Clitheroe.
A bit about where we live and work.
Clitheroe is a prosperous market town and centre of the Ribble Valley which is one of Britain's scenic gems.
The bustling town boasts one of the country's lowest unemployment rates and is home to some go-ahead manufacturing companies as well as a fascinating variety of retailers.
Dominated by the remains of its ancient Castle the town has a market charter dating from 1283 and nearby Whalley has an abbey which is only 14 years younger.
The Ribble Valley itself covers 230 square miles of beautiful countryside and villages including the exact centre of the British Isles and the area where, it is said, the Queen would like to live in retirement.
Location
Clitheroe
is a market town with a population of some 13,700 and an unemployment
rate of less than two per cent. The nearest motorway is the M65
and the nearest major towns are Blackburn and Preston.
It is part of the Ribble Valley Borough which has a population of 51,800.
Local communities include: Billington, Bolton by Bowland, Chatburn,
Chipping, Copster Green, Downham, Gisburn, Dunsop Bridge, Grindleton,
Hurst Green, Langho, Longridge, Mellor, Osbaldeston, Ribchester,
Sabden, Slaidburn, Waddington, West Bradford, Whalley, Whitewell
and Worston.
Heritage
Clitheroe is the main market town of the Ribble Valley, the picturesque place where the Queen, it is said, would like to retire.
This ancient town, brimming with character and customs, is dominated by the remains of a castle, built by the Lacy family after the invasion of the Normans in 1066.
Legend has it that a large hole in the east wall of the keep was caused by a cannon ball, when the castle was attacked by Oliver Cromwell.
Another legend is that the devil threw a rock at the keep from Pendle Hill!
Visitors to the keep can hear for themselves the sound of ancient battles thanks to an ingenious sound system.
Shortly after the First World War the castle achieved its final change of ownership, when a public subscription list was opened and the castle and part of its grounds were designated a war memorial.
Clitheroe's market charter dates from 1283, and it also has many independently owned shops, some family businesses being more than 100 years old.
The Ribble Valley it administers has miles of rolling countryside - a large part of which is within the Bowland area of outstanding natural beauty.
Longridge, which has its origins in the Industrial Revolution, when it was known for its stone quarrying and cotton industries, is the area's second market town.
But in 230 sq miles, visitors can discover picturesque rivers and ancient bridges, award-winning villages, historic houses and coaching inns, as well as the ruins of Whalley Abbey, a house of the Cistercian Order, founded in 1296.
The area also hosts the centre of the kingdom. For Dunsop Bridge, has been officially declared by Ordnance Survey as the nearest village to the exact centre of the British Isles.
Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes unveiled a plaque stating that in a commemorative telephone box on the village green.
Text taken from www.thisislancashire.co.uk