Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy - Bolton-By-Bowland

IN RECENT times a car park, information centre and toilets have been set up on the outskirts of Bolton-By-Bowland and this has provided a much-needed focus for this delightful village.

There are two splendid walks from the village, one following Kirk Beck to its confluence with the Ribble at Sawley. The second route takes us through the village past the church and then on to what is left of Bolton Hall.

Bolton-By-Bowland has two village greens and on the smallest of these, opposite the Coach and Horses Inn, are the old market cross and a finely preserved set of stocks. To reach the second green I followed the road to Gisburn but paused to admire the church of St Peter and St Paul, which has received a facelift thanks to a grant from English Heritage.

It is the tower, although it was rebuilt in 1852, which provides students of architecture with most food for thought because it is so different in style to others in Lancashire. The reason for this may be that King Henry VI spent some time in hiding at Bolton Hall as the guest of his loyal servant Sir Ralph Pudsay. Henry's Lancastrian Army had been routed by the Yorkists at Hexham in Northumberland in 1464 and the King had to flee. Sir Ralph was rebuilding the church at the time and it is thought that Henry may have suggested the shape of the tower, which is more reminiscent of those in Somerset which the King knew well.

In the grounds of Bolton Hall is Henry's Well, which was apparently used by the King as an open air pool. Alas the once-magnificent hall has been demolished but much remains of its outbuildings, reached by a long and dramatic tree-lined drive.

I looked into the gardens in which there is a circular stone building which looks as if it may have been an ice house. In the days before refrigerators, ice was collected during the winter and stored below ground and packed in hay in specially constructed ice houses, some of which look remarkably like igloos.

When I returned to the church of St Peter and St Paul the Sunday morning service had just ended and I was able to go in and see one of the most interesting tombs to be found in England. This is dedicated to Sir Ralph Pudsay and his three wives. Oh yes, I almost forgot - his 25 children are also commemorated. I'll bet the sculptor did not land many commissions as good as this one as each of the 29 individuals is accurately carved.

The larger green is fringed by trees on one side, while on the other is an assortment of delightful buildings. Almost in the centre is the old courthouse, easily recognised by its weather vane surmounted by the figure of a fox. At one time this was the most important building in Bowland for it was here that the laws of the forest were administered. At one time most of this area was dense forest full of game, including deer. There are still some to be seen in this area and my day was made even more memorable by the sighting of a small herd of sika deer down by the river. The sika is not native to Britain but is now living wild in the area, having escaped from Gisburne Hall deer park in the late 19th century. This hall has fared better than that at Bolton and is now a private hospital. For some reason modern "Gisburn" has lost an "e".

There is still something haunting about Bolton Hall, even though it was demolished in the 1960s. The park, like the rest of the village, is seen at its best in the winter and early spring when the views are not obscured by the trees dressed in their summer foliage.

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