BOWLAND FOREST - Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty

Bowland Forest is not actually a forest but a large open area of moorland, farmland and woodland. The moorland fells are crossed with deep narrow valleys. The towns and villages of Bowland are around its edges rather than in its centre and so it is a rather solitary place, beautiful to look at and to walk, ride or cycle in, with hardly any disturbance from roads.

Bowland has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and almost joins on to the Yorkshire Dales National Park, separated only by the Ribble Valley. Our 2 holiday cottages in this area lie within the Ribble Valley and are only minutes away from Bowland.

Footpaths, bridle ways and cylcle trails criss cross Bowland. Within its heart is Pendle Hill, the infamous witch area of older times. The book "Mist Over Pendle", a romantic novel describing the Lancashire Witches, was written about this area, describing many of the villages such as Downham, Barley, Clitheroe and Roughlee. The villages have not changed much over the last few centuries.

Bowland Forest abounds with wildlife and is a bird watcher's and naturalists haven