Things to do
A lovely leather-bound folder in each cottage holds extensive details of local activities, places to go and things to see. But just as a taster, why don’t you …
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The Great Outdoors | For a bit of culture | Family Fun | Shopping
The Great Outdoors
Learn how to fly fish and take a trout home for tea. Play a leisurely 18 holes or admire the glorious countryside on horseback. Walk along the Ribble Way or follow one of our featured walks stopping on the way at a welcoming inn for a well-deserved lunch.
Some ideas:
- Pendle View Fisheries
- Stocks Fly Fishing at Stocks Reservoir
- Gisburn Forest
- Broomhill Equestrian Centre
- Mytton Fold Golf Course
- Pendle Balloon Flights over the Trough of Bowland
- Family Cycle Routes in PDF format
- Cycling activities from Forest of Bowland website
- Beacon Fell Country Park, Goosnargh, Near Preston
- Walking Information from FellScape.co.uk
- Walking Information from Forest of Bowland website
- Bird Watching Information from Forest of Bowland website
- Cycle Adventure - Cycle Hire and Tours
- Pendle Hill
- RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Carnforth
- Ribble Valley Sculpture Trail at Brungerley Park, Clitheroe
- Sawley Abbey, Near Clitheroe
- Cobble Hey Farm and Gardens, Garstang
- Pendle Heritage Trail, Barrowford, Near Nelson
- Martin Mere Wetland Centre, Near Ormskirk
For a bit of culture
Let the impressive Stonyhurst fire your imagination as it did JRR Tolkien's. Visit National Trust properties such as nearby Gawthorpe Hall. Stand in the dock where the Pendle Witches were tried at Lancaster Castle or visit Hoghton Tower where James I knighted the loin of beef ?sirloin?. Watch the noisy, working looms weave cotton in the museums of East Lancashire and imagine life as a factory worker in a by-gone age.
Some ideas:
- Sonyhurst College
- Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
- Clitheroe Castle and Museum
- Lancaster Castle
- Skipton Castle
- Blackburn Cathedral
- Hoghton Tower, Near Preston
- The British Commercial Vehicle Museum
- Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham
- Samlesbury Hall, Near Preston
- Rufford Old Hall, Near Ormskirk
- Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, Ripon
- Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum, Burnley
- Browsholme Hall, Near Clitheroe
- The Grand, Clitheroe
Family Fun
Visit Bowland Wild Boar Park and take a ride on a tractor, feed the lambs at Hesketh Park Farm, emulate John Terry at the National Football Museum in Preston or hire a mountain bike and race through nearby Gisburn Forest.
Some ideas:
- Embsay and Bolton Steam Railway
- Hesketh Farm Park
- Ski Rossendale - One of the country's largest ski and snowboard centres
- Ribchester Roman Museum
- National Football Museum, Preston
- Farmer Ted's Farm Park, Ormskirk
- Bowland Wild Boar Park, Chipping
- Old Holly Farm, Garstang
- Blackpool Pleasure Beach
- Farmer Parrs Animal World, Fleetwood
- Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool
- Camelot Theme Park, Chorley
- Central Pier, Blackpool
- Blackpool Zoo
- Sealife Centre, Blackpool
- Blackpool Tower and Circus
- Knowsley Safari Park
Lancashire's Finest Food - Producers, Farm Shops and Restaurants
Discover a true taste of Lancashire with some of the region's very best food and drinks producers. Watch organic cheese being made in a traditional family business, learn how to make beer at our local microbrewery, discover some of the freshest, tastiest, local farm and deli produce, sample delicious ice-cream overlooking the milking parlour, or simply enjoy a fine dining experience in one of Lancashire's award-winning restaurants.
- The Ribble Valley Food Trail
- Taste Lancashire
- The Plate at Backridge, Waddington
- Bashall Barn Food Visitor Centre, Bashall Town, Near Clitheroe
- The Three Fishes, Mitton, Near Clitheroe
- Northcote Manor, Near Blackburn
- The Inn at Whitewell, Near Clitheroe
- The Red Pump Inn, Bashall Eaves, Near Clitheroe
- Food by Breda Murphy, Whalley, Near Clitheroe
- Leagram Organic Dairy, Chipping
- The Bowland Brewery, Bashall Town, Near Clitheroe
Shopping
The town centres of Preston and Blackburn are just 30 minutes away and the extensive shopping in Manchester just an hour away, but for something a little closer to home...
Some ideas:
- melt - handmade fine fragrance candles, Backridge Farm, Waddington
- The Platform Gallery, Clitheroe
- Backridge Farm, Waddington, Near Clitheroe
- D Byrne's Wine Merchant
- Roy Porter Butcher, Chatburn
- Cownman's famous Sausage Shop and Butcher
We are happy to supply any contact details you might want or help you choose activities for during your stay. Just send us an e mail or give us a call.
Download the FESTIVAL BOWLAND 2010 Programme here.
Click here to find out how you can be a green visitor.
