The Tolkien Trail

School holidays is always a time when we go out and about with family.  Our daughter Sarah and her family came up to Lancashire to stay with us for a few days and on one of the days out we went walking in the Ribble Valley, not far from where we live. The walk is called The Tolkien Trail and starts in the village of Hurst Green. J.R.R.Tolkien stayed at Stoneyhurst College a few times and while he was there he got inspiration for his Lord of the Rings books.

The start of the walk took us along past the college, a very impressive building. We then walked across fields with the woods alongside. Eventually the path took us through the woods and the walk became quite magical, with trees, water, bridges and steps.

There were lots of stiles and lovely rusty old kissing gates which took quite a while to get through when there were nine of us.

There were strange shaped trees. This one looked like it might start walking.

 

We walked along the banks of the River Ribble for a while

 

 

Eventually we came out onto the road. Looking over the bridge we could see another bridge called Cromwell's bridge.

Exhausted and hungry we stopped for our picnic in a field then carried on, this walk seemed to be going on and on. Finally we arrived back, having walked seven miles when the guide leaflet told us it was five and half miles. That last mile and a half was really hard work!

Lancashire Day

Last Sunday was 'LancashireDay' and  for all those of us who live or used to live in Lancashire it was an opportunity to celebrate the special customs of our county or to just feel proud to be a Lancastrian. There were lots of events around the county.  We decided to go to a Christmas Food and Craft Fair at Salmesbury Hall. It was not so much to celebrate Lancashire Day but just to have a couple of hours out at an interesting venue with a Christmassy feel to it. Salmesbury hall is an historic black and white building which also has antiques on sale. So as well as viewing the craft fair there would be an opportunity to see the Hall and all it had to offer.

We arrived at the entrance to the hall where a clog dancer was dancing to music.   Once inside the hall there were a good number of crafts stalls to look at and many of them provided plenty of ideas for Christmas presents. The stalls were spread out over about three rooms downstairs. There were also food stalls with samples to try, such as cheese, jams, chutneys, cakes, chocolates.

As we browsed the crafts stalls we couldn't help but be aware of the loud  noise which sounded like someone banging on the floor above. We investigated this and went up the lovely big staircase which took us into a big wooden floored room. The room was set out as an entertainment area with people sitting or standing around the edges of the room listening to a band playing Lancashire songs. That explained the deafening noise downstairs.

Back downstairs the cafe was doing good trade, I wondered if  it was serving black puddings, pie and peas or Lancashire hot pot,  but we weren't eating so we went to look at the antiques. As we explored, I came across a narrow entrance with a couple of fur coats hanging up and a sign inviting us to go through the wardrobe.

I was intrigued because I caught a glimpse of a sparkly, silvery, white area on the other side. As we stepped through the 'wardrobe' I realised it was a Narnia scene.  It was beautiful, I felt I had been transported to another world. It was only a narrow corridor, but I managed to take a quick photo before other visitors appeared and burst my bubble!