Wintry weather

Whilst the snow continues to fall here in Bowland, we are planning further research and field work which will take place over the next few months.
Members of Chipping History Group are keen to look into farm holdings and tenancies on the Leagram Estate, much of which lies within the old deer park boundary. This will give us some idea of when and how the park was subdivided into fields. We hope to visit Lancashire Archives in Preston and also the records of the estate held at Stonyhurst College in order to investigate this. There are also some interesting paintings of all the Estate farm buildings dating from the 1840s which are kept at the Harris Gallery in Preston which we would like to look at. Our field work here will be to identify the old 'deer leaps' marked on a map from 1608 to see if we can still find traces of them on the ground today.

Radholme Deer Park today (photo by Graham Cooper)

Research work on Radholme Park includes trying to find out more about what happened to the park area between 1660 and 1835, and our field work will focus on checking sites identified on old maps to see if they are of relevance to the deer park.
If this all sounds like interesting stuff, why not get involved by contacting cathy.hopley@lancashire.gov.uk. You can also come along to an illlustrated talk by Nigel Neil at Chipping village hall on Thursday June 27th, and a guided walk by Graham Cooper on Saturday June 29th - book your place now by contacting the AONB office on 01200 448000

Interviews with Jennie

Whilst Jennie was visiting us we had a chat over dinner at the Inn at Whitewell, which lies within the old deer park at Radholme.
Listen in on Jennie explaining how she intends to draw a Hunting Scene and also Why digital? for this kind of project. You can also hear more about how she got into this fascinating profession in Jennie's Biog