Dawn Beaumont, Chair of The Friends of Pendle Heritage welcomed about 40 guests to the launch of our Blue Plaque Project. She recalled that, several years ago, three FoPH members: Jean, Andrea and Alan suggested placing blue vinyl plaques in the windows of shops and houses along Gisburn Road, Barrowford, similar to ones they had
After welcoming a group of 14 members to the forge, Oscar Duck gave us a brief history of the company. As a teenager, Oscar had built his own furnace at home before taking a Saturday job at the Trapp Forge near Read, owned by Bill Carter. In 2020, Oscar decided to become a full-time blacksmith
The owner of the nurseries, John Foley, greeted ten members and guests at the entrance. He led us through the large glasshouse to the courtyard where, as a child, he planted his first ferns. Thus began a lifelong fascination with plants and horticulture that led to his being crowned ‘BBC Young Gardener of the Year’
A year ago, Denise had enthralled members with Violet’s Story, her account of the life of Violet Blakestone, whose collection of postcards Denise had acquired as part of an auction lot during the 1960s. Denise had only begun her research in the 1990s and had ended the talk with a diagram setting out the relationship
Jane Hellebrand Jane began by explaining that her interest in Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth began when she became a volunteer at the Gawthorpe Textile Collection in 2012. Later, as Assistant Curator, Jane was fascinated by Rachel’s labels, notes and records of items in the collection that she had started. Born in 1886, Rachel was one of six
Graham Topping Graham began the second part of his talk on NORI bricks by reminding us that NORI was the trade name of the Accrington Brick and Tile Company. The shale beds in the Accrington area contain exactly 7% iron making it ideal for brick making, as no additives are needed. In the 17th Century
A History of the Hand, Dandy and Power Loom Makers in Trawden and Colne 1819-2005 Anthony Pilling John Pilling and Sons, a company of loom makers, textile machinists and millwrights, was established in Trawden in 1819, when handloom weavers produced cloth in their own homes. Anthony explained how he had helped restore – then weave
Steve began his talk by informing the meeting that, when Sir Isaac Newton stated that he ‘stood on the shoulders of giants’ on the publication of his discoveries, one of the ‘giants’ to whom he referred was John Webster, whose Metallographia had been published in 1671. Born near York in 1610, Webster lived through a
Guest speaker, Graham Topping, opened with a confession that he suffered from ‘Brickophilia’, a highly addictive condition that manifests itself in 3 stages: Spotting individual bricks; Scratching the surface of bricks to ascertain their colour and any inscription; Collecting bricks (some collections run into the thousands). Hyndburn has a long history of brickmaking,
The Friends’ Chair, Dawn Beaumont, welcomed 3 Trustees, 13 members and 1 guest to the meeting. Treasurer, Susan Booth, gave her report. Bank funds were £9237. Income for the year totalled £5182 and expenditure £3185. Main sources of income were membership renewals and donations. Three Gift Aid claims had been submitted and had raised £1498.
After a morning of heavy, blustery showers 15 hardy souls joined Trevor Marklew at Martin Top Chapel. We set off down Lower Lover Lane to the bridge over Howgill Beck, or ‘the goyt’, which, Trevor explained, had been the site of two corn mills. One had ceased operation in the 18th Century, the other survived
Local resident, Maureen Roberts, our guide for the visit, greeted 15 members of the ‘Friends’ on an overcast, wet (sometimes very wet!) afternoon. Maureen began by giving us a brief history of the site, a former shale extraction facility. This quarry was opened by the Procter family in 1890 to provide shale for their Brick
As members and guests arrived at the Cruck Barn, they were offered a glass of prosecco and entertained by members of Pendle Youth and Children’s Choir, led by their conductor, Julie Townson, with accompanist Peter Elmer. In the rustic surroundings the choir sang beautifully, as sunshine streamed in through the open barn doors. Our guest
Our guides, Keith and Frank welcomed 10 Friends’ members to the Theatre. We met in the Theatre bar, which used to be the bar of the Derby Arms pub adjoining the Theatre. Keith explained that the Hippodrome Theatre (built I 1914) had been a variety theatre and cinema before ending up as a bingo hall
During the 1960s Denise was visiting auction houses looking for items to furnish her house. She found a box of clearance items for which she made a successful bid. When she emptied the box at home, in amongst the goods that she had wanted was a mysterious tin box, which contained 116 postcards that had
Alex began his talk by explaining that he is one of a network of 40 Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) for England and Wales. He is responsible for reporting finds from Lancashire and Cumbria. FLOs were established under the Portable Antiquities Scheme in 1996, in response to a huge rise in archaeological finds by metal detectorists.
Gavin Jones, Jenny Palmer, Nicola Nuttall What a moving and thought-provoking afternoon as three authors delivered very personal accounts of how their stories came to be written and published. First up was Gavin Jones whose theme was ‘Short Story Writing’. He began by giving a brief history and definition of ‘the short story’. It is
An investigation of The Fence and the site of the cattle pool of Brericar, near Higham. For many years the Friends of Pendle Heritage – Archaeology have been investigating the de Lacy vaccaries within the Blackburn Hundred, made up of those within the Forests of Pendle, Rossendale, Trawden and Accrington. Research of the vaccaries within
‘Internationally and globally renowned but, locally, little known.’ Sean Clayton, Chief Executive, opened his talk about Peter Reed with the statement above. Founded in Nelson in 1861, by the time the company moved to Springbank Mill in 1891, Peter Reed operated 748 looms and was the second largest weaver of cotton in the world. Despite
Today, Alex Whitlock gave members a fascinating presentation on the 2024 excavations at Upper White Lee, Higham, undertaken by members between March and September last year. There was a small selection of the many finds from the site, ceramic, stone, metal which covered the large table; plenty of shards of pottery dating from 16 –
After being introduced by FoPH chair, Dawn Beaumont, Geoff began by welcoming Wilfred Spencer’s daughter, Frances to the meeting. Geoff explained that, as a proud Colner, he could not imagine living anywhere else – except, to the great surprise of the audience – Las Vegas! Geoff has visited the city on many occasions and loves
Peter & Barbara Snape FoPH chair, Dawn Beaumont welcomed Peter & Barbara, who opened the afternoon with a rendition of ‘My New Hat’, a song telling the story of a cotton operative’s purchase. Peter explained that, in the mid nineteenth century, Preston was the centre for the printing of ‘broadside ballads’ that reflected the lives
Our chair, Dawn Beaumont reported that our volunteer committee remains at 4, having said farewell to Gill Barton and Brenda Taylor. Behind the scenes there are many volunteers who willingly give their time to helping in so many ways. Without doubt this year’s ‘stars’ have been Archaeology – what a summer of discovery they have had.
For forty years FoPH members have been digging into Pendle’s past. In its 40th year, well 2023 into 2024, we have been hunting for physical evidence of a cattle pool known as Brericar, one of the many Lancashire holdings, many within the Blackburn Hundred, of Queen Isabella (c.1295 to 22 August 1358), wife of King Edward
It’s fair to say that Rawden is a proud Lancastrian and ‘Snuffy Arroder’ – a person born in Great Harwood. As such, he was delighted to be appointed to the post of the Great Harwood Town Crier in 2010. Resplendent in his uniform, Rawden donned his plumed tricorn hat and white gloves before ringing his
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
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
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
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
(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,