In Lancashire’s west where the salt winds roar, the Vikings left names on the sand and the shore. Formby the farmland that Forni did claim, Ainsdale the valley that carries Einulf’s name.
Tag Archives: #Lancashire
Hen Harriers, Fates and Fortunes, Part Two
In Part One of this continuing series we left the Hen Harrier in the recent past, with the mixed fortunes of 2022 to 2024: record fledging years giving way to weather-hit productivity, satellite tags failing silent, and the brood-management trial paused for review.
Autumn Days when the Grass is Jewelled
(Excerpt) Autumn brings with it many sensory delights; sounds, tastes and sights unique to the season, yet it does not arrive with a single scent but instead with a layered, shifting perfume that settles into the hedgerows, woodlands, and wet country lanes.
The Black Seam: Mine Machines
(Excerpt) Lancashire’s coalfield was one of Britain’s most productive and innovative, its deep, gassy and heavily faulted seams drove continuous advances in mining technology from the medieval period through to the late twentieth century.
A Condensed History of Clitheroe Castle
(Excerpt) Clitheroe Castle served as the caput (administrative centre) of the Honour of Clitheroe, a large estate stretching along the western side of the Pennines. The de Lacy family, whose principal seat was at Pontefract, used it as a base for local governance and it functioned as a court, small prison, and centre for the administration of the surrounding forests and manors. A small garrison was maintained through the 13th century.
The Common Darter
In the serotinal days of late summer, when the countryside’s tones shift from emerald to gold, our insect life slowly fades from the scene and the buzz and hum of bees and flies dials back to the silence of winter.
Yet life still lingers, and some flying insects remain to stir the cooling autumnal air, including the striking and swift-flying Sympetrum striolatum, the Common Darter dragonfly.
Ring O’ Clogs
What ses Lancasheer to thee,
is it Blackpoo’ by the sea?
Is it wet ond muggy days,
ships on t’Mersey through the aze,
blackpuddings on a plate in’t shops,
is it shawls or whippet dogs,
or is it just the ring o’ clogs.
Ovinophobia, the Rise of the Anti-Sheep Movement
(Excerpt) In the early 2010s, a series of sharp critiques of British upland sheep farming emerged from environmental circles and gradually hardened into a sustained campaign. What began as polemical writing about ecological damage evolved into calls for the removal of sheep from the hills. This was framed as essential for nature recovery, flood prevention and rewilding, among other things.
