Archaeology Group 2024 and forward – Alex Whitlock
Forty years! That’s how long the Archaeology group has been digging into Pendle’s past. Quite an achievement, and there is more to come. The group started out in the Middle Ages investigating the origins of what is now the Pendle Heritage Centre, and it looks like we are back there again with our latest explorations.
Friends’ Summer Event 28 July 2024
Levens Hall: The Park & Gardens Steve Halliwell On arrival, at the Heritage Centre’s amazing Cruck Barn, members and guests received a glass of prosecco and were entertained by The Cliviger Ukulele Band as they took their seats for the illustrated talk. Photo: Pete Booth Our chair, Dawn Beaumont, welcomed everyone and introduced the afternoon’s
Friends of Pendle Heritage Members’ Day 23 July 2024
There was an atmosphere of anticipation as members gathered to greet Eric Knowles, the boy from Nelson, who found fame as a presenter of The Antiques Road Show, and is a FoPH Patron. Eric had travelled from the south of England especially to unveil a painting featuring Barley and Pendle Hill by Eileen Sorrel, which
Visit to Browsholme Hall 11 June 2024
Promptly at 2pm our volunteer guide, Linda, greeted 16 members on the drive before the imposing façade of the Hall. Linda explained that Richard Parker probably built the first house at Browsholme, pronounced ‘Brusom’, (the home at the top of the brow, or hill) in the early 15th century. Richard’s grandson, Edmund Parker built the
ARCHAEOLOGY: 8 JUNE 2024
Alex led a most interesting and informative walk along the side of Pendle Hill above Sabden, on a blustery but sunny day. Several well-hidden earthworks and features were investigated, from the prehistoric period to the early post-medieval era. There were many archaeological features in the area. The walk included a visit to what is probably
Nelson Camera Club
(Photos: credit Anne-Marie Imeson) Howard Harrison and Anne-Marie Imeson from Nelson Camera Club gave a fascinating audio-visual presentation, which commenced with a tour of Norfolk, where Howard’s mother comes from. Howard spent some of his childhood years in Norfolk and returns there as much as possible. His photos included: Birds: Avocet, Bearded Tit, Black-tailed Godwit,
Meeting Michael Guy, Chief Executive, Heritage Trust for the North West
Friends of Pendle Heritage (FoPH) members were invited to Pendle Heritage Centre on 30 April 2024 to meet Michael Guy, Heritage Trust for the North West (HTNW) Chief Executive, who was appointed to the role in December 2023. Mr Guy gave a career summary covering his legal and heritage background. He advised his first board meeting
Memories are Made of this – Nostalgia Afternoon
A ‘nostalgia’ afternoon brought back memories from members’ sharing recollections relating to keepsakes they had brought with them. From a silver cup bought by neighbours to celebrate the first birth of a child, who lived in Sydney Avenue, Whalley, to baking items, especially the Prestige hand whisk ‘version 2’, which is still in use and
Malkin Morris Dancers
The Malkin Morris Dancers, a northwest clog morris team formed 7 years go and based in Roughlee, entertained us in March 2024, accompanied by the excellent musicians – The Roughlee Ruffians. A talk was given by Virgina Crewe, who’s ‘claim to fame’ is her skirt fell off at her first event! We learnt that nobody
The Restoration of Lytham Hall
Peter Anthony, General Manager, and Paul Lomax gave an insight into their last eight years at the Hall. Peter began his talk by outlining the history of the Hall, originally a Jacobean house, but transformed by the architect John Carr into the Georgian Hall we see today. He spoke about the Clifton family connection, particularly
Winter Words 2024
Sue Allonby commenced by lighting three candles, representing the storytellers, the listeners and readers, and the traditional stories shared from around the world. She then enthusiastically narrated tales of ‘A Cat, a Mouse, a Pig, and a Cow, who all got home before MIDNIGHT’; the ‘Magic Lemon’ featuring a flying carpet; ‘Captain Robert Parker and the
Archaeology: 13 January 2024
Alex Whitlock led a group of members on a very informative walk around Sawley, following a pre-walk meeting at Booths café, Barrowford. It was a very pleasant stroll on a mostly fine day. With the help of an appraisal of 12th century Sawley Abbey, we tried to identify the various humps and bumps in the
Small Christmas Decorations for your Table
Judith Hartley and Brenda Taylor showed an enthusiastic group how to turn a humble baked bean tin, filled with holly and evergreens, into something that sparkled with ribbons and lights. They demonstrated a Christmas wreath as a table centre piece, won in the raffle by Pam Barton, and how to decorate a front door. Seasonal
Recent Works by Ribble Valley Archaeology
Barrie Tyrer, a keen amateur archaeologist, along with others, had taken on a project to investigate part of the Roman road around Downham and Rimington. They did this by first digging test pits, which are mini excavations usually 1 square metre. These are ways to obtain maximum information from minimum damage and take very little
2023 AGM
