Britain is at its strangest and most magical outdoors. Taken from his new Weird Guide book, author Dave Hamilton shares hidden sculptures, curious histories and eccentric landmarks waiting to be discovered across the North.
The longest days of the year have arrived, bringing with them a familiar urge to get out and explore. But adventure doesn’t require a passport – it’s waiting at the end of a moorland path, hidden among the trees, or perched on a windswept Lancashire hill.
In his new book – Weird Guide: 300 Curious Corners, Wild Wonders and Sublime Sculptures (Wild Things Publishing, £18.99) – author Dave Hamilton tells us Britain is a nation built on oddity. Our landscapes are filled with strange stories, eccentric monuments, mysterious ruins and artworks that seem to have appeared in the most unlikely places. The North is particularly rich in these curiosities, where former industrial landscapes sit alongside folklore, public art and centuries-old mysteries.
“One thing unites the British more than anything else,” writes Hamilton. “Under the surface, deep down, in the nicest possible way and being completely honest, we are all a little odd.”
That oddness is scattered across Lancashire in ways we often fail to notice. Hamilton urges us to seek them out and selects five locations for Blackpool Social Club readers that can be reached easily from The Fylde Coast and are perfect destinations for a spontaneous summer road trip.
They’re only a tiny taste of what appears in Weird Guide, which contains more than 300 unusual sites across Britain – from abandoned military installations and forgotten tunnels to giant artworks, mysterious rock formations, follies, film locations and hidden corners that rarely make it into traditional guidebooks.
Andrew Goldsworthy’s Chambers on Clougha Pike
Andrew Goldsworthy’s artworks tend to be site-specific structures. They utilise whatever materials come to hand. In some cases these are branches or leaves, giving the sculptures a more transient nature. In others, like the three chambers, the works are made from stone and last a little longer. In a remote spot like the top of Clougha Pike, this had the added benefit that he didn’t have to hike up the steep path carrying his raw materials. They were built over a three-year period between 1999 and 2001, with the artist focusing on one each year. The Duke of Westminster’s Abbeystead Estate funded the project, and it has drawn walkers to the area ever since the sculptures were installed. If the weather turns, there is enough room for three hikers to sit and have their lunch undercover while a fourth questions their choice of friends. Opposite the car park below you’ll find Jubilee Tower, built for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee by James Harrison, a wealthy Liverpool shipbuilder. The tower has some great views over the local area, and you might just spot Blackpool Tower in the distance.
Directions: Take the Wyresdale Road east from Lancaster, remain on the road through Quernmore and pull into the left when you see Jubilee Tower. The path up to the chamber starts at the back of the car park. It is both straightforward and confusing, especially if the weather changes, so a map and compass and/or navigation apps are useful. Head up the path to the brow of the hill and go over the stepladder to your left. Remain on this path, heading towards the sea. After approximately 800 metres you should see the geometric shapes of the sculptures and a path that will lead you to the chambers.
Coordinates: 54.0296, -2.6801 Postcode: LA2 98Q
Singing Ringing Tree, Burnley
High on the Lancashire moors, overlooking the town of Burnley, the Singing Ringing Tree is an eerie sound sculpture harnessing the power of the wind as it blows through a series of galvanised steel pipes. The work was part of an ambitious series of four sculptures commissioned by the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network and collectively known as the Panopticon. It accompanies the Halo and the Atomalong with Colourfields in Blackburn, created by artist Sophie Smallhorn, who integrated it into a former cannon battery in Corporation Park. The pieces were made as a symbol of the area’s regeneration, and it was hoped they would become 21st-century landmarks that would stand the test of time. The Singing Ringing Tree was created by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu and stands three metres tall. The pipes are a mix of structural and visual elements, along with pipes tuned to various pitches over a range of different octaves. The result is a strange, somewhat discordant harmonic as the wind blows through the pipes.
Directions: A682 south, go over A682 and take a left at the brown sign ‘Tree Panopticon’. Keep on this road as it bends; eventually, you will meet a semi-circular car park on the left. You should see the Singing Ringing Tree down the winding path from here.
Coordinates: 53.7566, -2.2272 Postcode: BB1 3QZ
Rivington Terraced Gardens, Horwich
Once the grounds of William Hesketh Lever (Sir William Hesketh Lever, Lord Leverhulme, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, Baron Leverhulme), this was one of the grandest gardens in the country during the early 20th century. Lever could be considered the Richard Branson or Jeff Bezos of his era, a self-made millionaire who made his fortune as the co-founder of Lever Brothers/Unilever, a company that still exists today. He set up the business with his brother in 1884, initially as a soap manufacturer, and quickly started exporting to both sides of the Atlantic. Although the gardens are a shadow of their former grandeur, there are still echoes of their past. There is a trust in place that is slowly bringing the gardens back to life, but it is a slow and costly process. This is part of Rivington’s charm as it retains a lost quality.
Directions: Off the M62 at junction 6. West into Horwich. Go past the Aldi on Chorley New Road, then take the fork between the two pillars on the right onto Lever Park Avenue. Follow the road to Great House Barn and Go Ape, then take a right-hand turn to park in Rivington Hall Barn.
Coordinates: -53.6261, -2.5570 Postcode: BL6 7SB
Rock Cut Tombs, Heysham
There is a local legend that, after being shipwrecked, St Patrick was washed ashore and set up the first chapel at Heysham sometime in the 5th century. Considering St Patrick was also supposed to have been shipwrecked on the Isle of Man and Anglesey, unless he was the world’s unluckiest sailor, there may be some doubt about this story! Regardless of how factually accurate this tale is, during the 8th century a chapel was built in honour of the saint. The remains of this chapel still stand, along with eight rock-cut tombs that may also date to the same era. You’ll find six of the human-sized holes cut into the rock on the west side of the chapel and two more to the east.
Directions: A589/Heysham road north into Heysham, turn left at the Coach House onto Longlands Lane. Continue to Main Street and park in the village car park. Walk across the roundabout from the car park, following Main Street past The Royal to the churchyard. The tombs are at the back. Regular buses run from Morecambe to the village.
Coordinates: 54.0474, -2.9029 Postcode: LA3 2RN
Pendle Sculpture Trail, Barley
Pendle will always be synonymous with the story of the Pendle Witches. In 1612, during a time of great superstition, religious zealotry and paranoia, ten Lancashire women and two men were tried for witchcraft. Ten of the twelve were subsequently hanged, and one was acquitted. The final woman, Elizabeth Southern, died before the trial began after being kept in terrible conditions in Lancaster Castle’s Well Tower. Many of the ‘witches’ were healers or women dealing in herbs, and, rather tellingly, some of those reporting the ‘crimes’ seem to have been herbalists in the area who may have had competing practices. Others were tried for such petty crimes that they appear to be nothing more than personal vendettas between neighbours rather than any practising of the dark arts.
Pendle-based Philippe Handford created the trail along with fellow artists Steve Blaylock, Martyn Bednarczuk and Sarah McDade. The trail was made to tell the story of the witches and contains different elements of the tale, such as the witches themselves, the tower where Elizabeth died, and other supernatural or ‘spooky’ carvings, such as unicorns, bats and owls.
Directions: Park at 53.877727 -2.271122 and follow the lane south. Continue south on the footpath to Lower Black Moss Reservoir. Take a left here, then a right into the woods.
Coordinates: 53.8642, -2.2638 Postcode: BB9 6BS
