Longridge Fell is the most southerly

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

in England, near the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

Longridge Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neigh ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. It lies at the southern end of the

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (howe ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

. As its name suggests, it takes the form of a long ridge which rises in a north-easterly direction from within the town of Longridge to its summit 4.5 miles distant. As the ridge curves towards the east, it comes to a sudden end and drops into the Hodder Valley. The fell is a good example of a

cuesta A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer laye ...

; the ridge has a sharp drop or

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

on its northern side, and a gentler, more varying slope on its southern side.Freeman ''et al'', p.12 These features make it a popular takeoff for hang-gliders and paragliders on the relatively infrequent occurrences of a northerly wind. From the fell's 1,148-ft (350-m) summit, views are afforded of

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

to the south-west; the

Fylde Coast The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to ...

to the west; the Vale of Chipping and the fells of the

to the north and west (including

Parlick Parlick (also known as Parlick Pike) is an approximately cone-shaped steep-sided hill at the extreme south of the main range of Bowland fells in Lancashire, England. Its bog-free sides make it more popular with walkers than the shallow boggy h ...

Fair Snape Fell Fair Snape Fell is one of the larger hills in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. It occupies a position in the very south of the main range of fells, alongside and just to the north of Parlick, to which it is joined by a ridge. The m ...

and Beacon Fell); the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

to the north-east (including, most notably,

Pen-y-ghent Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at ; the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geologi ...

);

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the ...

and Whalley, to the east and south-east; and Winter Hill and the

West Pennine Moors The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The West Pennine Moors are separated from the mai ...

and the

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...

factory at Samlesbury Aerodrome. On clear days, the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

and sometimes the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

can be seen to the north-west, and the

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

mountain range to the south-west. The

River Hodder The River Hodder is in Lancashire, England. It is a County Biological Heritage Site. It rises on White Hill and flows for approximately 23 miles to the River Ribble, of which it is the largest tributary. The Hodder drains much of the Fores ...

and its

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

, the

River Loud The River Loud is a river of Lancashire, England. Starting out on Parlick, the Loud meanders mainly through the parish of Chipping, tracing its course first south-west, then south-east and, at Gill Bridge by Withinreap Farm, east before veeri ...

, flow eastward along the north side of the fell, before turning south at the end of the fell to join the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea ...

, which runs westward along the south of the fell. Cowley Brook, a tributary of

Stydd Brook Stydd Brook is a watercourse in Lancashire, England. Rising on Gannow Fell, south west of the Forest of Bowland, the river flows southward, meeting the River Ribble at Ribchester. Stydd Brook flows by Black Plantation then between Moor Nook Fa ...

, begins its course near the fell. The village of Hurst Green and the adjoining

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. The school has been fully co-educational sinc ...

lie on the south side of the fell. Longridge town lies at the south-west end of the fell. There were once extensive stone quarries at Tootle Heights, now mostly built on apart from a deep rocky water-filled remnant off the Tan Yard bridlepath, and the reservoirs. The Dilworth Upper

Reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

between the roads where Forty Acre Lane branches off Higher Road, leading from Longridge up the fell. Forty Acre Lane leads towards Jeffrey Hill, the name for a small part of the western section of the fell, via Longridge Golf Club, whose clubhouse doubles as the home of the Preston Wheelers Cycling Club. Below Tootle Heights are the Spade Mill Reservoirs.

Gallery

File:Trig Point.jpg, The

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

at the summit of Longridge Fell, looking north File:Longridge_golf_course_2_2019.jpg, A view from the northern section of Longridge golf course across the Vale of Chipping to Parlick and Fair Snape Fell File:Longridge_golf_course_3_2019.jpg, View over the Vale of Chipping File:Longridge Fell (Loud Valley).jpg, View north over the Loud Valley File:Longridge Fell, Lancashire.jpg, The western slopes of the fell, around Jeffrey Hill

Notes

References

* Freeman, T. W., Rodgers, H. B., and Kinvig, R. H., (1966), ''Lancashire, Cheshire and the Isle of Man'', Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, London

External links

Parlick and Fair Snape Fell from Longridge Fell
{{Borough of Ribble Valley Mountains and hills of Lancashire Marilyns of England Geography of Ribble Valley Hills of the Forest of Bowland