LAST month's article in the Todmorden News on the subject of Jacko's arrival in Centre Vale Park has prompted more readers to get in touch with their memories of the popular monkey.
In addition to recollections of seeing him on the park at events such as Todmorden Carnival and the agricultural show, one reader has come forward with details of possibly the monkey's greatest adventure - the day Jacko escaped.
John Hodgson, a fo
rmer member of staff at Dobroyd Castle School, recalled the day Jacko got loose and left the confines of the park, sparking a search throughout the town to find him.
After being spotted in various places, he appeared in the kitchen of a staff house at the school and defied the efforts of the fire brigade who had been called to catch him using a banana and a piece of rope.
Mr Hodgson and a groups of boys from the school then spent two days attempting to capture him. He said: "The hunt took us into the park woods where one boy fell down a cliff in his eagerness to catch Jacko.
"When I see where this happened now, my blood runs cold at what might have happened. In the event, the boy got up, shook himself and continued the hunt."
The next day, Jacko was spotted in fields near Ping Hold Farm and Mr Hodgson and his team again joined the pursuit. He said: "One boy had his hand bitten through by Jacko but stayed in the chase. Another boy threw his donkey jacket over Jacko and the escapade was over."
He said the reward for finally catching Jacko, who died in the mid 1970s, was a packet of cigarettes.
The full article contains 291 words and appears in Todmorden News newspaper.
