Kelbrook is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Kelbrook and Sough Kelbrook and Sough is a civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 1,008, and contains the village of Kelbrook and neighbouring hamlet of Sough, Lancashire, Sough. The parish adjoins th ...

Borough of Pendle Pendle is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Nelson, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne and Earby along with the sur ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. It lies on the

A56 road The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as ...

between

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

and

Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by ...

. Historically a part of the now divided old parish of

Thornton-in-Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as does the A56 ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Kelbrook was administered as part of Skipton Rural District, until boundary changes in 1974. Kelbrook lies in

West Craven West Craven is an area in the east of Lancashire, England in the far northern part of the borough of Pendle. Historically the area was within the ancient county boundaries of Yorkshire and was administered as part of the Skipton Rural District ...

, so keeping cultural links with

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and Craven. Kelbrook School is in the centre of the village. The tallest building in the village is the village church, St Mary's. Other local towns and villages are

Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Ri ...

( northwest),

( north), Salterforth ( northwest),

Thornton in Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as does the A56 ...

( north),

Foulridge Foulridge (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in Pendle, Lancashire, close to the border with North Yorkshire in England. It is situated just beyond Colne, on the route from the M65 to Skipton, and is an important stopping point on s ...

( south) and

( south). Elisabeth Beresford, the creator of the

Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recyc ...

, wrote much of the second Wombles book, ''The Wandering Wombles'', whilst staying in a cottage on Dotcliffe Road in 1970. The Kelbrook and Sough Wombles, a local litter-picking group, is named in tribute to this connection. Edward Woodward lived in Kelbrook for six weeks in 1973 whilst preparing for his role in ''

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy (film director), Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Christopher Lee. The screenplay is by Anthony Shaffer (writer ...

''. The residents of Kelbrook are affectionately called Kelbricks. During a

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

it is tradition for young residents of the village to lock the church gates and demand money from the

bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

and

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and Groomsman, ...

. A more recent custom is to make scarecrows of literary characters from children's

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

and to race

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

on Kelbrook Beck.

Tourism

The main

runs through the village. Kelbrook has one

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

named the Craven Heifer, named after a local cow, the eponymous Craven Heifer, which was born in 1807 and achieved nationwide fame because of its size. The public house was previously named the Scotsmans Arms, and changed name between 1853 and 1891. Other attractions include the Kelbrook Pottery factory and the annual art exhibition. The village also has a petrol station with a shop.

References

Towns and villages in the Borough of Pendle History of Yorkshire {{Lancashire-geo-stub

Tourism

See also

References