Lancashire

Towneley Hall, Burnley

April 18, 2012

Towneley Hall, Burnley was built over many centuries, from the early-15th to the 19th, as home to the Towneley family. Historically, although many have been eminent public servants, the most famous member of the family was possibly Charles Towneley, the 18th century collector whose marbles and brasses form an important part of collections at the [...]

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Nature in the North – Smitten bitterns at Leighton Moss

March 30, 2012

Spring is sprung! And the RSPB at Leighton Moss report lovey-dovey bitterns. The other day Annabel Rushton wrote: Our very lucky Visitor Services Manager Jacqui was out for a stroll on the reserve yesterday evening and witnessed a rare treat at the bottom of the causeway.  She was listening to our male bittern booming and suddenly he [...]

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Brockholes, Preston – “An Unreserved Reserve”

November 11, 2011

Brockholes Nature Reserve just outside Preston is a remarkable initiative of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. I am old enough to remember the building of Britain’s first motorway. And it wasn’t the M1; it was the M6 Preston bypass. For almost forty years I would regularly drive the seven or eight miles from home to join [...]

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Two Great Lancashire Buildings

February 17, 2011

Last week I mentioned some of the items on the blog that had received most attention since they were published. One of these was on Towneley Hall, Burnley.  The picture there was taken from my copy of the 1909 brochure, so I thought that today I’d put up here one of my own photos from [...]

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A Lancashire Surprise

February 12, 2011

This morning I decided to take a look at the visitor statistics for the Around-England blog, and got some surprises. The most visited places on the blog Previously, if anyone had asked me which had been the most popular items I might have guessed at some of my posts about the Lake District.  For example, [...]

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Landscapes of the Ribble, by Andy Latham

January 15, 2010

I have written several times recently about the River Ribble and its tributaries, especially the Hodder.   Now, here is a new book to enjoy. The Ribble is substantially a Lancashire river, but in fact rises in the heights above the Yorkshire Dales. These are outstanding landscapes, walking-country par excellence, from the bleakness of the river’s [...]

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The Hodder and Bowland in Winter

January 13, 2010

In previous articles I’ve referred to my love of the River Hodder in Lancashire.  Recently I came across some photographs taken one very snowy Saturday morning in, I think, 1991 (or it may have been 1992). It was a splendidly crisp day, and great to walk where no man had gone before, as it were.  [...]

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East Lancashire snow: How farmers are coping

January 12, 2010

As I looked around this morning for something that illustrated the challenges faced by people during this period of unfamiliarly heavy and protracted snowfall in England I came across the following.  It gives a down-to-earth description of the situation for many of the people who produce our food.  The rest of us should be grateful. [...]

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The Hodder – Lancashire’s Most Beautiful River

January 9, 2010

“Lancashire” – to many outside the Northwest of England the county name conjures up mental images of congested  towns full of blackened mills and street upon street of grubby ‘back-to-back’ houses.  Having grown up in Burnley then lived for several decades in Darwen and Blackburn I can confirm that there is a degree of reality [...]

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Burnley, Lancashire – Towneley Hall and Woodland Park

January 7, 2010

When looking through the December 2009 issue of Country Walking Magazine I was rather surprised to find Burnley, Lancashire, listed among the month’s twenty-six recommended walking routes.  Now before anyone jumps to the conclusion that this is a southerner talking out of the top of his hat about the industrial north and “dark satanic mills”, [...]

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