10 Questions about Lancashire | Geography

Answer: Red rose

The red rose of Lancashire originates from the 15th century Wars of the Roses when the houses of Lancaster and York adopted the red and white roses as their emblems. Although the Wars of the Roses were between the royal houses (and not between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire) both counties have adopted the appropriate roses as their emblems.

Answer: Cotton

Lancashire was the centre of cotton production, with towns such as Manchester, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn and Burnley dependent on the cotton mills that grew up. Some of the main inventions that contributed to the growth of the cotton industry originated in Lancashire e.g. John Kay's Flying Shuttle in Bury, James Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny in Blackburn, Richard Arkwright's Water Frame in Preston and Samuel Crompton's Spinning Mule in Bolton.

Answer: Bridgewater Canal

The canal was built to take coal (which was needed for the newly invented steam engines) from the Duke of Bridgewater's coal mines at Worsley (about eight miles from Manchester) into the centre of Manchester. The result was that the cost of coal was halved, as it was so much easier to transport the coal by water rather than by road. Brindley achieved another first with an aqueduct which took the canal over the River Irwell.

Answer: Manchester and Liverpool

The Manchester to Liverpool railway was developed mainly to bring raw cotton from the port of Liverpool to the growing cotton metropolis of Manchester at a much cheaper cost than by road or canal. Trials were held at Rainhill near Liverpool to find the best locomotive for the railway and George Stephenson's 'Rocket' won.

The railway opened on 15 September 1830 and saw the first railway fatality when William Huskisson, a local Member of Parliament, was knocked down by the Rocket and died of his injuries.

Answer: Blackpool

Blackpool developed as a major seaside resort for the working classes of Lancashire (and Yorkshire too) once the railway reached the resort in the 1840's. Cheap day trips were very popular and most of Blackpool's attractions were built in the second half of the 19th century, including the famous Tower (modelled on the upper part of the Eiffel Tower) which was built in 1894.

In the 20th century, the Illuminations (hundreds of illuminated tableaux) extended the tourist season into the autumn and still attract many visitors to the resort.

Answer: Every 20 years

The Preston Guild celebrates the granting of charter in 1179 which gave the burgesses of the town the right to hold a Guild Merchant. In 1328 it was decreed that the Guild should be held every 20 years. There have been several breaks but an unbroken series of Guilds was held from 1542 to 1922.

The 1942 Guild had to be abandoned because of World War II but the Guild resumed in 1952, and the next one is due in 2032. During 'Guild Week' there are many different events, processions, entertainments, exhibitions and street parties.

In North West England, the phrase 'once in a Preston Guild' is a wry comment about a rare or distant event.

Answer: witchcraft

These ten were known as the 'Pendle witches'. They were accused of the murder by witchcraft of 17 people in the area of East Lancashire known as the Forest of Pendle. There were three others also involved, but one died in jail, another was tried and hanged at York, and another was convicted of witchcraft but not murder and was imprisoned for a year.

The most famous book about the Pendle Witches is 'Mist Over Pendle' by Robert Neill.

Answer: Eric Morecambe

Eric Morecambe was born as Eric John Bartholomew on 14 May 1926 in Morecambe, Lancashire. He started on the stage at an early age, and in his teens joined up with Ernest Wiseman (later known as Ernie Wise). They became known as Morecambe and Wise and went on to become one of the best loved comedy duos in Britain, especially in their television shows in the 1960's and 1970's. Eric died in 1984 and a statue of him was unveiled by the Queen in Morecambe in 1999.

Incidentally, George Formby (real name George Booth) was born in Wigan and adopted his father's stage name; Jimmy Clitheroe (his genuine real name) was actually born in Clitheroe and Burt Lancaster was born in New York!

Answer: Loin of beef

The legend is that King James was very impressed by the hospitality of Sir Richard de Hoghton and especially with the loin of beef that he was served. He took out his sword and knighted the joint with the words 'I knight thee, Sir Loin' hence the modern name of sirloin steak. The huge table on which the loin of beef stood can still be seen at Hoghton Tower.

Answer: Garboldisham

Chipping is a picturesque village in the Ribble valley. The name comes from the medieval word 'chepyn' meaning market. Oswaldtwistle is a small mill town in East Lancashire which owed its development to the textile industry, especially calico. Some say its name comes from the boundary of King Oswald of Northumbria's kingdom in the 7th century, while others say that an 'oswaldtwistle' was a Viking brass wind instrument. Ramsbottom is another East Lancashire mill town and much of it was built by the Grant brothers who were immortalised by Dickens as the Cheeryble brothers in 'Nicholas Nickleby'.

The name Ramsbottom comes from Anglo-Saxon meaning 'valley of the wild garlic'. (Garboldisham, by the way, is a village in the county of Norfolk)