March 2025 - Parish News - Barley, Newchurch, Roughlee, Sabden Fold & Spenbrook

March 2025

Your official monthly newsletter for the Pendle villages of Barley, Newchurch, Roughlee, Sabden Fold & Spenbrook.

Pendle Hill Museum - Image Roughlee Boating Lake, copyright © The Francis Frith Collection

Announcing Pendle Hill Museum

Please share your memories and photos from the tea gardens and inns, Roughlee Boating Lake, and other local leisure attractions up to 1980

Throughout 2025, we’ll be launching a new digital-first museum: Pendle Hill Museum, dedicated to sharing all the incredible histories of the Pendle Hill area. It has been set up as a non-profit Community Interest Company, with the goal of preserving our local history for future generations.

What exactly is a digital-first museum? Well, unlike most museums, there is no physical building to visit; rather, it lives online through digital exhibitions and through a series of pop-up exhibitions and experiences. The goal is to share our incredible local histories through the phones in our pockets; available to everyone, everywhere.

There’s already an amazing wealth of local …

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Climate Change Action Survey Results

82 responses received - thank you!

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the recent Pendleside Villages’ Survey on Climate Change. 82 responses to the survey were received, representing approximately 10% of the combined populations of Barley, Roughlee and Goldshaw Booth, which is deemed to be a statistically significant response.

An overwhelming majority of respondents (78%) were concerned about climate change, with 51% very concerned and 27% fairly concerned. 15% of respondents were not very concerned and 6% were not concerned at all.

Respondents report taking a range of individual actions to lower their carbon footprints and improve environmental sustainability, with practically all respondents recycling household waste (99%), minimising energy use at …

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Notes from St Mary’s Church

Flowery friends...

Flowers.

I’ve heard it said recently that they bring hope, joy and a reminder to live in the moment. Perhaps then that’s why flowers form such as important part of our church environment and services?

At St Mary’s there’s a devoted group of volunteers that come together regularly as ‘Flowery Friends’, to ensure we can enjoy the beauty of blooms in and around the church.

For over 10 years’ they have created unique displays to reflect seasons, religious festivals, church celebrations and special occasions such as weddings and funerals.

The flowers also help to create a welcoming, vibrant and engaging environment for our many visitors to the church.

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Barley Parish Council

Glamping, toilets refurbishment, Barley Lane...

The latest addition to the array of visitor accommodation is expected to open in March. Higher Grange Farm, at the northern edge of the village now has four stylish glamping pods available for hire. Each has a lounge with great views over pendle hill, a kitchen and shower room and a patio area along with modern amenities. There are still some minor finishing works and landscaping to complete but it should all come together soon.

What is Glamping? – it describes a style of camping with amenities and, in some cases, resort-style services not usually associated with “traditional” camping. It is derived from blending the …

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Goldshaw Booth Parish Council

Gardening, Best Kept Village, Meet your Councillors and SPID...

After the last couple of cold months, and as the snowdrops are now out, we are starting to think about gardening and the Best Kept Village competition.

We are currently in the process of getting quotes for the maintenance of the village for gardening, mowing and looking after the Public Rights of Way (PROW). A lot of work has been done on assembling a volunteer workforce, and this will help greatly in limiting our expenditure. Village maintenance forms a large proportion of our costs, and in order to ensure that we have sufficient funds, we decided in January to apply a small rise to the precept, …

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Roughlee Parish Council

Litter pickers, sink hole, Parish Gathering (12 May)...

The better weather and longer days have certainly put a spring into my step – long may it continue (the weather that is, not my springs). I have noticed that our band of unsung heroes are still in force with our volunteer litter pickers out and about trying to keep our village clean and tidy. Thank you to you all for doing this, it is very much appreciated.

Our “sink hole” seems to have caused a lot of comment during the month with unannounced road closures causing some inconvenience. These are totally outside the remit of the Parish Council and managed by Lancashire County Council. …

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Roughlee Village Centre

Race Night (22 March), Murder Mystery Night (4 April)...

Welcome to spring everyone and our event schedule.

We are holding a Race Night at the centre on Saturday March 22nd. this a very entertaining gathering with a tote booth and 8 races to enjoy with a bring your own drink & glasses. Food will be Pie & Peas – please confirm your choice when you book.

On the 4th April, our friends from Macmillan Cancer Support are holding a Murder Mystery Night including Pie & Pea supper and raffle at a cost of £10. Please book early to avoid disappointment in raising money for a great cause. Doors open 6.30pm for a 7pm start, teams are …

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Planning Applications

Applications validated in Feb 2025

For full details, or to comment, please enter the reference number, keyword, postcode or address on the Pendle Borough Council Planning system

Barley with Wheatley Booth parish
Goldshaw Booth parish

No applications received

Roughlee Booth parish

Ref. No: 25/0007/FUL – Laund House Farm Noggarth Road Roughlee Lancashire BB12 9PU – Full: Erection of an agricultural worker dwelling.

