The Lancashire Witches’, by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy One voice for ten dragged this way onceby superstition, ignorance.Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Witch: female, cunning, manless, old,daughter of such, of evil faith;in the murk of Pendle Hill, a crone. Here, heavy storm-clouds, ill-will brewed,over fields, fells, farms, blighted woods.On the wind’sContinue reading “The Lancashire Witches’ by Carol Ann Duffy”
Tag Archives: #UnnaturalHistories
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”
Unnatural Histories, The Fairy hole Caves at Whitewell
Lancashire isn’t exactly well known for its caves, with neighbouring Yorkshire enjoying all the potholing fun, but the edge of the Limestone reefs that underlie the North Yorkshire moors, which are famous for their extensive cave systems, do show their face again one last time in Lancashire before disappearing beneath the shale and gritstone ofContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Fairy hole Caves at Whitewell”
Unnatural Histories, A Grim Discovery at Quernmore
Quernmore Dark Age Burial In 1973 a dog walker, James Marshall, was walking his dog near Jubilee Tower on the fells above the village of Quernmore. Recently builders had been constructing a car park for the tower, a popular local landmark and viewpoint, and had been removing peat with a digger. Peculiar wooden artifacts AsContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, A Grim Discovery at Quernmore”
Unnatural Histories, Pudsey’s Leap and the Fairy’s Silver Bit
In St Peter and St Paul’s church in the village of Bolton-by-Bowland in deepest, darkest Lancashire you can find the ornate tomb of the 15th century landowner, Sir Ralph Pudsey, his three wives and twenty-five children. There are many stories about Ralph Pudsey but one stands out more than the others, this story is theContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, Pudsey’s Leap and the Fairy’s Silver Bit”
Unnatural Histories, The Mysterious Murder of Jim Dawson
The murder of Jim Dawson In March 1934, on a quiet country lane just outside the tiny village of Bashall Eaves, Yorkshire, a mysterious murder once occurred that has remained unsolved to this day, yet still haunts the local imagination. Still a mystery to this day The murder of Jim Dawson, who was returning homeContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Mysterious Murder of Jim Dawson”
Unnatural Histories, The Peculier tale of Peg O’ Nell
Peg O’ Nell or ‘peg of the well’ is a name which nearly everyone in Clitheroe and the surrounding area knows, a character from local folklore whose history is somewhat vague and the nature of which is thought to be malevolent. St Margaret’s well Historians believe that Peg derives from Meg or Margaret, and asContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Peculier tale of Peg O’ Nell”
Unnatural Histories, The Story of William Southworth, Landlord of the Lower Buck, Waddington
The Lower Buck in Waddington, built in 1760, is said to be haunted by a past landlord, William Southworth. The sad story of William Southworth The story of William Southworth and his demise is quite curious, he became the landlord in 1820 and quickly gained a reputation for being quick-tempered, picking arguments with all andContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Story of William Southworth, Landlord of the Lower Buck, Waddington”
Northwest Nature and History 