Lancashire's best kept secret? Exploring Trawden Forest

Trawden Forest is about as close to Yorkshire that you’ll see a red rose flag flying!

A civil parish, Trawden Forest comprises the village of Trawden and the nearby hamlets of Winewall, Wycollar, and Cottontree.

It’s a landscape best described as untouched, it has visitor centres but is still far from being a Mecca for day-tripping families and serenity-seeking pensioners, like the classic Lancashire tourism hotspots are.

I visited on a recent autumnal Sunday hoping to seek a pulse-calming retreat from the weekday grind – my hopes were met.

Trawden - the largest settlement in Trawden Forest.

The main road running through Trawden (Image: NQ) The first stop on my travels was the forest’s main village of Trawden.

Driving in from the Colne side there’s a pub appropriately named the Trawden Arms at the bottom of the village, opposite a shop and library.

It looks inconspicuous, but I soon found out, that like all great hostelries, it’s got a story behind it.

A local, who seemed in the know about all things Trawden, told me that back in 2021, the pub made the news after residents raised half a million pounds to bring it under the ownership of the village, joining the local shop, library, post office, and community centre in being under community control.

The community-owned Trawden Arms (Image: NQ) A shop worker told me 68 volunteers share the load of keeping the shop open by each doing a two-hour shift every week, with two workers on the till at a time.

The Trawden Arms is the village’s only drinking hole and provides a hub for everyone to catch up – you’ll find 99 per cent of pubs claim they are the ‘heart of the community’ but this one genuinely is.

Trawden appearing a little dull on the surface with only one pub/restaurant is in actual fact its key asset, funnelling all the residents into just one place to gossip and catch up.

An interesting relic you can spot in the village is the former tramline. A light railway service operated through Trawden Forest from Colne, from 1903 to 1934, with parts of the track still visible.

Tram tracks from the former light railway (Image: NQ) Wycoller - A mostly abandoned hamlet a few miles east of Trawden

Five minutes down the road from Trawden and a treacherous country lane later I was at the car park for Wycoller Country Park.

Another tourist on a trip out (Image: NQ) The parking spots are isolated from the main hamlet, leading you down a pleasant footpath heading towards the more built-up area.

After half a mile or so of strolling through pleasant countryside, the first hint of something manmade peaks through the hedges as you approach some lovely-looking stone houses.

(Image: NQ) Continuing to meander my way through Wycoller I came across what’s known as the Pack Horse Bridge.

While I don’t think it’s worthy of winning any health and safety awards anytime soon, with its open sides and uneven surface, the bridge doubles up as a brilliant park bench with a view over the rest of the hamlet.

The Pack Horse Bridge (Image: NQ) Following Wycoller Beck round I was greeted with the ultimate postcard-worthy vista.

The water is shallow enough that, with good footwear, you can trot into the middle of the stream, using the rocks as stepping stones.

The middle of Wycoller Beck (Image: NQ) A small patch by the bank could even double up as a little beach to sit by the day.

Adjacent to the beck’s bank lies Wycoller Hall, built at the back end of the 16th century, it’s now in ruins and has been taken over by moss and an unusually large number of ladybirds.

(Image: NQ) According to records, Jane Eyre author Charlotte Bronte would often trek over the Pennines from her home in Howarth to visit the hall and the rest of Trawden Forest.

From taking in the surroundings Wycoller has to offer I can see why, you feel like you’re in a fictional idyllic literary setting when exploring the place.

Wycoller Hall's ruins (Image: NQ) I spent just under an hour wandering around and saw maybe two other people at most, I had an entire historic hamlet all to myself, apart from its residents that live there of course.

The road home

Colne visible in the distance (Image: NQ) Exiting Wycoller and looking west you can just about see Colne town centre, which in comparison to where you are looks like a distant metropolis.

Following Keighley Road takes you to the small village of Laneshawbridge on the edge of Trawden Forest, the only signs of civilisation on the way being two sets of goalposts at either end of a field.

The best thing about this part of Lancashire is how remote it feels, you get a sense of being isolated that no other part of the county has.

The term best-kept secret is overused, and maybe the Trawden Forest isn’t truly a secret, but it’s the closest thing Lancashire has to a hidden gem in my opinion.