The Longlands is a broad sweep of temperate country where wide skies meet rolling fields, and the land stretches in gentle rises from river valley to low hill. Hedgerows stitch together a patchwork of tilled farmland, sheep pasture, and meadows alive with skylarks. Villages huddle around greens or quays, their lanes edged with oak and elm, while lone towers and old barrows break the skyline.

The River Ribble winds north to south like a silver thread, drawing trade and gossip alike between scattered settlements. To travel the Longlands is to walk a landscape shaped as much by plough and hearth as by wind and weather — a land of steady seasons, quiet industry, and stories told by the fire when the day’s work is done.

The Longlands

THE SETTLEMENTS OF THE LONGLANDS

Ribbleton

South bank village on a slow bend of the River Ribble. Stone quays press against the water’s edge, their moss-darkened steps busy with ferrymen and fishmongers. Timbered millhouses lean over the current, their paddles turning in the green-brown flow. Higher up, narrow lanes climb to slate-roofed cottages, set well above the flood line, with plank walks bridging the lower streets. The air is always touched with the scent of river silt and warm oatcake.

Withycross

Compact market-town where the Ribble Road meets the Ashen Way. Half-timbered buildings lean over cobbled streets, their upper floors festooned with drying herbs and cured meats. The town green spreads at the crossroads, bordered by wooden pens and stalls, with the smell of livestock drifting on the breeze. Beyond the low north gate, willows shade the Withybrook and the old plank bridge that gave the place its name.

VILLAGE IN THE LONGLANDS

LONGLANDS MARKET TOWN