Snighole or Snig Hole is a local beauty spot situated in the valley of the

River Ogden The River Ogden is a minor river in Lancashire, England. It is approximately long and has a catchment area of . Beginning on the moors of Haslingden Grane as Ogden Brook, it heads east, feeding Ogden Reservoir (Lancashire), Ogden and Calf Hey ...

in the

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 ...

village of

Helmshore Helmshore () is a village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, south of Haslingden between the A56 and the B6235, north of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 5,805. The housing in Helmshore is mixed, with some two-up, ...

, near

Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,9 ...

in the

Rossendale Valley The Rossendale Valley is in the Rossendale area of Lancashire, England, between the West Pennine Moors and the main range of the Pennines. The area includes the steep-sided valleys of the River Irwell and its tributaries (between Rawtenstall an ...

, Lancashire, England. The word snig is a local dialect term for

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

. (Snig can also be a word for

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non- venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecie ...

in parts of

.) The Ravenshore viaduct by Snighole is locally known as 'Little

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

', and was particularly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a bathing place when people had neither the time or resources to travel far for their leisure. In the later part of the twentieth century the river suffered from serious pollution from local industry, although this is now very much improved. In the river close to the viaduct there are scratched drawings in the rocks dating back to the time when the area was much used by local bathers.

References

{{reflist Environment of Lancashire