburn could turn out to be a national asset and its administrators will learn from mistakes made in the past at similar facilities.  On one such occasion a team of trainees were supposed to follow an alleged spy into a pub.  This exercise went horribly wrong when the trainees paid for drinks and a meal.  But by the time they sat down to their meal and drinks, their target upped and left the hostelry.  They said:  “Sod him” and got stuck into their food and drink instead and ended up having right a good knees up in the boozer.  Nothing like that should be expected in Blackburn.

Blackburn College is interested in taking part in a scheme to bring back extinct animals using the latest DNA technology.

Under a partnership between different learning facilities, Blackburn has been pencilled in for an attempt at bringing back the Dodo.  Some may say they look to have drawn the short straw here.  This unfortunate bird is certainly not glamorous, but more of a sign of pity.  It is a symbol of man’s ill treatment of our fellow earthly creatures and perhaps history’s most famous example of this.  The phrase:  ‘As dead as a Dodo’ is about a real creature, unlike the other about a doornail.

Dodos lived on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.  It was only discovered by Dutch sailors in 1598 and this association with our fellow human beings only lasted 64 years before this poor bird’s demise.  There were no natural predators on Mauritius, but that all changed with its discovery by explorers from Europe.  Not only was it human beings finding an ungainly and slow flightless bird, easily captured and eaten, but their fellow nautical travellers:  dogs, cats, pigs and especially rats, finished off the Dodo.

Sadly, all we have left of the Dodo are illustrations taken by naturalists and a few specimens in museums.  No complete bird was saved, although a head and other soft tissue remains are housed in Oxford University Natural History Museum.  These remains are the only specimens which have potential to release DNA.

Bringing this bird back from the dead is no mean feat.  Despite it looking like a cross between a turkey and a buzzard, it is actually a member of the pigeon family and its nearest living relative is the Nicobar Pigeon.  Although scientists believe a Dodo could be bred using either a chicken or a turkey.  If all else fails, maybe we could end up with a hybrid eating bird, with large eggs thrown in.

Another spin-off from Blackburn College working on the Dodo’s revival is recognition it would bring Blackburn.  A lot of people say our nightlife is dead and needs reviving.  The Dodo could  become a symbol of rejuvenation of our town.  Where there was extinction, there could be life.  Blackburn’s phoenix from the ashes could be a Dodo from a test tube.

Blackburn with Darwen Council could show recognition here with a new coat of arms for our borough, incorporating the Dodo.  Instead of a horn and bee, symbolising Blackburn’s first MP WH Hornby, we could use a Dodo and the Latin phrase ‘Sicut mortuus est dodo’.

Due to current overcrowding in British prisons, people on bail in Blackburn are to be given a choice of either being fitted with a normal leg tag monitor or receiving earlier release by taking part in an experiment which uses a robot dog to monitor their activities.

Some years ago, my girlfriend and I were sat in one of Blackburn’s town centre pubs having a beer.  Then a lad came in wearing shorts, despite it being the middle of winter.  Sylvia pointed out that along with a sheepish grin, he was wearing a tag on his leg.  With my usual naivety, I thought he was wearing his watch on his leg.  After all, this is Blackburn and some people like to do strange things in this town.

He walked around the bar making sure everyone could see what he was wearing.  This didn’t go down well with some customers, they questioned whether or not he should be served.  But having a bail hostel in our town centre, he wouldn’t be on his own.

Due to huge demands on Britain’s spiralling prison population, ways are being looked at to ease overcrowding and reduce this situation.  One of these ways is to reduce prisoner’s sentences or let them out earlier than their initial release date.  This is where today’s world of high technology comes in.  Tags are very handy and have proved useful in the past.  But they tend to draw attention to individuals wearing them, which sometimes isn’t such a good idea.

Many of us will have seen these nature programmes on TV which utilise ‘spy’ animals.  The animatronic creatures featured have proved very effective infiltrating habitats and filming animals they are modelled upon.  These TV programmes have not gone unnoticed by prison and probation services.

Due to adverse reaction from the public over wearing of tags, a suggestion has been put forward for something completely different and more pleasing to the eye for most people.  What could be better than man’s best friend?

Perhaps a surveillance dog could be the answer.  Those on bail would be fitted with a lead connected to an artificial spy dog and be able to frequent places away from their home.  This spy dog would also keep a record of their ‘master’s’ movements.  They could even take their animatronic companion into pubs which allow dogs.  After all, this kind of dog won’t be peeing on any carpet or crapping on the doormat.

We are a nation of dog lovers, certainly more than we are of surveillance tags.  But it could be considered most of us have our own form of tag anyway.  The word ‘cellular’ even sounds like it belongs in a prison.