Talk:Forest of Bowland

Where is Pendle Hill?
In Philip's Road Atlas 2004 Pendle Hill is included in The Forest of Pendle, rather than the neighbouring Forest of Bowland. I'm unsure where its supposed to be. Does anyone know? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Soloist (talk • contribs) 18:31, 3 September 2004
 * I'd say that on mere topological grounds, Pendle Hill is not part of the Forest of Bowland as they're separated by the Ribble Valley. However, it is a detached part of the AONB, as evidenced by this map. Blisco 23:11, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

I have colleagues that work for the Forest of Bowland AONB. I can assure you that Pendle Hill is part of the Forest of Bowland AONB. --Dimli 09:27, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Confusion
I've removed a number of confused statements from this article:


 * Many boundaries in the area date back to pre-1600 AD.

Er, what boundaries? Field boundaries? Political boundaries? Either way it's not especially notable.


 * The area was formerly called ‘Bolland’ which derives from the Norse ‘bu’ meaning cattle and the Celtic ‘booa’ meaning cow. And, in the following paragaph: The origins of the name Bowland most likely came from the long-standing connection of the region with archery - the 'land of the bow'.

Both of these are unlikely; the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names says that Bowland comes from Old English meaning "district characterised by bends". Given the dispute I thought it was best to remove any mention of the etymology - I don't think it's that relevant anyway.


 * 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 UK Parliament under the Local Government Act 1972, it became part of Lancashire.

Part of Bowland did move from Yorkshire to Lancashire in 1974, but most of it was always in Lancs, and part of it remains in Yorks. I'm not sure which precise bit moved (I'm going on low-resolution maps I can find on the web), so can't include the info in a useful form. As for Northumbria, this must be a reference to the Saxon kingdom - I'm sure the county of Northumberland never extended that far.

I'm not too sure about the "northwestern remainder of the ancient wilderness" bit either, but I'll leave it in for now, if only because if I'm in danger of removing the whole article! -- Blisco 20:14, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Message for the "Cambridge Scholar"
If you are the person from the University of Cambridge who has been editing this article and many other related articles in recent weeks, can you please read the message I've left for you at User talk:86.133.180.38? As you seem to edit from a different IP address each day, I'm leaving this message here in case you don't see it. --  Dr Greg   talk  23:27, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Name?
The article does not make it clear why is it called the Forest of Bowland? When most of it described as barren moorland; was it once a forest? When was the area deforested? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.106.24 (talk) 17:40, 26 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Didn't you read the third paragraph? --  Dr Greg   talk  18:25, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Copyvio
I've removed most of the material on the Bowbearer, which was directly copied without attribution from the article on the Lordship of Bowland in the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society journal. Mhardcastle (talk) 18:31, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

Geology
Can't someone from Lacaster Uni knock up a description of the geology/geography. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.192.49.168 (talk) 04:56, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

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'Switzerland of England'
There are so many instances within England and Wales of areas being referred to as 'little Switzerland' - in this case, the comparison made in the lede (as in many other cases across the country) is not borne out by the landscape, which is wholly different. I have therefore removed the text and references:

and was once described as the "Switzerland of England".

I don't think that it brings the reader any additional insight into the area (which has its own charms beyond any comparison with the Alps - which was presumably in the original writer's mind) but if anyone wants to contest that, it can be reinserted. cheers Geopersona (talk) 05:36, 20 July 2020 (UTC)


 * I think you are right to remove it. The area may have been referred to this way on occasion, but I don't think this description is in widespread use, and it doesn't seem particularly helpful. --Helmshore (talk) 13:54, 20 July 2020 (UTC)

Wards
I'm not seeing a year in which the forest was divided into four wards (Slaidburn, Chipping, Harrop and Bashall), but it looks to be in the 17th century. Will add this when it's more definite. Seasider53 (talk) 17:29, 12 January 2022 (UTC)