Drive & Stroll, with RON FREETHY

WITH Downham to be featured in a major BBC television series Born and Bred, now is perhaps the best time to enjoy the delightful walks which surround one of Lancashire's unspoiled villages.

I am certain that the television series will attract visitors and also that it will remain unspoiled by the attention received.

I love Downham because it is an "estate village" which is very well managed and has a friendly feel to it.

The Asshetons have been in residence for centuries.

Their hall is in a glorious setting and the Assheton Arms opposite the grand old church is rightly famous for its cuisine.

I spent some time feeding the ducks until I realised that they had eaten nearly all my lunch and then I climbed the steep hill to the church.

Parts of St Leonard's date back at least to Norman times, although excavations carried out in 1910 prove Saxon origins.

In the 15th century tower is a splendid set of bells.

Three of Whalley Abbey's bells found their way to Downham, no doubt due to the fact that after the dissolution the Asshetons obtained the Abbot's house.

Inside the church is a fort given by John Paslew the last abbot of Whalley who was hanged by order of Henry VIII. walk from Downham to Worston follows one of three monastic routes and across fields which were once hunted by Squire Assheton.

He left an invaluable diary describing walks and hunting expeditions in the area.

There is another wonderful walk to Rimington where a musician called Francis Duckworth wrote a hymn of the same name.

Duckworth was born on Christmas Day 1862 and died in 1941.

Although Rimington is his most famous creation Francis also wrote "Downham."

This tune deserve to be re-discovered and I wonder if Lancashire Evening Telegraph readers know of any other compositions bearing local names.

I spent some time exploring the footpaths around Ings Beck, Downham Mill and Twiston.

Twiston actually means a "boundary settlement."

It was just this before the Normans came and established our county system.

Twiston was once the Anglo-Saxon boundary between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.

There was some blue sky as I walked and flowers such as violets, primroses and cowslips were coming into bloom.

It was hard to realise that in five hours of gentle walking I had passed through two ancient kingdoms now absorbed into the scenic county of Lancashire.

I'm certain that, however popular the TV series becomes, there will still be plenty of wonderful walking around Downham.

Born and Bred is set for screening next month.

How to get there

Downham can be reached via the A59 and then turning off to Chatburn and up the hill to the village. There is a bus service from Clitheroe but there is now good parking in the village. The brook which runs through the village attracts visitors from the age of three to 80-plus who all eagerly feed the ducks.