A COMMUNITY known as Klondyke, which struck gold in a competition to find Lancashire's best kept rural features, is one of Pendle's best kept secrets.

The collection of three rows of terraced houses on the country road between Salterforth and Earby won a trophy for best first-time entry in the Lancashire Best Kept Village competition.

But the 60-strong community, which was given its nickname because it was built at the time of the famous Klondike Gold Rush, is so obscure even town hall staff at Pendle Council had never heard of it.

Calls to the council's electoral and planning departments to discover just where Klondyke is drew a blank and even competition organiser Donald Cameron admitted he had problems discovering Klondyke.

He managed to "unearth" the hidden hamlet with the help of a map and some directions during judging for the annual contest.

"It's a funny little place," he said. "Basically there are just these rows of terraced houses with no proper roads between them. It's just grass and gardens with washing hanging on lines between the houses and a real sense of community spirit there."

Salterforth parish councillor Nicholas Livsey, said: "There's quite a feeling of community here. It is very quiet and that's the way people want it to be.

"In the past the buses between Earby and Barnoldswick used to say 'via Klondyke' on the front but that doesn't happen any more.

"Salterforth usually does well in the best kept village competition but this year it didn't do anything apart from a prize for Silentnight's factory. We thought we would have a try and it rather surprised us when we won our section."

The Klondike is a river and district in Yukon, Canada. The discovery of gold there in 1896 led to a spectacular influx of prospectors eager to find their fortune which lasted five years.

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