Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy - this week in the Ribble Valley

OVER the years in writing this column I have visited Brungerley on several occasions. When it was decided to set artistic carvings along the route I was not too happy. I thought that Mother Nature was the best artist but now have to admit that I was wrong.

The work of artist Thompson Dagnall is a joy and I spent lots of time admiring his work while listening to the songs of the resident mistle thrush and the summer visiting willow warbler.

I was determined to take all day over this scenic stroll and took a couple of picnics with me. The sun was warm and beating down from a cloudless sky but the cool breeze reminded me that it was still April.

To the right of the road is Waddow Hall, one of the most interesting areas in the whole of Lancashire. Waddow Hall is now an important base for the Girl Guides, which is continuing a female tradition. The hall is now a fun place but was once the haunt of a much more dangerous female.

By the hall and close to the river is Peg O'Nell's Well and is named after a headless statue, said to have been decapitated by the mistress of Waddow in fear of an evil spirit said to be contained within the structure. It is thought to be much more likely that the statue originated from Whalley Abbey when the forces of Henry VIII hated Catholic icons and damaged most of them.

The damaged statue on the banks of the Ribble is famous and as I left Waddow, crossed Brungerley Bridge and turned left I soon found an area of the river bank decorated by the wooden sculptures of Thompson Dagnall. I found all of them impressive but especially one which is called "Saving Sheep." It looked to me more like Neptune but I'm quite happy to appreciate all of these tree sculptures.

During my first picnic I sat beneath a blackthorn tree which was full of white blossom. In contrast to hawthorn the blackthorn (also called sloe) blossom appears before the leaves.

The Ribble looked beautiful and close to the bridge at Brungerley I watched a kingfisher skimming under the arches and a heron waited very patiently on the bank.

To the right of the path the long disused quarry was a perfect nesting site for several pairs of jackdaws and a kestrel.

I love West Bradford; it is a village of contrasts with quaint old cottages mingling with commuter housing. Some of the old properties are reached by crossing small stone bridges across a narrow stream which leads down to the Ribble.

There is a grand old pub called the Three Millstones which has always served good food, although it is about to change hands.

There is also an old cotton mill, a sign that West Bradford flirted -- but not very successfully -- with the Industrial Revolution. It did, however, play host to Mahatma Gandhi, who visited Heys Farm from September 21 to 23, 1931. He was on a fact finding tour of Lancashire cotton mills around Darwen and Blackburn which exported much of its output to India. He was accompanied by Percy Davies, who was MP for the area.

I then saw my first swallow of the year. They say that one swallow does not make a summer but it certainly tells me that the spring is well and truly with us.

My next stop was Waddington with, the hedgerows full of colour with primrose, lesser celandine and the white attractive flowers of wild strawberry.

Like West Bradford, Waddington is an example of an English village at its best.

This deserves a country stroll all to itself and I will therefore be returning to Waddington next week and I will be in search of history and the natural history of the surrounding moorlands.

GETTING THERE: I walked from Waddington along the B6478 towards Clitheroe. Turn left close to and across the Ribble. Follow the well made track towards West Bradford. Turn left at the bridge and return to Waddington.