Living World with Ron Feethy LAST week I explored part of the River Hodder and this week I returned to the same area, as I was attracted by the name of another river. The Loud is indeed a noisy river, especially after rain, and it stands on the pretty settlement of Chipping. This regularly wins prizes for the Best Kept Village in the Area.

The word 'Chipping' is pre-Norman and actually means a market. At this time and throughout the Middle Ages people often travelled long distances to go to market and also to go to church. It made sense to hold the two events on the same day and the idea of Sunday trading is therefore of very ancient origin.

Chipping is listed in Domesday, but the present church is Norman in origin and dates at least to 1230. In the churchyard there is an attractive sundial, which is dated to 1708. Some historians have been confused by trying to make sense of 'words' carved on the sundial. Actually it is nonsense because the letters are the initials of the church wardens!

Chipping is a wonderful place to walk and there are signed paths up to the hill called Parlick, which was part of the chain of beacons which linked with others in Lancashire. On the chain was Everton Brow, Parbold Hill and our own Winter Hill.

I began my walk in bright sunlight by turning left at the car park near the church. The route eventually turns right and descends steeply to Berry's Chair Factory. I love this walk in spring and early summer, as the steep banks are full of glorious flowers. I found wild strawberry (yummy, yummy when they are ripe), lesser celandine (once called Pilewort and used as a laxative), but my favourite flower is the primrose.

The name primrose comes from the Latin Prima Rosa - the first rose. Actually this is not related to roses, but the scent is similar. Old country folk used primrose flowers as an ointment, which was made by mixing them with animal fat. The ointment was used as a treatment for bruises and scrapes. My grandmother used this and modern day chemists know that it was very useful.

Berry's make traditional rush-backed chairs and other modern items of furniture. The area around the factory is a wonderful place to sit and soak up the atmosphere, as huge trees are cut up and the smell of sawdust can permeate throughout the whole village. You can also tell how old these cut trees are by counting the annual rings.

Berry's have been established a long time and part of their premises is occupied by what was once an old cotton mill. The old waterwheel is still in place, but it is no longer used. You can, however, still hear the leet, which fed the wheel, trickling away below the building.

Above the mill is the old lodge still full of water and an absolutely wonderful spot for naturalists. On a quiet sunny morning the reflections of trees and buildings are beautiful and mallards, moorhens, coots and tufted ducks were all busy displaying on the day of my visit.

Alongside Berry's, a stream chuckled on its merry way and I climbed down a set of stone steps onto the bed of sand and shingle. In the old days local people did their washing by the stream. Ladies of Victorian times often dressed in black and white and the old name for the pied wagtail was 'washer woman'.

I love to discover the old names for flowers and birds. In modern times we think these names are nonsense, but, in the context of the time, the names which were given were actually descriptive.

This balance between history and natural history is always my main reason for exploring Lancashire's Countryside. Don't let anybody insult our county's rivers!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.