Whalley
I have not posted for a while in part because I have not found anywhere new within 20 minutes drive of home that inspires me. I have, therefore, ventured further a field, to Whalley, some 30 to 35 minutes away, just northeast of Blackburn. Whalley is a large village with a population of just a few thousand. There used to be an abbey here, building of which started in 1296 by Henry de Lacy, tenth Baron of Halton, but was not finished until after 1440. It closed in 1537 when the monasteries were dissolved, and in the same year the abbot was executed for high treason! The land was sold into private ownership, and much of the buildings were demolished, but is 1923 it returned to church ownership. It was a very cold day in mid-January when I visited the village. I had no particular route worked out; I just wandered around the town. Frankly, the cold was not conducive to long walks! There is no car park in the town as far as I could see, so street parking it was. Not a problem in January, b