Queen Street Mill can be found down the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the Lancashire village of Harle Syke on the outskirts of Burnley and is the world’s last surviving operational 19th century steam-powered weaving mill. Set up as a worker’s cooperative in 1894 the mill operated for decades after its contemporaries had ceasedContinue reading “Cotton Chronicles, Queen Street Mill, Part One; Raising Steam”
Tag Archives: #Northwestnatureandhistory
Clitheroe War Memorial
Clitheroe War Memorial depicts a Grenadier Guard bowing his head and stands in the grounds of Clitheroe Castle in the eponymous Ribble Valley market town, facing East towards the Nick O’ Pendle. The memorial was unveiled on the 18th of August 1923 by Lord Derby, the Mayor of Clitheroe at the time and commemorates theContinue reading “Clitheroe War Memorial”
Xanthoria parietina, the Sunburst Lichen
Sunburst Lichen In the world of Lichenology the Sunburst Lichen, Xanthoria parietina is considered a bit of a weed, growing rapidly and spreading to take over, sometimes literally growing over neighbouring, slower-growing or more delicate species of lichens, its scientific name comes from ‘xanthos’, a greek word meaning yellow, and parietina comes from the sameContinue reading “Xanthoria parietina, the Sunburst Lichen”
Cotton Chronicles, Kirk Mill, Chipping
Kirk Mill At the height of the Industrial Revolution the village of Chipping, originally an agricultural village, quickly became a thriving centre of the cotton industry, in 1831 a population census counted 1334 inhabitants, whereas only a few years earlier this number had hardly reached 3 figures! Seven spinning mills provided the employment for thisContinue reading “Cotton Chronicles, Kirk Mill, Chipping”
The Tiny Wren, and the Tale of how he became King of All the Birds
Jenny Wren The Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes, is the second smallest bird in the British isles, after the Goldcrest, and for such a small bird it has a huge personality. When you take into consideration their diminutive size they are incredibly loud, their familiar song, which is full of complex chirps, whistles and rattles is deliveredContinue reading “The Tiny Wren, and the Tale of how he became King of All the Birds”
Sika Deer
The rutting season for Sika, Cervus nippon, lasts from around September to November and is the best time for spotting this large deer skulking about the woods and forestry. Sika are similar in appearance to Fallow but are in fact foreign invaders and their size varies considerably, the more common Japanese sub-species has a shoulderContinue reading “Sika Deer”
The Ancient Art of Hedgelaying
Hedges As you walk or drive around Britain you may notice that much of our countryside is bisected by undulating, verdant ribbons of lush foliage which stand out from the fields like thin brush strokes in vivid shades of green. These are hedgerows and have been used for stock proofing and marking field boundaries forContinue reading “The Ancient Art of Hedgelaying”
Unnatural Histories, The Witches Way to Lancaster
It is over Four Hundred years since the infamous Pendle Witch Trials at Lancaster where the accused twelve were taken to be sentenced and hanged in 1612. In that fateful year, between the 17th and 19th of August, Eleven people went to trial on suspicion of practising witchcraft, it should have been Twelve but theContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Witches Way to Lancaster”
Northwest Nature and History 