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Hidden Lancashire

Explore fascinating stories from Lancashire.

Radio Lancashire,65 episodes

Episodes

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Preserving the pears
Claire Ashmore hears how a Lancashire orchard is home to the last trees of their kind
3 mins
A beautiful ‘hellhole’
Stephen Oldfield visits an idyllic spot in Rossendale, believed to be home to the devil
3 mins
An illicit past time
The expert illegal whisky maker of Haslingden
4 mins
Demise of a thriving community
Historian Stephen Oldfield explores what’s left of Lancashire’s lost village of Grane
3 mins
Not all fun at the fair
Padiham archivist Kieron Ridehalgh explains how a travelling show turned to tragedy
5 mins
How modern giving came out of tragedy
Remembering the lives lost in the 1886 Southport and St Anne’s lifeboat disaster
3 mins
Dressed for display
Claire Ashmore takes us to Padiham to uncover the mystery of two, century old costumes
3 mins
The unsung stargazer
Claire hears how Jeremiah Horrocks’ observations were light years ahead of his time
4 mins
Saint Edmund Arrowsmith's 'Holy Hand'
Claire Ashmore hears about the Catholic martyr's lasting Lancashire legacy.
01 Jun 2025,4 mins
Stone by Stone
When the reservoirs were built, the congregation moved away St Stephen’s moved too
01 Jun 2025,3 mins
Turton's weird turrets
Paul O'Gorman visits a Lancashire landmark tower with a distinctive turreted bridge.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
"They were just young men"
Paul O’Gorman uncovers the story behind a monument on the moors above Chorley.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
Darwen's fatal flood
In 1848, a Darwen dam overflowed killing twelve people in the town centre.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
Whittle’s Community Past
The long history behind the site which is now home to a surgery.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
The Woodplumpton Witch
In the 17th century, Prestonian Meg Shelton was accused of witchcraft.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
Blackburn hero's "no surrender"
Simon Entwistle remembers Private James Pitts who was awarded the Victoria Cross.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
The Blackburn Giant
Frederick Kempster stood out head and shoulders above the rest.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
A Whittle-le-Woods disaster
Historian Boyd Harris visits the site of a former factory that was destroyed by fire.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
The Whittle Millstones
Paul O'Gorman hears how Whittle-le-Woods and bread making have a shared history.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
Turton's unexpected guest
Some recollections of Turton Tower have a hint of the supernatural,
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
Did Charles Dickens save Hoghton Tower?
Paul O'Gorman discovers the famous novelist found inspiration in the Lancashire landmark.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
Cow Well Steps
The Whittle-le-Woods relic of the past that is a pathway to history.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
Queen Victoria's Darwen legacy
How celebrating Queen Victoria's Jubilee inspired the building of Darwen Tower.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
Anglezarke's Wedgwood link
How Lead Mines Clough played a formative role in the creation of Wedgwood pottery.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
"They'd never seen a barge before"
Paul O'Gorman investigates what happened to a missing piece of the Lancaster Canal.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
The Whittle-le-Woods benchmark
Paul O'Gorman visits an easily missed marking that changed the way we view the world.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
"They didn't know what would happen"
How Chapeltown village was a starting point for soldiers heading for the First World War.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
The Birdman of Feniscowles
Paul O'Gorman reports on a Blackburn man and the early days of flying.
28 Jul 2024,4 mins
The mysterious mark in the well house
Hoghton Tower's recently discovered marking that is meant to hold evil spirits at bay.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins
"A little vim and tonic"
How a drink created in Lancashire has become a household name in over seventy countries.
28 Jul 2024,3 mins