Lancashire is a large county in northwest England, home to the major city of Manchester (full of canals that used to transport goods to London during the Industrial Revolution, when the cotton industry was responsible for 16% of England’s entire workforce). The co-operative movement (where workers own the company and have a say in how it’s run and profits) began in Lancashire.
And there are stretches of coastline including Morecambe Bay (take care as there is sinking mud and strong tides here, this is where the Chinese cockle pickers died some years ago). But mostly this county is all pretty villages inland, with beautiful countryside.
The coast is home to one of England’s most popular seaside resorts of Blackpool (created as an escape for workers from factories in Lancashire mill towns, back in the day). Blackpool Tower (inspired by the Eiffel Tower) opened in 1894. One million light bulbs go into the Blackpool illuminations which are a major tourist attraction.
However although now powered by green energy, locals remain concerned about light pollution on wildlife (birds also start waking up to sing, when it’s still night). Lighting up buildings also causes bird strike – read more on how to stop birds flying into windows. Local astronomers are aware that the lights bring in substantial business, but say plans to create an artificial ‘aurora borealis’ (northern lights) by way of a 1KW laser to shine in the sky, would not just blight the night sky, but ruin views across the county (and also for Merseyside, Cumbria, North Wales and even Isle of Man).
