Lancashire - the correct side of the Pennines

He'd caught two thieves trying to steal his quad bike, so he tied them up and brought them to the police station.

The farmer was then arrested for suspicion of false imprisonment.

Apologies for the crappy local news site.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18403107

A "truly stunning bird" native to Africa has been spotted at a nature reserve in Lancashire.

As many as 100 hoopoes migrate north to Europe in the spring but are not typically seen this late in the year.

One has arrived at Lower Foulridge Reservoir in Pendle, much to the delight of birdwatchers.

Andy Powell, the chairman of the East Lancashire Ornithologists' Club, said an easterly wind had led to an influx of hoopoe into the country, mainly on the east coast and further south.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18055618

A Boltonian filmmaker who has previously worked with Netflix and the BBC is set to debut his first short “horror-comedy” – filmed entirely in Rivington.

Michael Patrick Clarkson, who grew up in Smithills, created the short film, “UPHOLSTERGEIST” with the BAFTA award-winning company Agile Films.

Michael has previously written for Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor (2024), The Wheel of Time (2021) and is co-creator/showrunner of Red Rose which was shot and set in Bolton, now available on BBC and Netflix.

The horror-comedy film, which was shot entirely in Rivington, features a star-studded cast including Game of Thrones’ Tara Fitzgerald, Adam Nagaitis from Chernobyl and The Terror and Aaron Pierre, who will star in the upcoming Disney musical drama, Mufasa: The Lion King later this year.

Speaking on his inspiration for the film, Michael said: “It was during lockdown, and I was watching The Repair Shop on BBC. It was very beautiful with light, heartwarming stories and my mind began to twist it into something darker.

“I came up with the concept of people bringing a dark and haunted item for someone to repair.

“There’s a fine line between comedy and horror, there’s an awkwardness – that’s what I wanted the film to explore.

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UPHOLTERGEIST was completed earlier this year and has since been submitted for a number of prestigious film awards.

The short movie will see its world premiere at Bolton’s International Film Awards taking place on October 2, will feature at the prestigious North American Austin International Film Festival running from October 4 and will also play at Screamfest LA, New York Horror Film Festival and FREAK SHOW horror film festival in Florida.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16224425

An ancient monument uncovered by a team of amateur archaeologists is exciting and puzzling the experts.

Three years of excavations on the side of a hill in Aspull, Wigan have revealed a Bronze Age burial site surrounded by a ring shaped ditch that is believed to be a religious henge.

The find is thought to be unique to the region and potentially of national importance.

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The archaeologists working at the site believe it marks two different points in history.

"From the Neolithic Stone Age period it would have been a ritual holy site," Mr Aldridge said.

"But then at a later date, when the Bronze Age people came along, they thought it was something special and decided to create their own funerary monument in the middle of it.

"You do get Bronze Age barrows in the north, but they’re quite rare. You usually find them down south in places like Wiltshire.

"And you have to go to the Lake District, Yorkshire, Derbyshire or North Wales before you get henge monuments or Neolithic Stone Age activity.

These were the scenes as a Pro-Britain demonstration swept through Blackpool Town Centre. Protestors waved England flags, and wore St George’s Cross face coverings to show their patriotism.

However, the protest was also attended by a few ‘mindless thugs’, who threw objects - including glass bottles - at police, and became violent. The video (click to play above) shows the tension between some of the protestors and police, as a man can be heard raising his voice at an officer.

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Later in the video, the crowds are seen up at St John’s Square, as the rally - which was partly about anti-immigration - moved outside the Winter Gardens, where Rebellion Punk Festival was taking place. Festival-goers can be seen amidst the protestors, some who were counter-protesting with anti-fascist banners while some helped to clean up the mess - including broken glass from bottles that were thrown.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/15098098

Organisers of the World Gravy Wrestling Championships have said they need more people to take part in this year's event.

The event at the Rose 'N' Bowl Pub in Stacksteads, Rossendale, Lancashire, which is being held on 26 August raises money for East Lancashire Hospice.

Participants wrestle wearing fancy dress in a pool full of gravy in two-minute bouts in front of hundreds of spectators.

One of the organisers, Andy Holt, said judges award points for entertainment value, adding: "It is not about serious wrestling; it is just about having fun."

Mr Holt told BBC Radio Lancashire: "We are struggling a bit [for competitors] this year for some strange reason."

You do not need wrestling experience to take part, he said.

"The judges are marking on entertainment value more than anything.

"It is a great community day," he added.

Previously: Report on last year's event

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14685929

Wigan Archaeological Society members have been unearthing ancient treasures and revealing a previously unknown monument thought to date back to 1650 BC on open land at Aspull.

