Clitheroe

Clitheroe is an attractive market town in the Ribble Valley in East Lancashire. It has a Norman castle guarding the transport route along the valley, and is a good base for exploring the Forest of Bowland to the north. In 2021 Clitheroe had a population of 17,141.

Understand
The Pendle Witches are Clitheroe's dark claim to fame. Belief in witches, and legal and church persecutions, took hold in Britain in the 16th century. Witchcraft was made a capital crime, and people started seeing them everywhere. In 1612 eleven people living around Pendle Hill were tried for witchcraft: eight women and two men were found guilty and hanged, one woman was acquitted. Others such as the nearby "Samlesbury Witches" were tried about the same time, an unusual spate of cases.

So many "confessions" have been wrung out under torture, but the striking factor here was how the accused seemed to believe in their own supernatural powers. Six of them came from the Demdike and the Chattox families, who were rival folk-healers quick to accuse the other. It had all started when Alizon Device asked a pedlar for metal pins, often used for divination, healing, and hocus-pocus. He refused, but as he walked away he collapsed to the ground. He was able to get back up and hobble on his way, yet within a day or so, Alizon was claiming (without being put under pressure) that the Devil had lamed the pedlar at her request. Soon the elderly Demdike and Chattox matriarchs were boasting in court about their alliances with Old Nick.

There were attempts in 1998 and in 2008 to obtain judicial pardons for the witches, but their convictions stand.

Visitor information

 * The Tourist Information Centre is within Platform Art Gallery on the railway station, open M-Sa 10AM-4:30PM.
 * Vist Clitheroe website.

Get in
has hourly trains from Manchester Victoria, taking 75 min via Salford, Bolton, Darwen, Blackburn and Whalley. These trains start from Rochdale. Clitheroe station is just an unstaffed halt with ticket machines but no toilets or waiting room. There is step-free access to both platforms. The railway continues north to Hellifield, for the scenic Pennine route to Bentham and Lancaster, but the regular service was axed aeons ago and only occasional heritage steam trains now run that way.

Blackburn Bus 22 runs from Blackburn every 30 min M-Sa and hourly on Sunday, taking 30 min via Mellor and Whalley.

Stagecoach Bus 280 runs from Preston, taking 50 min via Mellor Brook and Whalley, and continuing to Chatburn, Gisburn, Barnoldswick, Earby, Thornton-in-Craven and Skipton. It's hourly M-Sa and every two hours on Sunday.

Rosso Bus 64 runs from Burnley hourly M-Sa and every two hours on Sunday, taking an hour via Padiham and Whalley.

Bus 66 / 67 runs from Nelson every hour or two M-Sa, taking an hour via Chatburn.

The bus station is next to the railway station.

By road from the south take M6 onto M65 east then A680 onto A59. The A59 continues north into the Yorkshire Dales and is congested on summer weekends.

Get around
The town is compact and walkable, but most attractions are some miles out, so you need wheels.

Bus 3 runs every two hours M-Sa to Pimlico, Chatburn and Sawley.

Bus 4 circles town hourly M-Sa from the station to Market Place, Peel Park, Little Moor and back to the station.

Bus 5 runs to Whalley, Hurst Green, Ribchester, Longridge and Chipping, hourly M-Sa and every two hours on Sunday.

Taxi firms include Station Cars / Angel (+44 1200 422422) and Tiger (+44 1200 443100).

