35 - Lancashire Valleys : Analysis: Landscape Attributes & Opportunities

Analysis supporting Statements of Environmental Opportunity

The following analysis section focuses on the landscape attributes and opportunities for this NCA.

Further analysis on ecosytem services for this NCA is contained in the Analysis: Ecosytem Services section.

Landscape attributes

The broad valley of the River Calder and its tributaries, running north-east to south-west between the backdrops of Pendle Hill to the north and the Southern Pennines.

Justification for selection:

• 6 key rivers flow through the NCA totalling 93 km along with the Leeds-Liverpool Canal (78 km).
• A broad trough which runs north-eastwards from Chorley to Skipton, lying between the higher land of the Yorkshire Dales to the north east, the Southern Pennines to the east and south, and the Forest of Bowland on the north and west sides. Pendle Hill, the outlier of Millstone Grit, forms part of the northern boundary of the area.
• Elevation ranges within this NCA from 5 m above sea level to 486 m.
• Mellor ridge and gorge at Whalley.
• The waterways support valuable plant communities as well as populations of birds. The goosander, coot, grebe and warblers are all common here, and great crested newt and otter can also be found.

Underlying coal measures and bedrock resources, with available water supplies which provided the basis for early industrialisation.

Justification for selection:

• Areas of former mineral extraction, stone quarrying and coal mining that have now largely been reclaimed.
• Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and rivers.
• A strong industrial heritage associated with buildings and artefacts from the cotton and textile industries, especially those along then Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Valuable broadleaved woodland cover including small, often ancient, woodlands of oak, alder and sycamore that extend along narrow, steep-sided cloughs on the valley sides.

Justification for selection:

• The NCA contains 4,517 ha of woodland (8.2 per cent of the total area), of which 894 ha is ancient woodland.
• Characteristic examples include: Priestley Clough and Spurn Clough and in the lower Darwen valley.
• Wood anemone, herb Paris and small leaved lime can be found on the flood plains and river banks amongst wet woodland; dominated by alder.

Characteristic field patterns.

Justification for selection:

• The Ribble valley flood plain to the south and west is dominated by irregular, hedge bounded pasture fields dating from before 1600. These appear to have been created mainly through processes of assartment, leaving occasional fragments of former woodland along boundaries.
• Field boundaries formed by hedges with few hedgerow trees on the flatter land and flood plains and by stone walls and post-and-wire fences at higher elevations.
• Regular parliamentary/moorland enclosure of lower hillsides.
• Increasing degradation and loss of field boundary patterns around towns.

Farmed land is predominantly grassland for livestock production, fragmented by urban and industrial fabric.

Justification for selection:

• The main land use in this NCA is grass and uncropped land (96 per cent), mainly for sheep and cattle rearing.
• The predominant farm type in this NCA is livestock grazing. In 2009 there were 295 commercial livestock grazing holdings in the LFA (35 per cent) and 121 in the lowlands (14 per cent).
• 46 per cent of the NCA is Grade 4 agricultural land.
• The farmed land includes a mix of pasture with areas of acid and neutral grassland, flushes and mires.
• Some upland heath and rough pasture on Pendle Hill and the higher land to the south.
• Species-rich hay meadows are becoming less common with the application of modern agricultural techniques.
• Wet grasslands are common on the flood plains for example, Ribble Valley and provide habitat for valuable populations of butterflies and birds including snipe, curlew, redshank and lapwing.
• Rare fragments of former strip-field agriculture alongside northern villages (Foulridge, Kelbrook, Earby).

Numerous large country houses with associated parklands, particularly on the northern valley sides away from major urban areas.

Justification for selection:

• Aspects of history likely to be particularly evident to the general public include the area’s country houses and associated parklands, located particularly on the northern valley sides.
• Examples include those at Read Park, Huntroyde Demesne and Gawthorpe, Dunkenhalgh and Towneley Halls, built as a result of the wealth of the textile industry.
• 11 registered Parks and Gardens covering 502 ha, 34 Scheduled Monuments and 1,323 Listed Buildings.

The strong industrial heritage associated with the textile industry.

Justification for selection:

• Long history of textile industry since 1600s.
• Strong Influence of Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
• Early cotton then weaving/spinning and specialist production per town/area.
• Traditional mill complexes and associated buildings, mill lodges and ponds.
• Many mills now redundant, some derelict or converted/restored to alternative uses.

Large urban areas which have robust Victorian architecture for municipal buildings which contrasts with the quiet rural settlements with vernacular stone buildings.
Justification for selection:

• There is a high proportion of built up land which includes the towns of Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and Colne.
• The total estimated population for this NCA (derived from ONS 2001 census data) is 671,807.
• Isolated blocks of stone terraced houses perched at precarious angles on the steep slopes.
• Spreading residential areas and urban fringe influences.

Several communication routes run along the valleys with associated development and increased urbanisation.

Justification for selection:

• The Leeds and Liverpool Canal (78 km).
• M65/M61/M6 motorways and development hubs at junctions.
• Major roads and rail links.
• New industries.

Landscape opportunities

• Bring the area’s small broadleaved woodlands, particularly on farms, into management, focusing on the visually-important clough and ridge-side woodlands on the lower hillsides and the wet woodlands in the valley bottoms. Also focus on farm shelter plantings and copses that are distinctive to the industrial foothills and valleys.
• Protect, manage and conserve ancient semi-natural woodlands to reduce grazing, maintain plant/herbs in pasture, and encourage natural regeneration of native species, especially those in cloughs and the undulating lowland farmland west of Blackburn.
• Protect, conserve and actively manage parkland landscapes including restoring links to associated Country houses and farmland, especially in the undulating lowland farmland.
• Conserve and manage wetland/riparian habitats along rivers, streams and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to protect and support valuable wildlife.
• Create new small native broadleaved woodlands, to provide improved farm shelter, strengthen cloughs and valley side woodlands, enhance the landscape around towns and villages, restore former industrial land and provide a new recreational resource especially in the urban fringe.
• Protect, conserve and strengthen field boundaries both hedgerows and walls, focusing on livestock farms, and relatively intact and visually prominent field boundary patterns, such as those on the Millstone Grit ridge.
• Manage, restore and replant hedgerows and hedgerow trees using species typical of the area.
• Maintain and restore dry stone walls using local stone for repairs to retain them as key historic features, and keep the visual link with the underlying geology.
• Protect the contrasts between the urbanised and industrial valley bottoms and the more rural lower valley sides.
• Protect, conserve and manage traditional hay meadows and pastures to maintain the diversity of semi-natural grasslands, especially remnant flood plain and upland hay meadows.
• Encourage and support traditional agricultural practices to maintain and enhance species-rich meadows.
• Conserve the historic character and unity of villages and hamlets on lower hillsides by using traditional building materials and patterns in restoration, conversion and any new development.
• Maintain and restore traditional farm buildings and barns using local materials/vernacular style, especially the longhouses (laithe houses) which are key features of land on the fringes of the Forest of Bowland.
• Protect and restore redundant or derelict mills and associated buildings, and artefacts such as mill ponds to conserve the strong industrial heritage associated with the textile industry, and offer interpretation and educational experiences to increase visitor understanding and enjoyment of this environment.