Drive and Stroll with Ron Freethy

LAST week I explored Beacon Fell and in Jubilee year I thought that this week I would discover Pendle, East Lancashire's own bonfire hill.

Many people enjoy climbing hills and I can well understand that but sometimes the views of the hill from the footpaths around it can be even more spectacular.

I decided to follow part of the Pendle Way, starting from the Heritage Centre at Barrowford, travelling to Blacko partly by a riverside stroll and partly up the steep main road, which I did for a good reason.

I then descended to the aptly-named Water Meetings before returning to Barrowford.

I always have a problem when planning a stroll from the Heritage Centre. I spend too much time in the shop, cafe and walled garden. Then there is the attractive Barrowford Park, with its lake gardens and the sound of birdsong.

The old buildings with mullioned windows are a reminder of bygone times and at the rear, opposite the river, is a restored barn with holes set into the walls. These take us back to a time before supermarkets when fresh meat, especially during the winter, was in short supply.

These holes were the breeding sites of domestic pigeons and the young birds (called squabs) were taken just before they could fly and were eaten. The fact that pigeons breed all the year round meant that a food supply was guaranteed.

From the 16th century the Bannister family were based here as gentlemen farmers, their most famous descendant being Sir Roger, who was the world's first four-minute miler.

At one time there was a large mill at Barrowford and the weir, used to drive the waterwheel, is still there.

While looking over the weir I watched a dipper feeding its young with both birds bobbing about in the shallows. The day was hot, there were flowers everywhere, and butterflies were basking in the sun.

I climbed the steep main road in search, not of the Sundance Kid (Butch Cassidy was born in Accrington -- honest!) but of the Clitheroe Kid.

Jimmy Clitheroe (1921-1973) was born in Clitheroe and his real name was in fact James Robinson Clitheroe. Soon after his birth Jimmy's parents moved to work in a mill at Blacko. Jimmy never grew taller than four feet three inches but he was stagestruck from an early age. His first stage appearance was at a potato pie supper at Blacko's Methodist Church.

The concert party he was in then did a major tour of the chapels around Oswaldtwistle and Accrington. Eventually the Clitheroe Kid broke into radio and began what was then the longest-running comedy series (1957-1972).

His TV series That's My Boy was also a hit and ran from 1963 to 1968.

It started to rain so I left Blacko and its tower. The tower was built by a grocer called Stansfield, who wanted to see into Yorkshire.

The rest of my walk was downhill all the way. At the Water Meetings I watched a kingfisher and a grey wagtail before following Pendle Water to Higherford Bridge.

The packhorse bridge here is one of the finest spans in England and John Wesley once preached while sitting on the parapet.

Even the heavy rain did not dampen my spirits.

The sun might have gone but I had followed in the footsteps of Jimmy Clitheroe, one of the heroes of Lancashire comedy.