#Lune – Page 3 – Northwest Nature and History

The White-Clawed Crayfish

The White-Clawed Crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, is the only species of Crayfish native to the British isles, they are small crustaceans similar in appearance to a Lobster but a lot smaller. Some of the Northwest’s rivers, including the Lune, Wyre, Ribble and their tributaries, count amongst the crayfish’s strongholds in the British isles, they are veryContinue reading “The White-Clawed Crayfish”

Pink-footed Geese

The Pink-footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus visits us from October through to March and usually associates with other geese, often Greylag and Whitefronted. Every year over 400,000 fly here and head straight for the coastal marshes of the country, with about a quarter of this number over-wintering in Norfolk and the rest staying at various otherContinue reading “Pink-footed Geese”

The Caton Oak

In the Lancashire village of Caton in the Lune valley, on top of a medieval monument consisting of a set of stone steps, known as the ‘Fish Stones’ due to the fact that medieval monks from nearby Cockersand Abbey would display Salmon for sale upon them, stands a young Oak tree with an ancient history.Continue reading “The Caton Oak”

The Blooming of the Bluebell, Part One; When and Where

The Bluebell The flowering of the native British Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, is one of the surest signs that summer is just around the corner. Along with the blooming of the Snowdrop and Daffodil it is one of the three events which mark the flow of spring from the cold of winter through to the heatContinue reading “The Blooming of the Bluebell, Part One; When and Where”

The Cross of Greet

The Cross of Greet, or Top o’ Cross, is located on the highest point of the fell road between the villages of Slaidburn and Bentham at 1400 ft above sea level, marking both the watersheds of the Ribble and Lune rivers and the old, pre 1974, Lancashire/Yorkshire boundary. It sits at the top of theContinue reading “The Cross of Greet”

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”