Kelbrook is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Kelbrook and Sough Kelbrook and Sough is a civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 1,008, and contains the village of Kelbrook and neighbouring hamlet of Sough. The parish adjoins the Pendle parishes of Laneshaw Bridge ...

Borough of Pendle Pendle is a local government district and borough of Lancashire, England. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of Burnley and Ribble Valley, the North Yorkshire district of Craven and the West Yorkshire boroughs of Calderdale and Bradford. It has ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It lies on the

A56 road The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as t ...

between

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...

and

Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by Lancashire County Council since 1974 and regularly cele ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

a part of the now divided old parish of

Thornton-in-Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as doe ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, Kelbrook was administered as part of

Skipton Rural District Skipton was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Skipton, which constituted an urban district on its southern border. The district was expanded in 1937 by taking in the parishes of Steeton with ...

, until boundary changes in 1974. Kelbrook lies in

West Craven West Craven is an area in the east of Lancashire, England in the far northern part of the borough of Pendle. Historically the area was within the ancient county boundaries of Yorkshire and was administered as part of the Skipton Rural District o ...

, so keeping cultural links with

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and Craven. Kelbrook School is situated in the heart of the village. The highest building in the village is the village church, St Mary's of Kelbrook. Other local towns and villages are

Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It is within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Barnoldswick and the surrounding areas of West Craven have been a ...

- 2 miles west,

- 1 mile north,

Salterforth Salterforth is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The population of the Civil Parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 637. It lies on the List of B roads in Great Britain, B6383 road ...

- 1 mile west,

Thornton in Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as doe ...

- 2 miles north,

Foulridge Foulridge (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in Pendle, Lancashire, close to the border with North Yorkshire in England. It is situated just beyond Colne, on the route from the M65 to Skipton, and is an important stopping point on summ ...

- 2 miles south,

- 3½ miles south.

Elisabeth Beresford Elisabeth Beresford, MBE (; 6 August 1926 – 24 December 2010), also known as Liza Beresford, was an English author of children's books, best known for creating The Wombles. Born into a literary family, she took work as a journalist, but strug ...

, the creator of the

Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycl ...

, wrote much of the second Wombles book, ''The Wandering Wombles'', whilst staying in a cottage on Dotcliffe Road in 1970. The Kelbrook and Sough Wombles, the local litter-picking group made up of local residents, is named in tribute to this local nexus.

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

lived in Kelbrook for six weeks in 1973 whilst preparing for his role in ''

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 nov ...

''. The residents of Kelbrook are affectionately called Kelbricks. During a

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

it is tradition for young residents of the village to lock the church gates and demand money from the

bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bride's future spouse, (if male) is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, brides ...

and

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man an ...

. A more recent custom is to make

scarecrows A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

of literary characters from children's

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

and to race

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

. on Kelbrook Beck.

Tourism

The main

runs through the village. Kelbrook has one

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

named the Craven Heifer, named after a local cow, the eponymous

Craven Heifer Craven Heifer (1807–1812) was a cow which lived in the early 19th century, and to this day remains the largest cow ever shown in England: weight , length nose to tip of rump , height at the shoulder , thickest girth . Craven Heifer was bred b ...

, which was born in 1807 and achieved nationwide fame due to its size. The public house was previously named the Scotsmans Arms. The public house changed name between 1853 and 1891. Other attractions include the Kelbrook Pottery factory and the annual art exhibition. The village also has a fish and chip restaurant and a petrol station with a shop.

References

Towns and villages in the Borough of Pendle History of Yorkshire {{Lancashire-geo-stub

Tourism

See also

References