Lancashire Day 27 November 2018

[Sweep]

Dr who starting in 10 mins apparently set around pendle witch trials. No idea what locations they used. If not the wondrous pendle the producers sbould be hung. Or whatever they did to those unfortunate women.

Oof, just saw this post, we've missed it, 'cos we don't watch Dr Who. How was it?

I watched it for a bit.

I'd save your time.

Although the general dampness/weather, and references to mud** (mud actually appeared to be a key part of the "story") were faithful to the environment/history, I pretty much gave up after someone mentioned Pendle Hill and there was a daft shot of "it" which looked nothing like Pendle. At all. It may even have been CGI. Pendle is very distinctive - always makes me think of a giant beached whale. It has a very particular grandeur.

There were then several other references to Pendle Hill but I'd pretty much lost interest by then.

I'm no pedantic history nerd when you are dealing with a prog that is clearly fantasy, but Pendle has a real atmosphere and there's nothing so great as fantasy/surrealism/horror or whatever when it is rooted in what appears to be a real world.

So shame on the BBC. Which I thought had become more northern/cultural.

God knows where they filmed it.

** would have been nice if they had chucked in that wonderful word "slutch", which I remember from my childhood. Great word. Just think of the sound a particular mix of mud and water makes as it grabs then releases a welly.

[pete75]

Don't mix us northerners with Manchester and leeds. That's where rich folk live (and Cheshire too). Lancaster isn't getting the HS2, 3, 4 or any HS number anytime soon. Also Lancashire 's biggest airport is likely to be blackpool!

Hardly rich cities. When I was on a course near Manchester a few years ago I stayed for a week in Mottram Hall Hotel near Alderley Edge - that's where rich folk live.

[Tangled Metal]

It's all relative. Aspirational cycle kit round here is Carrera for example!

Halfords is a boutique bike shop.

Bargain bike shopping is walking past a bike rack and finding a bike unlocked.

Forget about cars on bricks, round here you see bikes locked to bike racks disappearing part by part over a couple of weeks until just the frame is left. Then that goes.

Anyone else do a cycling equivalent of the four Yorkshiremen?

[pwa]

Dr who starting in 10 mins apparently set around pendle witch trials. No idea what locations they used. If not the wondrous pendle the producers sbould be hung. Or whatever they did to those unfortunate women.

Oof, just saw this post, we've missed it, 'cos we don't watch Dr Who. How was it?

I watched it for a bit.

I'd save your time.

Although the general dampness/weather, and references to mud** (mud actually appeared to be a key part of the "story") were faithful to the environment/history, I pretty much gave up after someone mentioned Pendle Hill and there was a daft shot of "it" which looked nothing like Pendle. At all. It may even have been CGI. Pendle is very distinctive - always makes me think of a giant beached whale. It has a very particular grandeur.

There were then several other references to Pendle Hill but I'd pretty much lost interest by then.

I'm no pedantic history nerd when you are dealing with a prog that is clearly fantasy, but Pendle has a real atmosphere and there's nothing so great as fantasy/surrealism/horror or whatever when it is rooted in what appears to be a real world.

So shame on the BBC. Which I thought had become more northern/cultural.

God knows where they filmed it.

** would have been nice if they had chucked in that wonderful word "slutch", which I remember from my childhood. Great word. Just think of the sound a particular mix of mud and water makes as it grabs then releases a welly.

Dr. Who is based in Cardiff. My daughter makes a bit of money to support her studies by being an extra on that and Casualty. We have brooding hills down here so I don't know why they would use CGI for a hill.

[Sweep]

Ah so they used perhaps a dull welsh hill (am not sarking the mountains)

Real thing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/j_piks/42 ... endlehill/

[pwa]

Ah so they used perhaps a dull welsh hill (am not sarking the mountains)

Real thing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/j_piks/42 ... endlehill/

To be honest, that could easily be somewhere in Wales. The distinctive thing about Pendle Hill (which I admire) is its separation from the adjacent upland mass. It is like an island.

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl= ... C3oECAMQBg

The Skirrid (Yskyryd Fawr) near Abergavenny is another stand alone peak that always draws my gaze when I am nearby.

I wonder if the BBC used Garth Hill just north of Cardiff.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thereggy/8178546986

It was used in that film with a long title, something like An Englishman who climbed a hill.... From the Beeb's point of view it is right on the doorstep, though to my mind not very distinctive. Getting there from the studios at Cardiff Bay would take less than an hour in average traffic conditions.

[Tangled Metal]

It's sacrilege to use anything but the real hill. You could argue that it's a religious site. Everest, mount fuji, that one in Ireland and pendle Hill. Of course only pendle Hill was the starting point of a religious sect apparently.

Was it the founder of the Quakers who on passing by climbed it and came to a religious revelation on the top that led to his views on religion and the society of friends?

Of course the big reason is barley just below. A town with a nice drinking establishment and iirc it's own beer / brewery. It might be different, that read 20+ years ago now.

[pwa]

It's sacrilege to use anything but the real hill. You could argue that it's a religious site. Everest, mount fuji, that one in Ireland and pendle Hill. Of course only pendle Hill was the starting point of a religious sect apparently.

Was it the founder of the Quakers who on passing by climbed it and came to a religious revelation on the top that led to his views on religion and the society of friends?

Of course the big reason is barley just below. A town with a nice drinking establishment and iirc it's own beer / brewery. It might be different, that read 20+ years ago now.

