Lancashire

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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Sensation At Leighton Moss

November 3, 2011

There’s something very special happening on November evenings at the RSPB nature reserve, Leighton Moss, between Carnforth and Kendal. Yesterday Jen Walker wrote: “Crowds of people are flocking to see a wilder alternative to watching fireworks this year at Leighton Moss. At this time of year the sky comes alive at dusk, as enormous flocks [...]

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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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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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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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Around-England 2010: Extending Our Coverage

January 4, 2010

When I launched this blog just over eighteen months ago my plan was to start with the Lake District. I was also at the time developing a ‘non-blog’ site about the Lake District so that made logical sense, quite apart from the fact that along with Lancashire it’s the part of the country with which [...]

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