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DAYS OUT AND ATTRACTIONS AROUND THE LOCAL AREA OF YOUR STAY

LANCASHIRE

Astley Hall Just north-west of Chorley Town centre Astley Hall, with its ghostly visitants, is a 17th century building which, though now run as a museum, is carefully maintained to look like a family home of 300 years ago. A major feature of the house is its Long Gallery. Elizabethans were fond of their walks, and when the weather was inclement they took their exercise by striding up and down the indoor gallery. A nature trail starts by the main entrance and meanders through woodlands, crossing the tiny River Chor.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach South Promenade, Blackpool This vast complex of ferris wheels, helter-skelters, water chutes and 'white knuckle' rides attracts millions of visitors a year. The family-run business which began in 1896 now has millions of pounds worth of sophisticated equipment. In case of rain, there are more than 30 covered rides and attractions - and next door to the park is the Sandcastle, an indoor entertainment centre, which is, in effect, an enormous covered swimming pool with a restaurant and nightclub and a maze of shops, kiosks and bars.
Blackpool Tower Promenade, Blackpool Modelled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Blackpool Tower dominates the city's skyline. At its base, the Tower Circus and Tower Ballroom were built and decorated in the ornate style of the Paris Opera. Dancing is still a daily feature in the ballroom, which retains its enormous Wurlitzer organ. At the Good Time Emporium, children have their own theatre with cartoon films and music and there is a Tiny Tots Softplay area for the 'up to fives'. For the 6-12 year olds, there is Jungle Jim's Adventure Play-place. An aquarium existed in Blackpool even before the tower was built and is it now called the Undersea World. An exhibition called 'Out of this World' features visual effects ranging from Victorian moving pictures to modern lasers and holograms. Restaurants, games rooms and play areas on four floors lead finally to the Tower lift and a 518ft ascent to the top of the Tower.
Browsholme Hall Off B6243, 5 miles north-west of Clitheroe Browsholme Hall is no museum, but a living home whose long history enfolds the visitor. Most of the entrance hall dates back to the original house built about 1507; but it also contains items from almost every period onwards, from suits of armour to 19th century stained glass. The descendants of the family who built Browsholme still live in it. The rooms, therefore, contain not only treasures collected over the centuries, but the domestic possessions of the present-day inhabitants.
Camelot Theme Park Off M6 and A49, 4 miles south-west of Chorley Heralds in medieval costume welcome visitors to the legendary palace of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The Camelot theme predominates in this lively amusement park Tearooms, inns, a children's garden, a night club and even a nappy-changing room make this very much a place for the family.
Frontierland Theme Park Off A589, at southern end of Morecambe 'Step into the world of the wild, wild west' is the slogan adopted by a theme park which re-creates the American Wild West in a colourful variety of forms. The visitor is likely to find himself in the middle of a staged 'shoot-out' or swept along in a crowd of rope-spinning cowboys. Funfair amusements maintain the Wild West theme. A Fun House provides under-cover entertainment for children and for adults there are the colourful Crazy Horse saloon and Ranch House Bar.
Gawthorpe Hall Off A671, 2.5 miles north-west of Burnley This 17th century manor house has been built around the remains of the southernmost peel tower, one of the many defensive towers built for protection against marauding Scots during the 1300s. Inside the Palladian house, the drawing room with its plaster ceiling, panelling and fireplace is in its original condition; so, too, is the long gallery on the top floor. The remainder of the house, however, was substantially remodelled in the 1850s. On the ground floor is an outstanding collection of embroidery, lace and costume.
Hoghton Tower Off A675, 5 miles west of Blackburn Hoghton Tower is entered through a solid, square gatehouse and divided into two main sections, each grouped around its own courtyard. Beside the inner courtyard stands the Banqueting Hall; it was in this hall that a loin of beef so delighted James I that he bestowed upon it the title 'Sirloin'. The immense table on which the sirloin rested still stands in the hall. A less happy memory of the past is to be found in the basement which held the dungeons. The Tudor well-house is still preserved together with its horse-drawn pump and oaken windlass. There is also a permanent exhibition of doll' houses and dolls.
Lancaster Castle Near centre of Lancaster Begun in the 11th century, Lancaster Castle bears the additions and adaptations of 700 years of use. The tour begins in the Shire Hall, a semicircular courtroom built in the early 19th century. It contains one of the finest displays of heraldry in Britain. The tour leads through Hadrian's Tower, an 11th century structure containing instruments of punishment. Next the visitor passes the dungeons. The Crown Court building dates from the late 18th or early 19th century, and has handsome wooden panelling. Set on the top of a steep hill, Lancaster Castle dominated the delightful little city at its feet. Immediately below it , meadows sweep down to the River Lune, and in these meadows are part of the Roman fort which occupied the hill a thousand years before the Norman castle was built. A collection of Roman material found in and around Lancaster can be seen in the City Museum. There are reminders of Lancaster's maritime past and the building also houses the Museum of the King's Own Royal Regiment.