See

 * on B6243 is a nine-arch bridge over the Ribble of late medieval construction. It's not wide enough for two vehicles to pass, and there's no sidewalk, so take photos from the riverbank and don't linger on the bridge.
 * on B6243 is a nine-arch bridge over the Ribble of late medieval construction. It's not wide enough for two vehicles to pass, and there's no sidewalk, so take photos from the riverbank and don't linger on the bridge.
 * on B6243 is a nine-arch bridge over the Ribble of late medieval construction. It's not wide enough for two vehicles to pass, and there's no sidewalk, so take photos from the riverbank and don't linger on the bridge.
 * is 557 metres / 1827 ft high, but looks bigger as it looms up in isolation from lower country. "Pen" means hill as does the "dle" element, so like Breedon Hill in Leicester, its full meaning is "hill hill hill." It's a detached part of Forest of Bowland AONB. Its claims to fame are i) the Pendle Witches - the Demdike and Chattox families lived hereabouts in the early 17th centuries; ii) the "Moses" moment for Quakers, where in 1652 George Fox had his vision to propagate his Quaker beliefs, and iii) Richard Towneley's barometer measurements on the hill in 1661 showed the relationship between gas pressure and volume, which we call Boyle's Law. The hill is gritstone overlying limestone, so it's sparse moor heath on top. The usual ascent is the steepest, from the lane above Barley village (east) then straight up the scarp. In Aug 2012 some 483 people dressed as witches climbed the hill to mark the 400th anniversary of the witch trials.
 * Cromwell's Bridge is a rickety crossing over the Hodder a mile east of Stonyhurst, near its confluence with the Ribble. It was built in the 1560s but was named for Cromwell after his troops crossed in 1648. They were marching from Skipton to Ribbleton near Preston, where they smashed the Royalists.
 * Cromwell's Bridge is a rickety crossing over the Hodder a mile east of Stonyhurst, near its confluence with the Ribble. It was built in the 1560s but was named for Cromwell after his troops crossed in 1648. They were marching from Skipton to Ribbleton near Preston, where they smashed the Royalists.

Do

 * What's on? Clitheroe Advertiser & Times is published on Thursday. It's part of the Burnley Express.
 * Cinema: Everyman is within Holmes Mill.
 * Ribble Valley Sculpture Trail extends along the riverbank between Brungerley Park on Waddington Rd (a mile north of town) upstream to West Bradford Rd. There are some 20 sculptures plus interpretation boards about the area and its wildlife.
 * Golf: Clitheroe GC is a mile south of town on Whalley Rd, blue tees 6532 yards, par 71, visitor fee £60.
 * Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues Festival is held in late April to early May.
 * Beat-Herder is a rock music festival at Sawley Top, seven miles northeast of town along A59 in mid-July.
 * Clitheroe Food Festival is held in mid-Aug.

Buy

 * Clitheroe Market is held Tu Th Sa 9AM-4PM, between New Market St and Station Rd.
 * Tesco on Duck St in town centre is open M-Sa 6AM-midnight, Su 10AM-4PM.
 * Sainsburys on Moor Lane is open M-Sa 8AM-9PM, Su 11AM-5PM.
 * Aldi south on Whalley Rd is open M-Sa 8AM-10PM, Su 11AM-5PM.

Eat

 * Vista Cielo is a good Italian at 1 York St, open Tu-F 5-10PM, Sa Su 1-10PM.
 * The Emporium serves pizza and similar fare on Moor Lane by the castle. It's open M-F 9AM-9PM, Sa Su 10AM-7PM.
 * Vista Cielo is a good Italian at 1 York St, open Tu-F 5-10PM, Sa Su 1-10PM.
 * The Emporium serves pizza and similar fare on Moor Lane by the castle. It's open M-F 9AM-9PM, Sa Su 10AM-7PM.

Drink

 * Maxwells cafe and wine bar next to the station is open M-W 9AM-5PM, F Sa 9AM-11PM, Su 10AM-10PM.
 * The Dog & Partridge at 1-3 Wellgate (open Th-Su) has music and live sport.
 * Bowland Brewery is within Holmes Mill. Their beerhall is open M-Sa 11AM-11PM, Su 11AM-10PM.
 * Others in town centre include Royal Oak, Buck Inn, White Lion, The Ale House, Beer Shack, SoBar, Castle Pub, Keystreet Bar, The Dispensary and Brown Cow Inn.
 * Bowland Distillery makes gin and vodka. No tours.
 * Bowland Distillery makes gin and vodka. No tours.

Sleep

 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.
 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.
 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.
 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.
 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.
 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.
 * Higher Buck and Lower Buck are similar pubs with rooms nearby in Waddington.

Connect
As of Feb 2023, Clitheroe and its main approach roads have 4G from EE and Vodafone, but a poor signal from Three and O2. 5G has not reached town.

Go next

 * The Forest of Bowland is a scenic yet little-visited area of England.
 * Blackburn and Nelson for their history of the textile era.
 * Skipton is an attractive market town and a good base for exploring the Yorkshire Dales.