Scenes around Barnoldswick
Barnoldswick
About Barnoldswick
Looking out over a panorama that stretches across Craven and the Yorkshire Dales, Barnoldswick boasts some of the best long-distance views in the area. From most streets in the town you can see Ingleborough, Malham Cove and the fells of upper Wharfedale, Ribblesdale and Airedale. Water splashes off the hills and runs through this historic mill town, passing farmhouses, weavers' cottages and small cobbled Victorian streets on its way down into Ribblesdale.
The name Barnoldswick comes from its origins as a small Anglo Saxon farmstead - it was listed in the Domesday Book as Bernulfesuuic, meaning "Bernulf's Town". It grew into a thriving small town in Victorian times - by the 1920s boasting over a dozen weaving sheds - and the name had evolved to 'Barnoldswick'. Locals often give it the shorter name 'Barlick' and are known as Barlickers.
Often described as a “family town”, Barnoldswick is a true community place. Quiet - no-one passes through on their way elsewhere - the town is a place of strong roots and bonds forged between friends, family and neighbours.
Local clubs, schools and the town council organise a year-round calendar of local events - including street fairs, live music, dancing, annual fireworks and a Christmas lights switch on - many of which take place in Barnoldswick's delightful Town Square. This is a town of greeting people in the street, helping each other and being proud of where you live.
A walk up Weets Hill - on whose lower slopes the town is built - rewards you with stunning far-reaching views across this part of the Pennines. For gentler strolls, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal winds through the town and offers towpath walks out to Salterforth and Foulridge in one direction and East Marton and Gargrave in the other.
Barnoldswick boasts a library, medical centre, pharmacies, sports centre and swimming pool, plus several gyms, community centres, live music venues, parks and supermarkets in town. A wealth of independent shops, cafes and bars brim with friendly faces around the Town Square and its surrounding historic streets. This is a place that still boasts friendly butchers, greengrocers and bakers - plus a visiting fishmonger - amongst the parades of small shops and its town centre square.
Barnoldswick may be off the beaten track - a fact that helps to keep its quiet charm a secret - but it’s easy to head either direction into Lancashire or Yorkshire. For a taste of the city, both Leeds and Manchester can be reached in just under an hour, as can Preston and Harrogate. In Barnoldswick you are on the doorstep of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Bronte Country and the Forest of Bowland, with the Lake District, Morecambe Bay and the Fylde Coast all just an hour away.
