PENDLE Hill is almost -- but not quite -- a mountain and from its 1,831ft summit there are spectacular views.

To the west, Blackpool Tower can often be seen but much closer is the rolling scenery of the Ribble Valley.

From the eastern slopes rises Pendle Water, one of Lancashire's shortest rivers. Before it merges with the Calder near Padiham the stream provides enough gems to satisfy both the naturalist and the historian.

From the car park and Information Centre footpaths at Barley strike out up to and over Pendle. Here are found short-eared owl, little owl, lapwing and curlew, all of which breed. In May, the rare dotterel is found in small flocks, called trips.

Barley, as you might guess, means "the field where barley grows" and is mentioned in 1323 as a "herbage" of the manor of Whitehough, which lies between Barley and Roughlee..

Here is situated a residential and outdoor centre where young people can enjoy the countryside.

Roughlee once flirted, but not too seriously, with the Industrial Revolution. There is still a large weir now known as the waterfall and the mill lodge is now used as a trout fishery. On each side of the road are attractive caravan sites and the Bay Horse Inn by the bridge is well known for its cuisine.

Beyond the village on the left and squeezed in by an attractive small housing estate is Roughlee Hall, one time home of Alice Nutter, one of the infamous witches of Pendle who were executed in 1612.

Was Alice a witch? Almost certainly not. Her former home, now divided into cottages, is a typical small Tudor mansion which shows that Alice was a lady of substance.

On Good Friday 1612 was she attending a witches' coven with a group of ugly old women dressed in rags? Witchcraft was a capital offence and so was being a Catholic. It made sense for Alice Nutter to die as a witch rather than betray her priest and his congregation.

Some say that Alice, following her execution, was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's in Newchurch. The village now lacks a pub but its tourist-orientated shop called "Gerrit Spent" is always worth a visit, its entrance guarded by a group of witch statues.

Blacko is set on a hill overlooking Pendle Water and in 2002 was a winner in the Lancashire Best Kept Village competition.

The Pendle Way footpath crosses the main road just beyond and close to the Moorcock Inn, from which a concessionary footpath leads up to Blacko tower. This is not the Malkin Tower mentioned in the Pendle witch trials but a wild and extravagant gesture by John Stansfield, a local grocer.

In 1890 he decided that Blacko, at 1,018 feet, was not high enough to allow views into this beloved Yorkshire so he built a tower to get a better view.