Lara's Lovely Guide To Lancashire: Part I - North

Many guests who come to my house are on their way to or from somewhere else, usually Scotland, or sometimes The Lake District.  They seldom visit any of the myriad and interesting places within a small radius of where they are staying: here!   

The population of the North-West of England is bigger than Denmark’s.  I love this region which is at turns dense, diverse, wild, beautiful, unruly, rowdy, bleak, barren and funny as f*&k.  Within an hour’s drive of my house you can go stomp up Yorkshire moors in the footsteps of Emily Bronte, ride The Big One and go to Britain’s best drag show in Blackpool, discover Britain’s industrial heritage in the museums of East Lancashire, find out about the birthplace of The Co-Op Movement, The Guardian and the Suffragettes in Manchester, dance your socks off on an ‘afternoon out’ in Liverpool, or listen only to the wind and the curlews above the fells of The Trough of Bowland.  It’s not all pretty; the north-west is entrepreneurial, multi-cultural and in parts, still very poor.  But it’s vibrant.  Go to the Jewish part of Manchester and you will see that the people here have chutzpah.  

1. Jeffrey Hill, Longridge.  

When I need to lift mine eyes unto the hills, this is where I go.  You can walk from there up Longridge Fell and you get a great view across The Trough of Bowland and down to the sea at Blackpool and Morcambe.  Drop down for upmarket pub food and/or a drink at The Derby Arms or go for a bacon butty or a cake at Little Town Dairy, where there is also a butcher’s and farm shop, as well as a lovely nursery, So Plants.  

2. Parlick Hill, The Sun Inn and Mrs Kirkham’s Cheese Lancashire Cheese Shop

When I need to hike a bit harder, I go to Parlick Hill.  It’s straight up but it’s just 432 metres so it won’t take you too long.  If you want to go further you can just bend round Fairsnape and Bleasdale Fells.  The paragliders take off from here.  Drop down to The Sun Inn afterwards, where they do pie, peas and a pint and other excellent staples.  This is dairy area, greener and lusher than The Lakes, and as such there’s lots of cheese made round here.  You can sample a fair few and buy some at Mrs Kirkham’s cheese shop, a short drive away.  Or just at Booths supermarket back in Longridge.

3. Calder Vale, The Beltie Cafe and Farmyard Ales

Calder Vale is a weird place.  I never knew it was there until a few years ago.  It’s to the right of the M6, on the edge of The Trough of Bowland, and is home to one of the last functioning mills, that weaves red and white headscarves with ‘Made in England’ labels sewn in that get sold to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.  There are some nice walks through a wooded gorge from the village.  On the other side of the M6, The Beltie Cafe is a farm shop offering hot sandwiches with meats from their own Belted Galloway cattle and Old Spotted Gloucester pigs, but be quick, it’s only open until 2 in the afternoon. 

4. Slaidburn, Hark to Bounty, Salter Fell

Nobody goes up Salter Fell.  Almost nobody.  Go to The Lakes and you share your hiking trails with dozens if not hundreds of other people: go to Salter Fell and it’s just you, the birds and the odd masochistic cyclist.  There’s an old Roman road up there that stretches from Clitheroe to Lancaster; these days it’s a bridlepath.  The Hark To Bounty is a 16th century inn situated in the charming village of Slaidburn and looks as if it should be in a Robert Louis Stephenson book.  It re-opened recently and the food is cheap.  

5. Lancaster Castle, Atkinsons Coffee, The Quarterhouse, Kanteena, The Dukes Theatre, The Butterfly House at Williamson Park.  Standfast & Barracks Factory Shop.  

Lancaster is Lancashire’s York, but without the tourists.  Go there and do all of the above, or some of it.  Standfast & Barracks make and sell at factory outlet prices John Lewis, Liberty Print and William Morris curtain fabrics.  

6. Abbeystead via The Inn at Whitewell & The Trough of Bowland

Abbeystead House is one of those Victorian neo-gothic piles where wealthy Londoners went to shoot grouse and play billiards.  Today it’s one of those Victorian neo-gothic piles where wealthy Londonders go to shoot grouse and play billiards.  You can go there and wander around its pheasant infused grounds while trying to catch a glimpse of what’s going on behind its walled gardens.  The nearby Abbeystead reservoirs are rather lovely to walk around, or if you’re feeling more energetic head up to the fells, but do take a map and a compass, it’s easy to get lost out there.  The Trough of Bowland is an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty gaining in popularity but is still less visited than the neighbouring Lakes and Dales and when it’s not shooting season you can easily find yourself alone under a big sky.  This is a dark skies area so good for stargazing.  

7. Heysham village and beach

This is where my grandma and Aunty Lucy took me when I was a child.  It’s where I take friends with kids.  It’s Lancashire’s most gentle beach, even if it does have a power station in the background.  There’s a cute little village with a couple of cafes and shops, a wider beach, a church with Viking remains in its ground, and a more sheltered cove.  Like every beach in Lancashire, it’s very tidal, so sometimes it’s more beach than sea.  You might want to check tide times before you set out.  

8. Arnside, Silverdale & Carnforth

The last village in Lancashire is a place of meetings.  The Brief Encounter Refreshment Bar & Bistro at Carnforth Station allows visitors with a nostalgic side to indulge in their fondness for the film and its location.  Silverdale does indeed offer silvery sands, and also a view of the mountains and shores of the western Lakes.  Arnside offers more of the same, but with the addition that you can ascend to the Arnside trig point to get an even better view.  

9. Sizergh Castle & Kendal

We are now in Cumbria and properly equipped for tourists.  Sizergh Castle is a National Trust place with the glorious gardens and freshly baked scones that you’d expect.  Kendal is not actually in the National Park and some Lake District people can be a bit snooty about it, but I like it; it’s an honest, market town.  If you don’t know your Rab from your Patagonia jacket though, prepare to be sniffed at.  Kendal is home to the Kendal Mountain Festival, staged at The Brewery Arts Centre, which also puts on bands, theatre groups and films, but nightlife in Kendal is usually about donning a head torch and running up a mountain, going to the climbing wall or planning your next hike.