The Forest of Bowland - Winter Walking

The Forest of Bowland has been designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). It is an area of gritstone fells and deep valleys, mostly in north-east Lancashire with a small part in North Yorkshire. Blackburnshire (also known as Blackburn Hundred) was an historic sub-division of the county of Lancashire with Pendle Hill near to its centre. The Royal forests of Bowland and Pendle refer to hunting rights; not areas of woodland. The King used the rights to prevent landowners from clearing, cultivating or changing the land. Hunting was traditionally for deer and wild boar, together with rabbits, foxes, hares, pheasants and partridges. Today’s boundaries of the AONB cover both the ancient Bowland and Pendle forests, collectively known as the Forest of Bowland. It is important for its heather moorland, blanket bog and rare birds. Walking in winter can be a joy on bright crisp days, and people can have the fells to themselves, in contrast to the large numbers of tourists seen in summer; notably the thousands that descend on Pendle Hill for hiking or intrigue in 1600’s witchcraft.