Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy: The Ribble Way

FOR those of us who live in East Lancashire, the Ribble Valley is a jewel in the county's crown.

The Ribble Way is a long-distance footpath of over 60 miles, running from Ribblehead above Settle to the sea between Southport and Lytham.

The central area, however, offers a number of short strolls which you can enjoy during the course of a pleasant afternoon.

When you get home you will have seen much history and natural history without being too tired to enjoy your tea.

Two of my favourite walks are around Bolton-by-Bowland and the old quarries at Brungerley.

Walking around Bolton is like enjoying a bit of feudal old England.

The Lords of the Manor in medieval times were not the tyrants often depicted in Robin Hood stories.

The Pudsays lived in peace with their tenants at Bolton Hall and it is one of the tragedies of Lancashire that this wonderful structure was demolished in the 1960s.

A footpath from the grand old church sandwiched between the two village greens leads to the site of Bolton Hall, where only a few of the outbuildings remain.

You only have to stroll along the still-magnificent driveway to appreciate how much wonderful history has been lost.

I have a photograph taken around 1900 which shows its extent. There were magnificent state apartments which often entertained royalty and the palm house was said to be one of the finest in Britain.

The Pudsays were staunch supporters of the Lancastrian side during the Wars of the Roses.

In 1464, after the battle of Hexham, poor Henry VI sheltered at Bolton Hall and the place where he is said to have bathed is still called King Henry's Bath.

The King is even though to have influenced the design of the tower of the Church of St Peter and St Paul.

Inside the church are the remarkable monuments of the Pudsay family. Eventually, Henry's whereabouts were discovered and he had to flee.

He was captured while trying to cross the stepping stones over the Ribble at Brungerley, near Clitheroe.

The sad King spent five unhappy years in prison and was murdered in the Tower of London in 1472.

Brungerley's subsequent history was much happier.

Until 1801, the ford and stepping stones were the only way across the river but events further downstream meant that the construction of a bridge was absolutely vital.

To provide the Clitheroe textile mills with water, a dam was constructed at Edisford and the water backing up from this raised the level of the river and submerged the stones. The first bridge was not a success and was replaced by the present structure in 1816, although this has been widened several times since, to cope with modern traffic. These days the walk alongside the river at Brungerley towards West Bradford is quiet and peaceful, with the wildlife as spectacular as anywhere in Lancashire.

This is butterfly, bird and occasionally otter country but in the early 1900s the river around the bridge had popular tea gardens and rowing boats were for hire.

During this walk I think of the old quarries, now long disused, and the despair of the Lancastrian King captured crossing the so-called "hipping stones."

Occasionally I have been lucky and watched a patient heron hunting for fish and seen the flash of a kingfisher skimming under the bridge.

Kingfishers often give a warning of their coming by producing a high-pitched whistle.

The lesson of this week's tour along the Ribble is not to think that the Ribble Way has to be a long struggle.

It is a walk to be enjoyed in gentle sections, with plenty of time to stop and stare at the history and natural history.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.