LANCASHIRE has long been a county insulted, sometimes without malice, by naturalists many of whom have only read books published 30 years ago.

Gone are the days when all our rivers were polluted and our atmosphere was black with smoke from chimneys and the smell of coal tips from the mines seemed to be everywhere.

Rowley, between Burnley and Todmorden, was a coal mining area and until fairly recently the industrial dereliction around it was an eyesore.

Then came a large dose of common sense from local politicians who funded the construction of Rowley Picnic Site and Lake.

Naturalists at the time scoffed at the idea and insisted that birds would ignore it. They were wrong!

Close to the pleasant car park I pushed my way past "tame" geese and ducks until I could focus my binoculars on the lake. Here were goosander, tufted duck, pochard and a pair of displaying great crested grebes. Scurrying about near the weir leading out of the lake was a dipper and a grey wagtail.

A flock of 30 long-tailed tits were also feeding on the catkins and cones on the alder trees which were planted to help stabilise the old coal tips.