FROM giant pear drops to children's shoes and lamp carts to tables and not to mention a pottery vase, these are few of East Lancashire's favourite things.

They are all on a list of 70 iconic objects embodying the history of the county.

An 18-month Heritage Lottery-financed partnership has been sifting through the county's museums and galleries to find the items that show everything people need to know about Lancashire, its traditions and its past.

This autumn the full details of 'A History of Lancashire in 70 Objects' will published along with an 'I Spy' trail and book.

And 11 items from the East of the county have made it onto the list varying from a Roman coin from Ribchester through a cotton loom in Blackburn to a bed pelmet in Padiham.

The sweetest item is 'The Biggest Pear Drop in the World' made and kept in Oswaldtwistle Mills.

It was originally made by Stockley’s Sweets in 1995 back when their factory was formerly based at the 193-year-old mill.

Nick Pitman, general manager of Oswaldtwistle Mills, said: "We are delighted this iconic sweet has made it to the final list of 70 objects."

Also in the list is Woodend Mining Museum's 'Diorama' of 18th century coal scene; Helmshore Textile Museum's lamp cart, a gold solidus Roman coin from Ribchester Museum, a beef table from Hoghton Tower and a shovel table from Astley Hall.

Clitheroe Castle contributes a child’s shoe, Browsholme Hall provides Elizabeth Parker's 18th Century diary while Blackburn Museum's half-scale model of a Dickinson Loom is one of the list's Industrial Revolution stars.

Burnley's Towneley Hall contributes a Lancastrian pottery vase, while Padiham's Gawthorpe Hall provides a pelmet for bed from its world-famous Rachel Kay Shuttleworth collection of textiles.

Burnley historian Roger Frost said: "The Lancastrian vase from Towneley Hall is a splendid example of this style of pottery and fully deserves its place among the 70 objets.

"As does the pelmet from Gawthorpe Hall which is part of a world-class collection of textiles right here in Padiham."

The 'A History of Lancashire in 70 Objects' is an 18-month partnership between Lancashire Heritage Learning, Museum Development North West and Lancashire Life which will reveal the final list of 70 objects in the autumn.