I HAVE been spending some time recently around Chipping and one of these visits set me thinking about how we make use of the old mill lodges which are remnants of the Industrial Revolution.

A few years ago there was a demand for mill lodges to be filled in because they were a danger to adventurous children.

Nowadays there seems to be a sensible change in attitude.

Why not develop footpaths around the lodges and thus encourage people to stroll around them?

Even more sensible would be the provision of benches.

Overgrown lodges attract children but adults cannot see them.

Developing these areas means that adults are more likely to see and deal with danger.

Such sensible developments have been set up around Oswaldtwistle Mills and around the nearby Foxhill Bank, which is now an excellent nature reserve.

To return to Chipping, the mill lodge, once associated with what since 1840 was Berry's chair works, is a naturalist's paradise.

This is why we should preserve these lodges.

Far too often we think of Lancashire as all pollution and no wildlife.

In actual fact, wildlife and industry can exist side by side.

This is certainly the case with the great crested newt, one of the rarest amphibians in Europe.

In some areas of Britain the great crested newt is extinct and the most important habitats are the Lancashire mill lodges.

As autumn approaches, the bird life around Chipping Lodge becomes of great interest.

This is coot, moorhen and duck country. Wagtails -- grey and pied -- earn their name by wagging their tails to help keep their balance.

It is not just the birdlife which is of interest.

I once saw a water vole here and there are always a number of bats feeding on the midges.

Blue damselflies sun themselves while feeding on the vegetation.

I found evening primrose growing in some profusion.

This is a plant which was imported by accident from North America during the days when cotton was king.

Extract from evening primrose was used by the Red Indians to treat cuts and bruises and to repair the damage done to women during childbirth.

These days women still use evening primrose tablets and oils in the treatment of PMT.

My final view of the Chipping lodge was a moorhen at its nest, which contained some chicks,

Eggs must have been laid in late August and it will be October before the young will be able to fly.

One thing is certain -- mill lodges should become one of Lancashire's natural wonders.