www.northtrek.co.uk
BBC' televisions Walking through Time with Alan Titchmarsh has strolls throughout the British Isles which remind people of the history of the neighbourhood. A walk in Lancashire starts outside a pub I know well, which is a bonus, since in winter, it has good fires. Here, some brief detail. The full detail is available through www.BBC.co.uk's Lancashire link. It can be printed. So - here we go with the basics from the BBC site:
A Walk Through Time - The River Darwen gorge at Hoghton Bottoms
Details:
Start Point: Royal Oak pub, Preston Old Road, Riley Green, Hoghton
Ordnance Survey: Grid Reference for the start point is 622 25
Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: Approx 2 hours.
Parking: We have been given permission to park on the front car park of the Royal Oak pub.Walk Conditions:
We have two options on this walk. The first is a circular route of about 2 miles. It goes down to the river valley, through the gorge and back up alongside and then through the Hoghton Tower estate. This walk would not be suitable for wheelchairs though it would be fine for terrain buggies.The second option is a linear walk and would involve returning by the same route. This walk would start on either Viaduct Road, or Valley Road, at the bottom of Chapel Lane, depending on parking. The turnaround point would probably be at the Mill Race, near the weir, as there is a bridge there that's quite narrow. Starting off from Hoghton Bottoms means you'll avoid all the styles. The total distance is about one mile and flat paths - it would cover many of the most interesting features of the walk.
The walk explores the diversion of the River Darwen by ice sheets during the last glaciation. It passes the weir and runs alongside the old mill race which powered the textile mill where the gorge opens out and it passes under a stunning railway viaduct where stalagtites have already begun to form as a result of using lime mortar. Walkers will need to take care by riverside though the path is in good condition. The circular walk includes a crossing over the railway.
Hardwick Hall (right). one of Britain's finest Elizabethan houses, was built for the famous - almost infamous - Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury, who moved there in October 1597.
So it is not surprising that so many people visit this huge monument to one woman’s pride and ambition.
I recently visited a hall which is some small echo of Hardwick in feel and looks.. And I am surprised that it is not better known than it is. Gawthorp
e Hall (left), at Padiham, near Burnley, was built between 1600 and 1605 for the Shuttleworth family, who by then had been at Gawthorpe for over 200 years. The family owned the house until 1970, when the building and grounds were given to the National Trust. Bess of Hardwick rose from humble origins to become on of the most powerful people in the court of Elizabeth 1 and was for many years responsible, together with her fourth husband the Earl of Shrewsbury, for the guardianship of Mary, Queen of Scots.The dynasty created by Bess included the dukes of Devonshire, Newcastle, Portland and Kingston
Gawthorpe had no occupant quite so grand. The Hon. Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth (1886-1967) was the last member of the family to live there, and she formed a nationally important textile collection. She was a prominent Guide leader.
An honest lot, the staff there now. When I called the other day, a girl serving in the tea room pursued me for some distance to remind me that I had left my camera behind. Which is why the picture of Gawthorpe is here.
Not far in distance but far from both houses in character is Rufford Old Hall, near Ormskirk, one of the county's finest 16th century buildings and famous for its Great Hall with its huge and heavy wooden screen described as "movable." By whom, I would not know.. The Hesketh family lived grandly here and hereabouts until the National Trust overtook them and peasants flowed through the property. I like to think, as I walk its floors, that Shakespeare did much the same thing here in his time. He was said to have performed for the then owner, Sir Thomas Hesketh. And indeed, he
is said to have spent some time at Hoghton Tower, near Preston, which is not all that far away as the horse trots.