The Chair`s report detailed that although the committee had shrunk in numbers, they had plenty of speaker meetings, walks and events planned for the future. This year our big event had been the celebration of our 40th Anniversary marked by a unique day that took place in the Cruck barn. Huge thanks were given to
Visit to Little Savoy Community Cinema
On this visit we learnt of the dedication of Andrew Reed and his small team of like-minded people who practically single-handedly created a community cinema in an old World War 1 Nissen hut in Colne. Working to a small budget they turned unwanted household objects into something they could use to further the atmosphere and
40th Anniversary Celebration
The Cruck Barn at Park Hill Event – an Overview Despite forebodings about the weather, the day of 2nd September 2023 dawned bright and sunny. It was some time since Pendle Heritage Centre had hosted an event of this scale with nationally famed speakers, and much time and effort had gone into the planning of
Guided Tour of Stonyhurst College
Our tour of Stonyhurst College, Museum and Exhibition was perhaps a bit of a Marmite tour, you either loved it or you didn’t and it wasn’t without its critics. It was dominated by Shakespeare, though that wasn’t the original intention when the tour was booked back in February. However, we trod in academia and saw
Walking Tour of The Site of Earby`s Corn Mill
This tour followed last year`s talk about the history of the corn mill. A group of us braved the rain and wind to meet near its site. We trekked up the beck which never runs dry, therefore enabling the mill to have been in constant use. Margaret Brown, our guide, pointed out where the stream
Members’ Day: Tour of Colne Town Hall, June 2023
Geoff Crambie, our local historian extraordinaire, took us on a tour of this Victorian building situated in the heart of Colne. We began by standing outside the front door on a magnificent 10ft square flagstone, thought to be the largest in the UK. Unfortunately, research has recently found that the flagstone dominating the frontage of
The Sixties. Decade or Decadence?
Frank Vigon gave a wonderful talk that took most of us back to our youth in the sixties. Frank told us of his early childhood spent playing on bombsites in the fifties and said he was a child of the war and that the Second World War had shaped the sixties. He grew up in
Talk: Historic Graffiti
Colin Penny lived up to expectations and delivered an excellent and very interesting talk. He began with asking “What is Graffiti” of course everyone has their own ideas on this subject. Essentially it is leaving a mark in a public place, until recently, that is, 150 years ago it was not illegal to graffiti. Is
Archaeology Walk: The Hidden Valley
“The archaeologists, led by Alex Whitlock, are going on a fieldwalk of approximately two to three hours’ duration, a journey of discovery! Join us on a stroll along part of the Hidden Valley at Sabden where we will be discovering interesting and man made features in the landscape from different past eras. Meet at the
Walk – Earby and its Corn Mill
Margaret Brown and Wendy Faulkner came in December to give the Friends a talk on Earby’s Corn Mill, Boom to Bust. This walk will be a good accompaniment to the earlier talk. From a simple corn mill to the height of its development as a weaving mill, along the way the corn mill was dominated
Members Day – A Visit to Colne Town Hall
This will be our second Members Day event. After a successful day last year it was decided to continue to have something especially for the Friends as a token of appreciation for their continued support. It is a free, members only event with refreshments. This year is a special anniversary year of the founding of
Talk: Amazing Artefacts from the North West
Valentine’s Day saw Alex Whitlock a Find Liason Officer from the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and also Chair of PAG, come to talk to the Friends about the artefacts found by the general public. The PAS records all non treasure items that have been found anywhere in homes, sheds, gardens, fields, river banks,
Earby’s Corn Mill – Corn to Cotton and Boom to Bust
We were pleased to welcome Margaret Brown and Wendy Faulkner to talk about Earby’s Corn Mill and its journey from a simple corn mill to its development in the industrial revolution. The earliest mention of Earby is in the Domesday Book. Margaret delved back into history to mention that the Romans and Vikings used horizontal
AGM and Talk: Romans, Quakers and Textiles, the story of Old Road Thornton in Craven
Despite the change to our new venue we had a decent turn out for the AGM. We elected a new committee and since the AGM Dawn Beaumont has agreed to be the new Chair of the Friends. This leaves the committee in a much stronger position than at this time last year. Vera Brearey had
Monasteries, Mills and More….
It was a lovely sunny afternoon when Bob Abel conducted a good group of Friends around the township of Barnoldswick. Yes, we did see the site of Monastery, which apparently wasn’t there long enough to leave any visible remains before the monks decamped to Kirkstall near Leeds to set up an Abbey there. The villagers