Lancashire Witches Walk

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Summary: The Lancashire Witches Walk is a long-distance footpath opened in 2012 between the village of Barrowford and the county town of Lancaster. It starts at Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford near to where the witches lived before passing through the Forest of Pendle, the town of Clitheroe and the Forest of Bowland to finish at Lancaster Castle where the witches were tried, sentenced and hung. The route was created to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the trials of the Pendle witches. When the route was opened ten cast iron tercet waymarkers, designed by Stephen Raw, each inscribed with a verse of a poem by then incumbent Poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy were installed at sites along the way. The route takes a general south-east to north-west course across the county though from the start it deviates south to Read Park and then north to Clitheroe before taking the diagonal course tracking across the Ribble Valley then the Forest of Bowland to reach the Lune Valley at Caton from where the river leads the walk downstream to the finish in Lancaster.