There are hills and mountains given mystical significance all over the world. Here in Wales, for example, Pynlimon is the source of both the Wye and the Severn, and was seen by the Romans as the druidical heart of a Wales that they found hard to control.

The big stand alone hill in my own part of Lancashire is Winter Hill, though Holcombe Hill is to my mind a better looker.

[David F]

I don't watch Dr Who so I haven't seen the episode in question. A few weeks ago though, whilst on a ride in Bowland, I chanced upon a crew which I think was filming for the series. I didn't stop to investigate, but the location was close to Burrholme Bridge, just south of Dunsop Bridge. Anyone who knows the area and saw the programme might be able to say whether that seems likely.
David F

[Flinders]

I don't watch Dr Who so I haven't seen the episode in question. A few weeks ago though, whilst on a ride in Bowland, I chanced upon a crew which I think was filming for the series. I didn't stop to investigate, but the location was close to Burrholme Bridge, just south of Dunsop Bridge. Anyone who knows the area and saw the programme might be able to say whether that seems likely.
David F

That's a long way from Pendle....

[Flinders]

Dr who starting in 10 mins apparently set around pendle witch trials. No idea what locations they used. If not the wondrous pendle the producers sbould be hung. Or whatever they did to those unfortunate women.

Oof, just saw this post, we've missed it, 'cos we don't watch Dr Who. How was it?

I watched it for a bit.

I'd save your time.

Although the general dampness/weather, and references to mud** (mud actually appeared to be a key part of the "story") were faithful to the environment/history, I pretty much gave up after someone mentioned Pendle Hill and there was a daft shot of "it" which looked nothing like Pendle. At all. It may even have been CGI. Pendle is very distinctive - always makes me think of a giant beached whale. It has a very particular grandeur.

There were then several other references to Pendle Hill but I'd pretty much lost interest by then.

I'm no pedantic history nerd when you are dealing with a prog that is clearly fantasy, but Pendle has a real atmosphere and there's nothing so great as fantasy/surrealism/horror or whatever when it is rooted in what appears to be a real world.

So shame on the BBC. Which I thought had become more northern/cultural.

God knows where they filmed it.

** would have been nice if they had chucked in that wonderful word "slutch", which I remember from my childhood. Great word. Just think of the sound a particular mix of mud and water makes as it grabs then releases a welly.

I remember 'slutch' too. I wonder how local it is? Using any other hill but Pendle is sacrilege. For those who haven't read it, Harrison Ainsworth's The Lancashire Witches is a real Victorian doorstop novel about it, but very heavy going if you aren't into Victorian novels. For most readers, the best historical novel about it is undoubtedly Mist Over Pendle. That also gives you a real feel for the psychological dominance of the hill, which you can still feel even now. There are modern non-fiction books which explore the actual facts. Most likely the 'witches' were just poor people living on land that richer people wanted them off, and who were also a bit of a nuisance to their neighbours.

[Flinders]

A few yards up the road from Puddleducks camouflaged in the trees.:-
https://www.google.com/maps/place/100,0 ... 2?hl=en-GB

By the way the cafe is not open Mondays.

And also very close, this.
Even for a raging atheist (and anti papist) like me it's very nice to pop into for a bit of shelter/quiet contemplation.

Just open the door, switch the light on, switch it off when you leave. Not likely to have company.

Supposedly built with race horse winnings as I recall.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/St+Hu ... 9?hl=en-GB

Yep. 'Kettledrum', who won the Derby, IIRC. Owned by the Towneley family. And there is still a painting of him by Harry Hall, at Towneley Hall in Burnley (open to the public and well worth a visit).

[Sweep]

I always remembered that there was a painting of said horse in the church.

But last time I visited, couldn't see it.

[Sweep]

I remember 'slutch' too. I wonder how local it is? Using any other hill but Pendle is sacrilege. For those who haven't read it, Harrison Ainsworth's The Lancashire Witches is a real Victorian doorstop novel about it, but very heavy going if you aren't into Victorian novels. For most readers, the best historical novel about it is undoubtedly Mist Over Pendle. That also gives you a real feel for the psychological dominance of the hill, which you can still feel even now.

I don't know about usage of slutch. Not heard it since my shadow of Pendle childhood though I guess it's still current. That bit of Lancashire is very close to Yorkshire - always possible that it's a Yorkshire word.

edit:

Found this.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slutch

Says it means "slush".

Don't know about your take on it but for me that's totally wrong. Real "slutch" is far thicker than "slush", but not so thick as "mud". Hence its particular properties on wellies,

Agree about the dominance of the hill - oppressed by A level overwork I used to look to it of a summer's evening as an elevated land of freedom

[Sweep]

It's sacrilege to use anything but the real hill. You could argue that it's a religious site. Everest, mount fuji, that one in Ireland and pendle Hill. Of course only pendle Hill was the starting point of a religious sect apparently.

Was it the founder of the Quakers who on passing by climbed it and came to a religious revelation on the top that led to his views on religion and the society of friends?

Of course the big reason is barley just below. A town with a nice drinking establishment and iirc it's own beer / brewery. It might be different, that read 20+ years ago now.

Yes, the Quakers did begin atop Pendle.

The drinking establishment is The Pendle Hotel? Yes a nice 1930s building - always seems a tad odd to me that it was built as late as the 30s in such very small place (I'd hardly describe it as a "town" ) I don't like the other place. Pressures of business (pub trade hard these days) have made it try to be a bit too posh.