The enigmatic site first came to their attention in 2019, when a near-circular cropmark was spotted in overhead images seen online.

At first it was thought it might represent the remains of a barrow (burial mound) but investigations were hampered for a long time by the pandemic.

The site – which the archaeologists first called Aspull Ring Feature – lies within sight of Winter Hill and Anglezarke Moor, areas rich in prehistoric monuments and it was thought they might be connected.

There then followed the digging of a series of exploratory trenches, the first of which concluded that the area had been a ditch was deliberately filled in so they changed its name to Aspull Ring Ditch.

Further trenches established the shape of the ditch and uncovered a carefully built structure of alternating layers of sand, rounded stones, and clay. Helpfully, at least two long pieces of burnt wood were also involved in its make-up, allowing experts to take samples for radiocarbon dating which gave them a date from the middle Bronze Age: 1650 BC.

By the close of the 2022 season, they had working theory that the feature had originated as a Neolithic henge monument, which was then repurposed during the Bronze Age, possibly as a funerary enclosure (mortuary).

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A spokesperson for the society said: “While there are still many puzzles and conundrums to unravel at this site, there are two finds that so far defy explanation.

"The first is an irregular stone ball covered with brown and white patinas that hinder identification of the rock type, but it might be granitic, and is certainly not local.

“Our second enigma is a stone inscribed with three deep, parallel grooves, 9mm apart. Then another one turned up, this time with four parallel grooves spaced 8.4mm apart. Better still, it was found in a carefully excavated section, meaning that we can tell it was definitely beneath the burnt layer dated to 1820 BC. Like buses, a third example duly appeared, again in a certain prehistoric context and this time with eight grooves 10mm apart.

“In each case, the grooves are precise and deep, unlike, for example, sharpening stones, where the grooves tend to be at random angles and anything but precise. What they mean, though, is truly mystifying.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11102291

A village has been taken over by popular sci-fi figures replicated in scarecrow form, including E.T. and the Daleks from Doctor Who.

More than 50 installations are on display for the annual Wray Scarecrow Festival in Lancashire.

One of the organisers, John Gordon, said: "There are quite a few E.T.s around - on the bike, of course.

"We've got a number of Daleks, characters from Star Wars, and there's an amazing one from Planet Of The Apes."

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Mr Gordon added: "There was one person who had his family eating yoghurts for two weeks so they could get the all pots to stick on a Dalek."

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The festival - which began in the early 1990s - has an origin story as quirky as the scarecrows on offer.

"It started off by accident," Mr Gordon said.

"One of our people who lives here had gone to France on holiday and they saw what they thought was a man hanging off a tree and they were a bit worried about that, so they went into the local village to see what was happening and they noticed there was a scarecrow stuck on a bar outside the local pub.

"Wray is a very old traditional village and its had a May fair for centuries and they thought it would be a nice idea to add this to the May fair, so they persuaded one or two people to make scarecrows and it just took off from that.

"It was a momentary flash of brilliance."

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The festival runs until 6 May, culminating with a traditional May fair including a giant scarecrow parade on 3 May.

Thousands of spectators came from all over the Ribble Valley and beyond to cheer on the weird, wacky and wonderful SoapBox entrants, who can enjoy watching carefully crafted karts being hurtled down a track which will consist of chicanes, jumps, water features and more.

This is the second year for Longridge SoapBox Derby and saw a racetrack being built down Berry Lane for the enjoyment of families near and far. There was food, music, entertainment picnic facilities and, above all, the race teams.

Known widely as ‘The Handless Corpse’ case, the investigation began in 1979 when two amateur divers at Eccleston Delph, a water filled quarry near Chorley, discovered a mangled body in the water.

The body was marked with a chinese mark which led to newspapers at the time calling the case ‘the chinese puzzle’ and it turned out to be that of 'Mr Asia' Marty Johnstone, a man caught up in the drug trade.

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With narration from former Lancashire Post and Blackpool Gazette editor, Nicola Adam, ‘The Handless Corpse’ documentary delves into the details of the tale, speaks to those involved in its coverage, and explores its’ wider impact.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/1773711

Hundreds of revellers descended on a pub garden on bank holiday Monday to watch the 'World Gravy Wrestling Championships'.

The international competition - named one of the top 10 weirdest 'sports' - saw 16 men and eight women battle in the sauce-soaked ring.

Around 2,000 litres of gravy are used at the event, which is held annually at the Rose ‘N’ Bowl pub in Rossendale, Lancashire,.