November 27th is Lancashire Day; what better day than to tell Local Guides all over the world a bit more about my home region of England, and my birthplace?
A Little Geography
Lancashire is a county in the North West of England. The ceremonial county traditionally includes Manchester and Liverpool in the south and stretches to The Lake District in the north. Nowadays (since 1973) some areas – like the big cities of Manchester and Liverpool - are politically separate entities, but ceremonially the county remains.
A Little History
Lancashire did not exist as an entity when the Domesday Book recorded England’s villages, towns and cities in 1086 – but many Lancashire places, with names recognisable today, certainly did.
In 1182, a collection of landholdings was combined by the King of England and gifted to his close relative. This landholding later became known as The Duchy of Lancaster, and its noble Lord, the Duke of Lancaster.
An early Duke of Lancaster was John O’ Gaunt (Jan van Ghent, in Belgium) who was the third son of the king, and who became the most powerful man in England. On his death, his landholdings and wealth were forfeit to the crown, and his son sent into exile. However, his son returned and claimed the crown of England, in 1399, as Henry IV of England, putting the House of Lancaster on the throne. John O’ Gaunt is generally regarded as the father of the line of all English monarchs.
Disputes between the House of Lancaster and the House of York (another branch of the same family) as to the right to the crown of England resulted in severe battles, and various comings and goings of kings during the long War of The Roses (The Lancastrian Red Rose, and the Yorkist White Rose) from 1455 to 1489. It was at one of these battles (The Battle of Wakefield in 1460) at which, as every schoolchild knows, Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain; and at the more decisive Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) where Richard III (of York) was defeated and buried under what became a car park in Leicester. The victor, Henry of Lancaster (aka Henry Tudor) became Henry VII of England. He effectively ended the Wars of the Roses by marrying Elizabeth of York, thus merging the two royal houses. The Tudor dynasty ensued.
At that point, the titles Duke of Lancaster, and Monarch of England became combined, and his successors have ever since had the dual title when in Lancashire. Even today, the Queen is bizarrely toasted as “The Queen, The Duke of Lancaster” in the loyal toast. And some Lancastrian sticklers change the second line of the National Anthem to “Long live our noble Duke”.
Lancashire Day commemorates the day in 1495 when Lancashire, in its entirety, was first represented by a Member of Parliament.
Although the Wars of the Roses technically came to an end in the 1480s, many would say they live on in the (sometimes not-so) friendly rivalry between the two counties. That is until the north versus the south of England, then Yorkshire and Lancashire definitely unite!
A Little Tour
Lancashire has largely maintained its cultural boundaries since those early days, though now some areas (such as the big cities in the south) have become their own authorities, whilst still enjoying the shared cultural heritage.
In the south east, the huge city of Manchester, cradle of the Industrial Revolution; sometimes known as Cottonopolis, where cotton was king; birthplace of computing; first station on the world’s first intercity railway; home to the 80s revival of music; the world famous Halle Orchestra; and so much more.
In the south west, the bustling modern and thriving Liverpool, once the UK’s premier trading point with the New World; the other end of the world’s first intercity railway; and home to the Beatles and Mersey Beat, the music that influenced a generation; and home to the equally world famous Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
To the north west of Lancashire lie the vast openness of tidal marshes, remote villages some cut off twice daily by tides, and the beauty of big skies - sanctuary for birds, and other wildlife, and bristling with traditional trades such as cockle and mussel fishing.
And to the north east of the county, the high hills and moorlands of Pennine Lancashire, with remote dairy and sheep farms, hidden lakes and beautiful rolling valleys, some rural and some dominated by the cotton mill towns of the Industrial Revolution.
And in between all these, places like Rochdale (the birthplace of the co-operative movement); Wigan (with George Orwell’s Wigan Pier), Hoghton (where the king knighted the loin of beef to make it sirloin); the seaside resort of Blackpool (with its tower, one of the most iconic buildings in the UK, and almost as famous as its 5 year older big sister in Paris, its casinos, gay village, amusement arcades, Pleasure Beach, three piers, and a zoo); and many of the towns that founded the Football Association.
A Little Hope
I hope, over a series of posts over the next year, to cover some of the things I have referred to in greater detail: Lancashire Food and Drink; Lancashire Legends; Famous Lancastrians; a Lancashire Outlier, the Lake District; and Lancashire Firsts – things that were born in, or developed in Lancashire, that have changed the world.
I hope too, that if you get the chance, you will visit Lancashire – it’d be great to see you here, do let me know – or explore it on Google Maps here. And maybe I have inspired you to tell the community a bit more about your own region – I hope you will.
More articles in this series.
Introductory Post: A Little Look at Lancashire
Traditional Lancashire Food #1 Lancashire Hot Pot
Castle. ,they are awesome!
