This short and easy walk starts and finishes at the Inn at Whitewell in the Hodder valley, it shouldn’t take longer than 2 hours and, although it can be a bit muddy at a couple of spots, is fairly easy going. It’s a popular place in the summer so can be very busy on sunnyContinue reading “Northwest Walks, a short walk around Whitewell”
Category Archives: Forest of Bowland
Limekiln Landscapes; the Legacy of Bowland’s Limekilns
Hidden away deep in the Forest of Bowland, sagged and slumped under the weight of time and overgrown with mosses, ferns and lichens, lie relics of a once great industry; the manufacture of Quicklime. These unassuming structures, now mostly reclaimed by time and nature, were once vital to the agricultural and economic life of theContinue reading “Limekiln Landscapes; the Legacy of Bowland’s Limekilns”
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the name of the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The word ‘shrove’ is the past tense of the English verb ‘shrive’, which describes the means by which to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of confession and penance. On this day, Catholics are encouraged to go toContinue reading “Shrove Tuesday”
Admiring the Barns and Walls of Northwest England
The Northwest of England is home to some remarkably beautiful landscapes, shaped over millennia by traditional farming practices. It is a part of the world famous for its ancient drystone walls and barns, built from the bones of the land and woven seamlessly into its very fabric in such a way that manmade and naturalContinue reading “Admiring the Barns and Walls of Northwest England”
Unnatural Histories, The Martyr’s Skull
Deep in the ancient Forest of Bowland, at the heart of a medieval hunting estate, sits the old stone hall of Browsholme. At one end of the hall, in a dark library full of odds-and-ends from over the centuries, suits of armour, swords, muskets and even a piece of a zeppelin, stands a locked cabinet.Continue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Martyr’s Skull”
The Melancholy Thistle
The Melancholy Thistle, Cirsium heterophyllum, Cirsium originating from the Greek word ‘kirsos’, meaning swollen vein which refers to thistles being used as a cure for varicose veins, and heterophylum meaning ‘different leaf’, is a fairly tall thistle with a deeply-furrowed, wooly stem, large flower-heads and soft, downy leaves with an almost felt-like underneath. It prefersContinue reading “The Melancholy Thistle”
Hen Harriers, Fates and Fortunes, Part One
The Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus, is a medium-sized bird of prey, found throughout Europe and resident in the UK. Its scientific name aptly describes the appearance of the bird, with circus, the Latin for ‘circle’ or ‘ring’, referring to the propensity of the female and juvenile birds to have white rings around their tails, (whichContinue reading “Hen Harriers, Fates and Fortunes, Part One”
Northwest Walks, Beacon Fell to Brock Bottom and back again
This is a short 3 mile walk around Beacon Fell Country Park, it should take about a couple of hours, including time to have a picnic! The going is fairly easy as a large proportion of the route is on country lanes or paved, and the descent and return back to the carpark are onContinue reading “Northwest Walks, Beacon Fell to Brock Bottom and back again”
Northwest Nature and History 