Part One; How sheep farming became a major industry in the British isles There are currently around 38 million sheep in British isles, made up of more than 60 different breeds, not to mention an enormous variety of crossbreeds, or ‘mules’. In this series of articles I’ll write about the history of some of theseContinue reading “The Role of the Sheep in Shaping Britain’s History and Landscape, Part One”
Category Archives: #History
Crash Landing at Dunsop!
This article tells the story of an incident I witnessed some years ago whilst walking along the Hodder valley in Lancashire. In August 2012 I was out walking from Knowlemere estate towards Whitewell, enjoying the late summer scenery and minding my own business, as you do, when I espied (good word that, I’ll have toContinue reading “Crash Landing at Dunsop!”
A (pint) Potted History of the Hark to Bounty Inn
One day Reverend Wigglesworth and his entourage were enjoying some apres hunt drinks in the pub
Drystone Walls, a part of the Northern Landscape
Many visitors to the North of England comment on the multitude of stone walls winding their way across the landscape, these are part of the character of the countryside which brings those visitors here in the first place. On a cloudy day, their grey and green stones seem to fade into the hills and theContinue reading “Drystone Walls, a part of the Northern Landscape”
The Hodder Bridge Hotel
The Hodder bridge hotel The Hodder Bridge Hotel was once a very popular country Inn overlooking the Hodder near the village of Chaigley, It sits next to the Higher Hodder bridge at the foot of Kemple End. The hotel has now been converted into private houses but was once locally famous, with the views fromContinue reading “The Hodder Bridge Hotel”
The Rocks beneath our feet, Part 1
The Ice Age and Glacial Erratics The Ice Age As with all parts of the British isles the Northwest of England owes the current shape and form of its landscape to the geological processes of many hundreds of millions of years, some of which we‘ll look at in this series of articles. The most obviousContinue reading “The Rocks beneath our feet, Part 1”
Halton’s Mechanical Elephants, or The Polish-built Petrol-powered Pachyderms
Halton’s heritage Just up the river Lune, a couple of miles from the city of Lancaster, sits the historic village of Halton, once a bustling hub of industrial activity powered by the waters of the Lune. In the area’s hay-days, which lasted from the 17th to 19th centuries, the water-wheel powered mills, the oldest ofContinue reading “Halton’s Mechanical Elephants, or The Polish-built Petrol-powered Pachyderms”
Northwest Nature and History 