Uncover Bowland’s Beauty: The 2025 Discover Bowland Guide Awaits

Official guide to the Forest of Bowland National Landscape

The Forest of Bowland National Landscape team is excited to announce the launch of its 2025 Discover Bowland Guide. This essential guide is perfect for anyone looking to make the most of their time in Bowland, whether you are a local eager to explore new areas or a visitor wanting to delve into the unique charm of this beautiful area.

The guide was officially launched on 26th February at Eight at Gazegill. The event was attended by over fifty members of the Bowland Sustainable Tourism Business network and partner organisations. Many of these partners contribute to the guide through advertisements, which help fund its …

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From the archives

Keeping East Lancashire in the Picture

‘KEEPING EAST LANCASHIRE in the Picture’ is a two-year Lancashire Archives and Local History project that will make the wonderful collections of historic photographs in East Lancashire Libraries more accessible.

▼ ENE-N13-M851-1-1 – Bay Horse Inn (1920) – Photo of Roughlee showing the Bay Horse Inn (c. 1920). On the left Mrs Hartley, the great aunt of Mr Higgin. On the right Mrs Abbot the aunt of Mr Higgin.

Events in Barley: March 2025

Dates for your diary...

Pendleside Gardeners – Tues 18th March, 7pm at Barley Village Hall, £5 – The talk is ‘Adventures with Apple Trees’ along with an opportunity to graft and take home your own tree. Also a SEED SWAP and refreshments. More details on the facebook page.
Pendle Forest History Group – Wed 19th March, 7.30pm at Barley Village Hall – A presentation by Martin Lunn MBE FRAS titled “Thomas Cooke: Telescope Maker to the Empire.” Members £2.00, Visitors £3.00 – Email →
Pendle Patchers – Tues 11th and 25th March, from 1pm at Barley Village Hall – Pendle Patchers continue to be busy and getting some projects finished, always satisfying. We did award ourselves a Jacob’s Join lunch as a reward for all our hard work. Anyone is welcome to join us to see what we do in addition to patchwork. For any more information, just call in or contact Gil Beeke on 01282 602449 / Email →
Barley WI – Wed 5th March, 7.30pm at Barley Village Hall – A fun filled evening ‘Banjo and Beyond’ – a musical sing along and fun instrument facts. Plus delicious cakes and good company. New members welcome – try us for free!
FOG Club – Thurs evenings, 6.30pm-7.45pm at Barley Chapel – For children aged 6-11 years. Contact Angie on 07967 121031 or just come along
Card making class – 1st and 3rd Mon of each month, 1-3pm at Barley Village Hall – for details contact Valerie on 01282 691850
Coffee and Chat – 2nd Wed of each month, 10am-12pm at Barley Village Hall – All welcome, not just the old folk – £2 gets coffee (or tea) and cake!

Have you got a new neighbour?

Please mention Parish News to them!

If you have any neighbours or friends that have just moved to the area, or who might not be aware of this newsletter, please can you mention Parish News to them. We’re now on 800+ email subscribers across Barley, Goldshaw Booth and Roughlee so are definitely reaching the majority of households, but it’s an ongoing job to let people know when there’s no longer a physical copy being delivered and not everyone will see the adverts on noticeboards. Thanks for your help!

Print a note to post through their letterbox here →

They can enter their email address to receive an email on the first of each month online at www.parishnews.org – their data is managed/protected by Roughlee Parish Council on behalf of the other parish councils.

St. Mary's Church

March 2025 Services

As Spring approaches, we are looking forward to welcoming you to our services. Our church is warm and friendly. We always end our service with coffee and cake. We have activity bags for children and a space for them to play.

Hope you can join us soon.

Sunday 2nd March 9:30am – Holy Communion
Wednesday 5th March 10:30am – Imposition of Ashes at St Thomas’ Church, Barrowford – A special service to mark the start of lent.
Sunday 9th March 9:30am – Holy Communion – Lent week 1
Sunday 16th March 9:30am – Holy Communion – Lent week 2
Sunday 23rd March 9:30am – Holy Communion – Lent week 3
Sunday 30th March 9:30am – Holy Communion – Lent week 4

For more information please contact our Vicar Nick Murray on 01282 613206 or email.

Or contact our church wardens: Doug Bull (07907 458894 / email) or Gin Crewe on 07887 844025 / email).