The area known as the Forest of Bowland occupies most of the north east of the county of Lancashire in England. It consists of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland. It's an attractive alternative to the overcrowded Lake District, and today this grouse moorland is also used for walking and cycling. One of the best known features of the area is Pendle Hill.
The name 'forest' is used in its traditional sense of 'a royal hunting ground', and much of the land still belongs to the English Crown. In the past wild boar, deer, wolves, wild cats and game roamed the forest. The origins of the name Bowland most likely came from the long-standing connection of the region with archery - the 'land of the bow'. For many centuries much of Bowland belonged to Yorkshire and at one time formed part of Northumbria. In 1974, when county boundaries were reorganized by the UKBoundary Commission, it became part of Lancashire.
Bowland remains as the nortwestern remainder of the ancient wilderness that once stretched over a huge part of England, encompassing the Forest of Bowland, Nottingham Forest, the New Forest (Hampshire) and Savernake Forest (Wiltshire).
The hills on the western Side of the Forest of Bowland attract walkers from Lancaster and the surrounding regions. Overlooking Lancaster is Clougha Pike, the western-most hill. The hills form a large horseshoe shape with its open end facing west. Clockwise from Lancaster the hills are Clougha Pike (413 m), Grit Fell (468 m), Ward's Stone (561 m), Wolfhole Crag (527 m), White Hill (544 m), Whins Brow (476 m), Totridge (496 m), Parlick (432 m), Fair Snape Fell (510 m), Bleasdale Moor (429 m), and Hawthornthwaite fell (478 m).
The Forest of Bowland is an area in the north west of England, of heather moorland, blanket bog and exposed millstone grit outcrops.
The Forest of Bowland is divided by the valley of the River Ribble, separating Pendle Hill from the main Bowland fells.
The pleasure of Bowland and the Ribble Valley is the diversity of the landscape, the cloughs with fast flowing streams, the rocky outcrops emerging from the bog, peat and heather, the views, the solitude and the ubiquitous 350,000 sheep that inhabit the place.
BowlandForest is not actually a forest but a large open area of moorland, farmland and woodland.
The towns and villages of Bowland are around its edges rather than in its centre and so it is a rather solitary place, beautiful to look at and to walk, ride or cycle in, with hardly any disturbance from roads.
BowlandForest abounds with wildlife and is a bird watcher's and naturalists haven
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