Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy: Burlington/Fence

THIS week brought the first glimmer of sunshine for several weeks and I enjoyed two wonderful walks, both related to slate - one of the most versatile rocks in the world.

My first walk took me to Cumbria, near the village where I was born in the area of Burlington Quarries, not far from the shores of the Irish Sea.

There are wonderful footpaths along the beach and over the moors, scarred with old quarries.

Despite these scars, there is a haunting atmosphere surrounding the sea.

Lakeland green slate is one of the oldest natural stones in the world.

Around 450 million years ago there was volcanic activity in what is now the Lake District and it lasted for thousands of years.

Fine dust and coarser ash was thrown out by eruptions and this settled in the surrounding hollows and lakes.

This slush was crushed by subsequent layers and pressed to form slate, which has been quarried hereabouts since Roman times.

It takes skill to work slate but the Burlington quarries supply the raw materials for a family in Fence who have become famous throughout the world for ornaments and fireplaces made of slate.

Peter and Kathryn Rawlinson began their company, called Slate Age, in 1969 with the princely sum of £95 and based their premises in a barn at Sabden. With combination of hard graft and artistic skill, the couple have built up a reputation which has now been added to by their son John, who regularly visits Burlington to buy his raw slate.

By 1971 the Rawlinsons had bought a farm at Fence, now sandwiched between the bypass and the Fence Gate restaurant.

There are splendid walks along and around the old road between Fence and Barrowford but I always find time to look at and listen to the activities at Slate Age.

John Rawlinson was exmining a piece of rough slate while standing close to an old tractor and soon he was hard at work cutting and polishing the slate in his workshop, which was once the milking parlour of the farm.

In the display area, John's father Peter was putting the finishing touches to the slate items which are exported all over the world.

He showed me book ends and clocks, candle holders, coasters and coffee tables, thermometers and pen stands.

The way that slate was formed means that no two pieces, however small, look alike.

They are as unique as fingerprints.

I loved my two walks this week.

High up on the moors of my home village I watched the slate being quarried and after that I walked through the equally beautiful scenery of East Lancashire, meeting a family with so much grit that they are selling English slate to the world.

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