These hills have quite a story to tell

IT was hard to realise when I strolled on the Grane moors above Haslingden that I was walking above rock called millstone grit which was laid down more than 300 million years ago.

After the Ice Ages some 5,000 years ago, the area was covered in deciduous forest dominated by oak.

By 1500 most of this forest had been felled and people began to farm the land which was once a royal hunting forest.

Most folk made their living from farming, textiles and the quarrying of the millstone grit.

This was used to produce setts (cobbles) for streets, and kerbs and flagstones were also important. These were hacked from the hillside and transported by a tramway which linked to the railway near Haslingden.

Then came the Industrial Revolution and the demand for more and more water; hence the construction of reservoirs. Both can be seen during this stroll. Calf Hey reservoir was built between 1854 and 1859 to supply water to Bury and Radcliffe. Clean water was essential to prevent water-borne diseases such as typhoid and dysentery.

Ogden Reservoir was started in 1903 due to an increased demand for water as the textile towns in the Irwell Valley expanded. The reservoir was completed in 1912.

During the period of reservoir construction there was no room for sentiment and many Graners were forced to leave their homes. It was at this time that the historic Grane village died. They had their own church, chapel, school and, of course, a pub. The Graners, however, were notorious for brewing their own and whisky distillers also produced a powerful spirit. At the Clough Head Visitors' Centre there is a display depicting the life of the Graners, including a whisky still.

Apart from its history this stroll is full of exciting natural history and I enjoyed seeing thistles being fed upon by peacock butterflies, burdock, meadow cranesbill and tormentil. There were plenty of birds including blue tits, blackbirds and chaffinches feeding in the car park on scraps provided by motorists. All these species I expected, but the sighting of a male stonechat in this area was not expected.

I'd love some local historian to compile the story of the Graners, including some of the more eccentric characters. Take old Andrew Scholes for example. Was he a real miser or just an eccentric?

"Owd Andree" built a huge cart in his parlour before he realised that he could not get it out through the door. He refused to dismantle it and left it in his parlour for so many years that it became a local tourist attraction.

Andree lived at Top o'th' Knoll, which lies on a circular route which can be followed from the visitors' centre. Another interesting stop is at Alley Cross, which is said to be a corruption of Holy Cross. It is said that there was once a cross on the moors to guide travellers over difficult terrain.

This was in the days before the Turnpike Road was built, the line of which follows the present road.

Throughout Britain there are stories of villages which were drowned by being flooded to create reservoirs. Wonderful books have been published about Mardale in the Lake District, which was drowned to create the Haweswater complex. There is another telling the story of Stocks in Bowland, which produced Stocks Reservoir.

I feel sorry that the Grane story has not been fully told.

I wonder if readers have memories of the village. Perhaps we can germinate our Grane into an informative history.

The stroll of around 2.5 miles is reached from Calf Hey or from the Clough Head Visitors' Centre, situated between Blackburn and Haslingden on the famous Grane Road. In winter the road is infamous as it is often the first to be closed during snowfall.