East Lancashire chef sets out a feast for tourists (From Lancashire Telegraph)

East Lancashire chef sets out a feast for tourists

3:00pm Tuesday 14th August 2012 in News By Bill Jacobs, Local government reporter

CELEBRITY chef Paul Heathcote and top travel agent Ruth Connor have drawn up a menu which they hope will entice most visitors to Britain get a taste of Lancashire.

And high on the list is a series of East Lancashire ‘musts’, including:

• Blackburn Cathedral and its soon-to-be-developed close and cloister.
• Pendle’s historic witch country and hill.
• Burnley’s industrial heritage and Weavers’ Triangle.
• The rural beauties of the Ribble Valley, the Forest of Bowland, and the hospitality of the Inn at Whitewell.

The pair have brought together their skills to cook up a recipe for tourist and business success for the Red Rose county as chairman and chief executive of the new Marketing Lancashire organisation.

Mr Heathcote, whose flagship restaurant in Longridge closed in May, is relishing the new chall-enge.

“We have a vision for Lancashire – the whole of Lancashire,” he said. “I chose to come and live in Lancashire. It is a county of many beauties and fabulous food. There is the Ribble Valley, where the Queen reportedly said she would go if she ever retired, with the Trough of Bowland and the Inn at Whitewell at the end.

“We want people to know about Lancashire, and when they are planning visits to Britain to come here, or when they are going from London to Edinburgh, or the Lake District, to stop off here.

“We have a vision for Lancashire, but for the whole of Lancashire, including its industrial heritage and places like the Weavers’ Triangle.

“Then there is the food – Lancashire Cheese, Fylde Tomatoes, Goosnargh chickens and ducks – which was showcased at this summer’s wonderful food festival at Ewood Park.”

Mrs Connor, who lives in Egerton and whose children learnt to swim in Darwen baths, was managing director of Wigan’s Shearing Holidays after senior positions with the Rank Group and Butlins.

She said: “This is about the whole of Lancashire, including Blackburn and Blackpool. It’s about prom- oting the entire county.

“There is so much in Lancashire to come and see, and I will be visiting the east of the county in the next few weeks, starting in Hyndburn tomorrow, to find out more about its secret beauties.”