REVEALED: 50 ways to spend your heritage weekend

Here's a list of the events:

Blackburn:

At Blackburn Cathedral, there's a morning interactive session for children, involving colouring and dressing up. The afternoon session for everyone. Opening times are Saturday 10am-noon and 1.30pm-4.30pm

In Blackburn Central Library, there's an exhibition of photographs depicting people, places and buildings in Blackburn and Darwen. It runs from Thursday until Saturday, opening at 10am each day.

Visitors to the Blackburn Quaker Meeting House in Paradise Lane, people have a chance to learn about the movement's history, dating back 350 years. It's open on Saturday from 10am-4pm.

The history of the sewing machine is ready to be discovered at Hobkirks Sewing Machine Museum in Darwen Street, where of over 200 sewing machines dating back to 1860, are on display. It's open from Thursday to Saturday from 9am - 4.30pm.

Blackburn Spice Festival, in the market, is sure to spice things up on Saturday.

At the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Debbie Smyth, as part of the Super Slow Way’s Fabrications Festival, will be delving into the archives to create an installation.

Also at the Museum, there's also the Cordwainers & Curriers. It's a 50-minute audio visual walking tour of the history of Cookson & Clegg, from its leather-working origins, through many years of military uniform manufacture to today making quality clothing under Patrick Grant.

The £3million Blakey Moor Townscape Heritage Project is exhibiting work from the Paint the Town competition on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, there's the Townscape Heritage Tour to find out about this history and heritage of the some of the buildings as well as plans for their future restoration and reuse.

You can make a part of the Community Quilt project, a Community Clothing on Lord Street West. Come along and sew a small piece of this quilt, learn a new skill, work collaboratively and share your own textile tale.

There's a car boot sale at Corporation Park, which is also being used as a fundraiser for the historic conservatory on Sunday from 9am-2pm.

Get on board an ex-East Lancashire Municipal Transport bus for a free heritage tour around the borough on Saturday, starting at Cathedral Square, from 10am-4pm.

In full period costume, Mr Mason will be giving one of his popular Historic Town Tours especially for Heritage Open Days. Meeting at the Restore shop on Blakey Moor, you can follow the guided walk through the story of Blackburn’s history and heritage. It starts at 12.15pm.

Budding artists can head to the Paint the Town Workshop, in Northgate, and join local artist Emily Lord, as she helps you to draw historic buildings and architectural features in the Townscape Heritage Project area, and then enter your work into the Paint the Town art competition. It's on Saturday from 10am-4pm.

And the annual Paint the Town competition, at the Bureau Centre for the Arts in Victoria Street, is open to artists of all ages and abilities to create a painting or drawing of Blackburn in a day.

The competition runs from 9am on Saturday and entrants must register at the Bureau to have canvas date stamped. Sunday 10th September. And there's an exhibition of works from 2pm-4pm on Sunday.

There will be plenty of activity at The Exchange in King William Street.

Bella May Leonard will host exhibition that explores architectural structure, pattern and embellishment in contrasting contexts: from the industrial mattress factory of Silentnight to rural folk art found in the French Alps.

There's also guided tours through out the day of the Cotton Exchange. Find out how volunteers are rescuing and restoring this iconic building and how you can get involved.

The Honour Choir, Holy Trinity Church, Mount Pleasant, are hosting a performance of the Honour Choir as they tell stories of the men and women of WW1 through the power of song on Saturday from 7pm for 7.30pm.

Darwen

Blackburn & Darwen Band March and Hymn Tune Contest, in Croft Street, will take place on Sunday from 12noon-6pm. It's the177th anniversary of the Blackburn and Darwen band and bands from across the North West will converge on Darwen to perform a contest march of their choice and a hymn tune too. Over £2500 is up for grabs.

At Bold Venture Park, at the Ashton Kiosk, Manor Road, Victorian-style tea and cakes will be served and you can also walk the park heritage trail or visit the labyrinth. Take the vintage bus to the venue, see the collection of early photographs and plans for restoration of the 1885 weather station.

Opening Times: Saturday 10am – 3pm and Sunday 10am – 3pm

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, are hosting a photographic display of mementoes from the industrial age and the local area on Saturday from 1pm-3pm.

Also for history buffs, head down to the Heritage House in Railway Road for a history walk around the town and a quiz about the articles on display on Saturday. Sunday will be more orientated to younger people, with games quizzes and drawing activities.

You can explore the meaning behind Darwen place and family names with local historian Peter Watson at Darwen Library from Thursday until Saturday.

There's a pictorial feast of historic Darwen photographs featuring transport of all types, from horse and cart to trams and early cars at Darwen Library from Thursday to Saturday.

