Rock FM (Lancashire)

Lancashire ( LAN-kə-shər, -⁠sheer; abbreviated Lancs) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Blackpool, and the county town is the city of Preston.The county has an area of 3,079 square kilometres (1,189 sq mi) and a population of 1,490,300. After Blackpool (149,070), the largest settlements are Blackburn (124,995) and the city of Preston (94,490); the city of Lancaster has a population of 52,655. For local government purposes, Lancashire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with twelve districts, and two unitary authority areas, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. The county historically included northern Greater Manchester and Merseyside, the Furness and Cartmel peninsulas of Cumbria, and some of northern Cheshire, and excluded the eastern part of the Forest of Bowland. The west of Lancashire contains flat coastal plains, which rise to the hills of the Pennines in the east. The county contains large parts of two national landscapes, Arnside and Silverdale and the Forest of Bowland, and other protected areas such as the Ribble and Alt Estuaries National nature reserve. The major rivers in the county are, from north to south, the Lune, the Wyre, and the Ribble, which all flow west into the Irish Sea. The highest point in Lancashire is either Gragareth or Green Hill, both approximately 628 m (2,060 ft) high and located in the far north-east of the county. Lancashire was founded in the 12th century; in the Domesday Book of 1086 much of what would become the county is treated as part of Yorkshire and Cheshire. Until the Early Modern period the county was a comparatively poor backwater, although in 1351 it became a palatine, with a semi-independent judicial system. This changed during the Industrial Revolution, when the county rapidly industrialised; until 1974 it included both Liverpool, a major port, and Manchester, which with its surrounding towns dominated the manufacture of textiles. The Lancashire coalfield was also exploited, with many collieries opening. By 1971 Lancashire had a population of 5,118,405, which made it the most heavily populated county in the United Kingdom after Greater London.

The Lancashire dialect (or colloquially, Lanky) refers to the Northern English vernacular speech of the English county of Lancashire. The region is notable for its tradition of poetry written in the dialect.

Alston Hall is a 19th-century Victorian gothic style country mansion located in Longridge (near Preston) in Lancashire, England. It is not to be confused with the 15th-century Alston Old Hall nearby.

St Cecilia's Roman Catholic High School is a coeducational secondary school in Longridge in the English county of Lancashire. The school is named after Saint Cecilia, the patroness of musicians. It is a voluntary aided school which is administered by Lancashire County Council and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. St Cecilia's offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. The current headteacher is Helen Hall, who was permanently appointed to the post in 2021 after serving as acting headteacher for four months.The school was assessed as "good" by Ofsted in 2016 and again in 2019. The previous report, in 2013, said the school "required improvement" and the subsequent progression report in 2014 praised the school for taking effective action to take the school out of special measures.The school gates were painted gold in 2017 in honour of Paralympian Stephanie Slater MBE, who had attended the school.

Longridge High School is a coeducational secondary school located in Longridge in the English county of Lancashire.Previously a community school administered by Lancashire County Council, in October 2023 Longridge High School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by The Bay Learning Trust.Longridge High School offers GCSEs, BTECs and OCR Nationals as programmes of study for pupils.

Hothersall is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in Lancashire, England. The parish, which is on the north bank of the River Ribble, is rural and in the 2001 census had a population of 136, increasing to 145 at the 2011 Census. It is approximately 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Preston, and has boundaries with Longridge to the north and west, and Ribchester to the east. Hothersall Hall, situated in the south of the parish, was the home of the Hothersall family from as early as the 12th century until it was sold in the 18th century; the hall was demolished in the 1850s and replaced by a house built in the Gothic style that now stands on the site.The parish was part of Preston Rural District throughout the district's existence from 1894 to 1974. In 1974 the parish became part of Ribble Valley.

Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated 8 miles (13 km) north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. The nearest villages are Grimsargh, 2 miles (3 km) to the southeast, and Ribchester 4 miles (6 km) to the southeast. The parish of Longridge had a population of 7,546 recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 7,724 at the 2011 Census.

Grimsargh railway station was on the single track Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the village of Grimsargh in Lancashire, England. When the line first opened in 1840, wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill from Longridge to Preston and were hauled in the other direction by horses. There were rudimentary passenger facilities at Grimsargh — the nearby Plough Hotel was used as a booking office. It was not until 1870 that a proper station building was constructed, when the line was run jointly by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway.In 1889, the privately run Whittingham Hospital Railway was opened to a second Grimsargh Station which was diagonally opposite the level crossing from the main station. This station had a run-around loop and a connection with the Longridge line facing in the direction of Longridge. Two sidings were also provided. On a single short platform, the station building comprised an open fronted shed of brick and wood with an overall roof and canopy. The building was some 40 ft (12 m) in length by 12 ft (3.6 m) wide with a 10 ft (3 m) waiting room at the Longridge end. Hospital trains were timed to connect with trains to and from Preston.The Longridge-to-Preston line closed to passengers in 1930, but the hospital line continued to be used until 1957 when its single steam locomotive was condemned. The Longridge line's goods service was finally withdrawn in 1967. The station's buildings were demolished in the late 1970s and houses built on the site, the new houses following the alignment of the former station buildings.

St Paul's Church stands off Berry Lane, Longridge, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Blackburn. The church was built in 1886–1888, and the tower was added in 1936–37. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

Club Row is a row of sandstone terraced houses on Higher Road in the English market town of Longridge, Lancashire, built between 1793 and 1804. Grade II listed, and numbered 6 to 44, they each have slate roofs and were built by the Longridge Building Club, one of the earliest terminating building societies in England. They have two storeys and cellars entered at the rear, and each house has one bay. The windows and doorways have plain surrounds. The doorways are grouped in threes, the centre door leading to the rear yard. The cellars were used for handloom weaving.

Grimsargh is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. located 6 miles (10 km) east of Preston.

Longridge railway station was a passenger terminus of the Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the town of Longridge in Lancashire, England. The line first opened in 1840 to carry stone from the recently opened Tootle Heights quarry on the northeastern side of the village of Longridge, as it then was. Wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill to Preston and were hauled in the other direction by horses. There were rudimentary passenger facilities at a level crossing in Burey Lane (later called Berry Lane) which at the time was a rural lane with only a couple of houses; the village of Longridge was at the southeast end of the lane. A hotel was built next to the station, and was known as the Longridge Railway Tavern and the Station Hotel before being renamed in 1853 the Towneley Arms, as it is still known today.After the railway converted to steam power in 1848, Longridge expanded rapidly. Four cotton mills were built alongside the railway and Berry Lane became the town centre.By 1867, the railway was owned jointly by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway, and three years later the railway bought the Towneley Arms. A station building was built on the side of the hotel in 1872.On the opposite side of Berry Lane were many goods sidings, for the local mills, gasworks and a coal merchant. The line continued to the Tootle Heights quarries. The line and the station closed to passengers on 31 May 1930. Goods traffic continued until November 1967; within the next year the tracks were lifted.Today the former station building and canopy still exist and are used as the headquarters of Longridge Town Council. Where the tracks once ran through the station is a war memorial, erected in 1981. Part of the goods yard opposite has become a supermarket car park.In late 2008, a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £221,600 was awarded to restore the former station building for use as a heritage centre and community area. The restoration was completed in 2010.