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When the nineteenth-century Lancashire cotton weavers enjoyed a rare break from their industry they took to the bucolic retreats of the Ribble Valley , north of Preston, which cuts through the heart of northern Lancashire to the River Ribble's source in the Yorkshire Dales. In stark contrast to the conurbations to the south, the valley parades a stream of small market towns and isolated villages set among verdant fields and rolling hills. A tidy little market town on the banks of the River Ribble, CLITHEROE (regular trains from Manchester and buses from Preston) is best seen from the terrace of its empty Norman Keep which towers above the Ribble Valley floor. From here, the small centre is laid out before you and, if there's little else specific to see - save a Castle Museum (May-Sept daily 11am-4.30pm; Oct-Dec & Feb-April closed Thurs & Fri; closed all Jan; GBP1.50) in the extensive grounds - you can at least spend an hour or two browsing around the shops and old pubs. An obvious target is Pendle Hill, a couple of miles to the east, where the ten Pendle Witches allegedly held the diabolic rites that led to their hanging in 1612. The evidence against them came mainly from one small child, but nonetheless a considerable mythology has grown up around the witches, whose memory is perpetuated by a hilltop gathering each Halloween. Much of the northwestern part of the region is occupied by thinly populated grouse moorland known as the Forest of Bowland - the name "forest" is used in its traditional sense of a "royal hunting ground", and much of the land still belongs to the Crown. From Clitheroe, buses run out to Dunsop Bridge, Newton and Slaidburn, the three tiny villages in the heart of the region. Pedal Power on Waddington Road (tel 01200/422066) in Clitheroe can sort you out with a mountain bike for in-depth exploration. SLAIDBURN is the most substantial and attractive of the Forest's settlements. Hoary stone cottages fronted by a strip of aged cobbles set the tone - a truly ancient inn , the Hark to Bounty (tel 01200/446246; GBP50-60), and a popular youth hostel (tel 01200/446656; closed Oct-March), itself a former inn, complete the picture.
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