Lancaster Maritime Museum St George's Quay, Lancaster Built between 1762 and 1764, the stone building beside the River Lune once functioned as Lancaster's Custom House.  The building has been restored to its 18th century appearance, and today is used as a maritime museum which contains the internal features which characterised custom houses throughout the country: a central Long Room where merchants and ships' owners arranged the shipping and distribution of cargoes, a Collector's Office where dues were paid, and smaller offices housing customs staff. A riverside walk from the Maritime Museum leads to an example of 18th century industrial architecture. This is the great aqueduct which carries the Lancaster canal high over the Lune.
Leighton Hall Off A6, 3 miles north of Carnforth An eagle may swoop low over the heads of visitors to Leighton Hall. It is one of a number of birds introduced by the property's Falconer. The 18th century building is very much a family home, the ancestors of the present owners having lived there for more than 400 years. All the rooms to which the public are admitted are in everyday use, and show the domestic touches which make the building much more than a museum. Records of domestic life at Leighton show how the servants lived.
Lever Park Off A673, 7 miles north-west of Bolton In 1884 William Lever launched his famous Sunlight Soap, which made him a fortune and earned him a peerage as Lord Leverhulme. Part of his wealth he devoted to turning 2100 acres of barren hillside into a public park and gardens. One driveway leads to the ruins of Liverpool Castle - built by Lord Leverhulme in the 1920s as a replica of the medieval castle that once stood in Liverpool. Overlooking Lever Park are terraced gardens, which once provided the setting for Lord Leverhulme's mansion. This had to be demolished in 1947, but the gardens have been carefully restored. It takes about two hours to walk around the Gardens Trail. Towering above the gardens is the 1200ft summit of Rivington Pike, topped by its square 18th century tower.
Ribchester Off B6245, 10 miles north-east of Preston The Romans built a fort at Ribchester to guard five vital roadways through a gap in the Pennines. Excavations have revealed much of the ground plan of the fort, and some of the remains have been left exposed. Most of the items found at Ribchester are displayed in a museum on the site. The most famous find - a parade ground helmet discovered in 1796, is in the British Museum in London, but there is a replica in the Ribchester Museum. While parents explore the Roman site, younger visitors may well linger in Ribchester's Museum of Childhood, a private collection of toys, models, dolls and dolls' houses.
Rufford Old Hall Off A59, 5.5 miles north-east of Ormskirk Spectacular black-and-white timbering makes Rufford Old Hall the finest timber-framed house in Lancashire. It was built in the 15th century and is still largely unchanged. Inside, the hall has two unusual features - an immense pair of wooden sphere posts and a movable screen. The spheres were made out of enormous oak trees of slightly differing girths, and are richly carved. An elegant brick wing, built in 1661, houses a collection of 16th century arms and armour, as well as a folk museum. The gardens cover 14 acres.
Samlesbury Hall On A677, 4 miles east of Preston A visit to Samlesbury Hall offers three quite different attractions: the opportunity to explore an ancient building, parts of which go back to the 14th century; an opportunity to watch craftsmen at work; and an opportunity to buy or sell antiques. The original hall was built in 1325 to replace a building burnt down by Robert Bruce and his invading Scots. Its appearance today, however, is mostly that of a timbered building of the mid-16th century. The moat that once surrounded it has long since dried up, but inside there are clear traces of the hall's 600-year-old history.
Towneley Hall On A671, 1.5 miles south-east of Burnley Although Towneley Hall today houses an art gallery and museum, its owners, Burnley Corporation, have taken care to retain the period flavour and domestic features of a house dating mainly from the 16th and 17th centuries. The kitchen shows how methods of cooking changed over three centuries: dominating the room is an immense medieval fireplace - but inserted into it is an early 19th century cooking range. The servants' hall is laid out as it was when it served as the dining room for the staff of a large household. In the grounds of the hall a stone-built Brew House is now a Museum of Local Arts and Crafts.
Worden Hall Just south of Leyland town centre This charming old country house, set in 175 acres of beautiful grounds, is appropriately enough the home of the Lancashire branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England. What the visitor sees today is an elegant mid-18th century building, the so-called Derby Wing which was the only part of the original house to survive a fire in 1941. Largely derelict when restoration began in the 1970s, Worden Hall now houses a visitor centre which quickly dispels any false impression that Lancashire is a predominantly industrial county.
Wycoller Country Park Off A6068, 2.5 miles east of Colne Tucked away in a little valley in the depths of an ancient hunting forest, Wycoller is a time capsule. Crossing the stream called the Wycoller Beck is a single slab or 'clam' bridge dating back to the Iron Age . Nearby are the ruins of Wycoller Hall. The little hamlet of Wycoller is a perfectly preserved 19th century industrial village, from which cars are firmly excluded. Three trails explore the area's history, literary associations and wildlife.