Discover the countryside: Lancashire, Greater Manchester & Liverpool

PLACE TO EXPLORE: Discover the Forest of Bowland

Debbie McConnell, Trustee at CPRE Lancashire, Liverpool City Region & Greater Manchester, recommends the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley. 

This historic National Landscape combines fells, heather moorland and upland hay meadows with working farms and important habitats for wildlife including lapwings, skylarks, curlew, ring ouzels and hen harriers. 

It’s also a landscape full of stories. Once a Norman hunting ground, the area played a role in the Civil War and has connections with JRR Tolkien, who spent time at Stonyhurst College and drew inspiration from the surrounding landscape.

WALK THROUGH HISTORY: Follow in the footsteps of Cromwell – or Tolkien

A packhorse bridge crossed by Oliver Cromwell and his troops on their way to the Battle of Preston still stands in the Forest of Bowland today – and you can walk across it through a landscape Debbie says has changed remarkably little. 

Or follow the Tolkien Trail, which explores places associated with the author’s time in the area and landscapes said to have influenced his writing.

LOOK OUT FOR: See the landscape change through the seasons 

Spring brings wild garlic, bluebells, yellow gorse and lambs to the Forest of Bowland, while from June into August the moors turn purple with flowering heather.

It’s also worth listening as well as looking. Curlew, skylark and lapwing can all be heard during the breeding season, alongside birds of prey including barn owls, little owls and hen harriers.