The spell of Pendle Hill

We'd been wending our way across wild open moors before dropping down through the breathtaking Trough of Bowland and we still hadn't seen another soul. Amazingly, this was during a school holiday and the pass, like the rest of the Forest of Bowland, was deserted. It felt as if we had found a forgotten piece of England.

The Forest of Bowland isn't actually a forest, but a landscape of dramatic moorland, tiny stone hamlets and picturesque valleys. It's hard to believe that it shares the same county as brash and heaving Blackpool just 20 miles away.

These coastal and countryside contrasts were exactly what we'd been lured to Lancashire for. Our trip was to take us from Morecambe Bay, to historic Lancaster and through the Forest of Bowland to charming Clitheroe.

Along the way we were to take in a traditional seaside resort, watch baby boars frolicking in the mud and, later, to eat what were probably their parents. We were also to learn everything we'd ever need to know about windmills, listen for the hoot of elusive bitterns at a wildlife reserve and hear about the terrible fate of the Pendle witches. And that's all before we fell in love with the little market town of Clitheroe, presided over by the ruins of its castle.

Morecambe has smartened up considerably in recent years, thanks mostly to the Tern Art Project. Inspired by the huge variety of birds which flock to the estuary, it has brought seabird-themed sculptures and fun pavement games to the five-mile stretch of promenade. Of course, everyone wants to have their picture taken beside the resort's famous statue of the late, great, comedian Eric Morecambe. But the wonderful views across the bay towards the beckoning mountains of the Lake District are also a magnet for photographers and birdwatchers.

We ventured a little further north to the RSPB Leighton Moss nature reserve, near Carnforth, where nature trails took us to log cabin hides, from which we could watch a huge variety of birds. Sadly, though, the bittern eluded us.

At Lancaster, we were fascinated by some of the gruesome and ghastly tales our guide around Lancaster Castle had to tell. This is both a working prison and Crown Court and he was trotting out one breathtakingly impressive fact after another. This is the oldest prison in the Western world, with walls nine feet thick in parts and the oldest courtroom still in use in England.

The courtroom has a colourful arrangement of 650 coats of arms, including those of every English monarch, going back to Richard the Lionheart, around its walls. That's not to mention one of the finest collections of valuable Gillow furniture in the world, too. The 1612 Pendle witch trial was held here in what is now the jury's rest room. It's quite difficult to imagine that in this room, with its coffee machine and television, the fate of 10 people was so horribly sealed. In the rest of the building this vivid history is all too visible.

Down the years some 3,000 Lancashire people were transported to Australia, having been sentenced here.

The chains, which linked them by their necks as they marched to the ships, line the walls of one of the rooms. In the holding room, now another jurors' room, we saw where the condemned person faced their own coffin before going out to the gallows. After all this disturbing history, we needed a little light relief. So it was not surprising that the entire group of multi-national visitors burst out laughing when told of a partly successful escape bid eight years ago.

The prison may have the highest gaol walls in the UK, but they do not stop inmates getting out, especially when they get hold of a triple extension ladder carelessly left lying around by builders. Unfortunately for one of the escapees he fell 80ft and, so our guide said, will probably never walk properly again. His fellow inmate gave himself up three days later in the next county.

Obviously neither realised that the 600-year-old key to the prison gates is also on public display. We later became involved in a hunt of our own – to find the rather cute piglets at the Bowland Wild Boar Park at Chipping. Thankfully, their not-so-cute parents were behind sturdy fences. We did, however, enjoy close encounters with week-old chicks and playful lambs.

Later, sitting in the cosy Edisford Bridge Inn, above the River Ribble on the outskirts of Clitheroe, it didn't seem a very good idea to tell our youngest daughter, Sophie, what our deliciously meaty wild boar sausages were made of. Clitheroe itself was a delight; a rather quaint little town with few well-known high street stores among its intriguing small shops, lending it a special charm.

It was a bustling market day when we arrived and after pottering around a myriad of stalls we followed what appeared to be the local custom and bought some soup and sausage rolls from the busy bakers and sat down in the shadow of the Norman keep to enjoy our spread. Below the ramparts we came upon Clitheroe Castle Museum with its Victorian kitchen and displays of folklore and legend.

That afternoon we stood on the top of Pendle Hill, around which the "witches" had lived, watching the sun sparkling on distant Morecambe Bay, from where we'd begun our inspired journey. Lancashire may be packed with popular tourist attractions, but its peaceful landscape was what had cast a spell over us.

More of the story of the witches is revealed at the Pendle Heritage Centre Museum at Barrowford. The museum is set in a restored 17th century manor house, the former family home of legendary four-minute-miler Roger Bannister.

www.htnw.co.uk/phc.html

PLACES TO VISIT

www.visitlancashire.com

Bowland Wild Boar Park, Chipping. www.wildboarpark.co.uk

RSPB Leighton Moss, Silverdale, Carnforth. www.rspb.org.uk

Lancaster Castle is a working Crown Court and prison and tour days vary due to use by the courts. Call first on 01524 64998.

Europe's tallest windmill at Marsh Mill, Thornton-Cleveleys, on the Wyre estuary.