Parish News

The Barley Remembrance Service will commence at 10.55am on Sunday 10 November at the memorial stone on the Turning Area. The service is always well attended and so it should be, all are welcome and refreshments will be served in the Chapel afterwards. The Council will be flying the Armed Forces Flag prior to the event and after the event flags will be taken down and stored until the spring.

You might have noticed we have had to do some additional fencing on the playground to keep the young darlings away from the river. I was asked why we are doing this when there is full access to the river from the village green. The explanation is that it is a requirement of our risk assessment; with the playground being so close to the pub some parents are not as attentive and may not see their children heading in to the river and disappearing behind the bushes so we overcome this risk with a fence.

PBC have approved a planning application to demolish the old Ings End Farm building and replace it with a more modern house. You have probably not seen the farm buildings because they are in the bottom of the valley and are obscured by hedges and trees. The PC had queried whether the existing building could have been saved and whether a lot of glass could introduce obtrusive lighting which would impact on the AONB policy to protect the intrinsic darkness in our valley. The proposed building does look outstanding and the approval will mean that a high-end value property will soon form part of our landscape.

It might have passed you by but ten years ago the Barley Mow booked the national trend and re-opened after many years of closure. We had a “residents only” night on 31 October and the doors formally opened on 10 November. Since then, the Seafood Pub Company has moved on and residents, Gary and Nick, have owned the business since 2021. I think we are fortunate to have two diverse pubs in the village catering for a range of tastes, and in challenging times for the hospitality industry, I wish the Barley Mow and the Pendle Inn (which is for sale) will continue to prosper in the future, And welcome to Peter, the new manager at the Pendle Inn.

I hope many got the chance to see the Northern Lights on 10 October. We do not get many chances to see them this far south and if we do it is often cloudy. Clear skies and the darkness of the area provided us a great opportunity to see them and I joined a crowd up at Annel Cross to see the spectacle. Photograph below taken on Pendle courtesy of Lee Hunt.

Finally, please be aware that the “Tour of Pendle” fell race is being held on Saturday 18 November in Barley and so you can expect a lot of runners to be around from 9.30am. The race starts at 10.30am and the route will go up the Ogden Reservoir access road and the finish is outside the Village Hall where the prize giving will be at 3.15pm. Most of the runners will have left the village by 4.15pm.