Also at Darwen Library, you can learn more about the Grade II listed building, which has a fabulous past filled with treasures and famous people. The sessions run from from Thursday to Saturday.

At Darwen Vale High School, there's a display of old photos and fascinating documents. Tours of the school's amazing facilities and building, which has retained its wonderful original frontage and tiled staircases, will occur on the hour and half past the hour on Saturday.

Sacred Heart St Edwards Church, there's a tour of the church and then a talk on the history of the great building on Friday from 10.30am.

There's also a tour of St Joseph’s R.C. Church on Bolton Road on Thursday from 10.30am.

At St Pauls Churchyard, Hoddlesden, there's a display of old photographs, and a war grave tour on Saturday and Sunday from 10am-3pm.

Ribble Valley

You can learn more about the Clitheroe Library in Church Street, which includes the historic 1820s Moot Hall and 1600s dungeons. Tours are at 11am and 2pm on Saturday.

At the Clitheroe Castle Museum, there's an exhibition depicting 350million years of history, heritage and geography of the area.

You can also visit our free art exhibition, "Myth and Legend," in the Steward's Gallery and see objects from the museum collection related to clogs and clog making that are not usually out on open display.

It's open Saturday 11am – 4pm.

At the same venue, their a showcase of the Clitheroe CA which was designated in 1973 and awarded Outstanding Status in 1979. It runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Clitheroe Civic Society Town Trail, will run tours on Sunday, starting from the Market Place, around Clitheroe's historic town centre.

Join in the Clitheroe Town Centre Fun Family Quest, which runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Pick up a leaflet from Tourist Information at Platform Gallery, Clitheroe Castle Museum or participating shops and start spotting the little extras that make Clitheroe's shops and public buildings special.

Discover the 'Ghost building of Clitheroe' at the Atrium Cafe in Castle Street. There will be poetry and local history combined with stories of the past lives of some of Clitheroe's altered or vanished buildings.

It takes place on Thursday from 7pm – 9pm.

At Low Moor Reading Room and Club in St. Paul's Street, you can explore the history of Low Moor and meet Percy the Low Moor Pig in this exhibition of photographs and memories, curated by Low Moor Community Heritage Group, on Saturday.

You can explore the historic ruins of Whalley Abbey, the 14th century Cistercian Abbey and surrounding gardens. It's open from Thursday to Sunday from 10am.

Burnley

Gawthorpe Hall is open for free to all visitors on Saturday from noon to enjoy the historic Victorian rooms and fabulous portraits.

There's a guided towpath walk through the Weavers' Triangle on Sunday from 2.15pm, covering half a mile and lasting one hour. Also, there's a display about Burnley’s textile industry, its workers and the Leeds-Liverpool canal. It runs all weekend from 2pm-5pm.

At Oak Mount Engine House, in Wiseman Street, there's a display of a cotton mill engine house dating from 1887 with restored steam engine.

View a superb collection of coal mining memorabilia at Woodend Mining Museum in Reedley.

Much of it has been donated by local men who spent their lives under ground in the Burnley area.

The display is open from Thursday to Sunday from 10am-4pm.

Pendle

See and experience the power and might of Lancashire's largest surviving cotton mill steam engine, still being steamed in its original surroundings at the original speed, at Bancroft Mill in Barnoldswick.

It's open on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-4pm and steaming starts at 1pm.

Explore Colne Town Hall, on Albert Road, on Sunday from 12 noon – 2pm and discover its past.

Brierfield Methodist Church, Colne Road, Brierfield, are hosting an open weekend.

You can view presentations showing a timeline of the various stages of renovation carried out and a history of the Church and area. Also includes workshops with further activities.

It's open all weekend 12noon-2pm.

Rossendale

Bacup's Natural History Museum is hosting an open day in Yorkshire Street. There's a collection of over 4,000 photographs and slides along with various historical documents on the Bacup and Stacksteads areas. The museum displays various domestic and military artefacts and also hold one of the oldest flint and fossil collections in Lancashire.

Opening is on Saturday from10am – 2pm.

Bacup Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society are holding an opportunity to explore behind the scenes of the Royal Theatre Court, in Rochdale Road, including the basement rooms, on Saturday.

There's a chance to look around the deconsecrated St John the Evangelist church in Fern Street, including the bell tower, on Saturday from 1pm.

There's an exhibit of a cross compound mill engine in its original engine house, complete with two Lancashire boilers and mill chimney, at Grane Mill, Laneside Road in Haslingden this weekend.

On Saturday at the Community Garden, Church Street, Newchurch, you can join in the revived 'Kirk Fair' and take part in a self-guided walking tour of the historic pubs and locations of Newchurch in Rossendale.