Pendle Visitors' Guide

Welcome to the Pendle Visitors' Guide!

This area of East Lancashire is dotted with places of interest, many associated with the Pendle Witches! Walk or drive the Witches Trail, and see the story unfold in front of your eyes.

You can explore many other trails too, like the Tacklers Trails or the Heroes and Villains Tour. You can see one of the last mill steam engines in full steam, or go "underground" at a mining museum with one of the country's most interesting collections, and you won't want to miss historic houses, like Pendle Heritage Centre, with a unique display of all the elements of its past, or the ruined Wycoller Hall, with its Bronte connections.

For a more active holiday, you can bring your bike and explore the "Grand Tour of Pendle" or walk Pendle's Three Peaks: 5,000 feet and 26 miles in total. For ramblers there's a host of opportunities including medium length circulars, and for more leisurely outings there are canal walks and cycle rides. Unlike some over-trekked countryside, in Pendle you can still feel at alone and one with nature.

Interesting events abound throughout the year, including The Festival of Flight, the Hot Air Balloon festival, walking, cycling and riding festivals and an international blues festival.

And of course Pendle has breathtaking views that go on for miles, with dramatic rocks and rugged hills that can take your breath away with their raw beauty.

Pendle is the Perfect Base For Exploration

Although the area has striking beauty, an interesting mix of attractions, and a fascinating history, Pendle is also an ideal base from which to explore many other areas as well. The Yorkshire Dales and Haworth are on your doorstep, and the Lake District is within easy reach. If you like a mix of countryside pleasures and cosmopolitan delights, Leeds and Manchester are close-by, or for seaside fun, Blackpool is a mere hour or so up the motorway. Within an hour you can also drive to Manchester and the Imperial War Museum North, Liverpool and the Albert Dock, Haworth and Bronte Parsonage, Leeds and the Royal Armouries, Halifax and Eureka! Children's Museum.

While you might think of old, grimy factories and mills in Pendle, the truth is rather different. The area's towns are moving on, and embracing the future. Nelson is bringing a fresh approach to industry and leisure, Colne is rapidly developing a fine restaurant quarter, and multi-million pounds' worth of retail and tourism development is taking place. Barnoldswick, well known for hi-tech engineering companies like Rolls Royce, is re-inventing itself as a place of new and exciting events. Also, with projects like Higherford Mill, Pendle is preserving the past while looking to the future. The Mill in Barrowford is being converted into a beacon centre for creative arts; and for striking artwork, set in a remarkable setting, try "The Atom", one of East Lancashire's unique Panopticon sculptures.

There are many ways to enjoy Pendle. For instance, you can go on a countryside treasure hunt with a difference - the Letterbox Trail of Boulsworth Hill (possibly the only one outside the South West of England) - or you can walk the historic Witches' Trail. For Industrial Heritage try the Tacklers Trails, and for wildlife the Canal Walks; for a bigger challenge, try the West Craven Way, surrounded always by magnificent views.

Pendle offers captivating countryside all around, from farmland to rugged crags and views that go on for miles. Indeed, it has some of the most stunning and beautiful scenery in the whole of the North of England, where you can indulge your passion for the outdoors. The area has a wealth of walking and cycling routes for walkers and cyclists of all abilities. Amble down country lanes through idyllic villages, or challenge yourself on Pendle's Three Peaks. For a perfect taster to the area why not get a copy of Pendle's Six Circular Walks Pack? The Pennine Cycleway & Bridleway both go through Pendle.

Independent walkers and cyclists love this part of Lancashire, but there are also many opportunities to enjoy the area in the company of others, either at Pendle's Walking and Cycling Festivals, or with a number of guided walks and cycle rides throughout the year with welcoming local clubs. Details on these can be found on www.visitlancashire.com, where you will also find information on a whole host of other outdoor activities, including fishing, watersports and bird watching. Pendle is home to a marvellous range of flora and fauna and there are a number of beautiful Nature Reserves in the area; guides to these are available from local Tourist Information Centres.

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Pendle is a region of East Lancashire, England, on the North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire borders. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of Burnley and Ribble Valley. It has a total population of about 90,000 people.

It was created from the former boroughs and districts of Nelson, Colne, Barnoldswick, Barrowford, Brierfield, Earby and Trawden, and parts of Burnley Rural District and Skipton Rural District. The area is named after Pendle Forest. Pendle Hill is a major landmark in Pendle.

The area is linked to the Pendle witch trials, and the landscape is dominated by Pendle Hill.

Places in Pendle include:

• Barley
• Barnoldswick
• Barrowford
• Blacko
• Bracewell
• Brierfield
• Carr Hall
• Colne
• Cottontree
• Earby
• Fence
• Foulridge
• Higham
• Kelbrook
• Laneshaw Bridge
• Nelson
• Reedley
• Roughlee
• Salterforth
• Sough
• Trawden
• West Craven
• Wheatley Lane
• Winewall
• Wycoller

Pendle College at Lancaster University takes its name from this area, and many of the places in Pendle lend their name to the college's residential blocks.