School’s out at last so, first week of August, we decided to have a family day out on a Panopticons Picnic and visited three of these four 21st century landmarks, having a picnic at each. The great thing is, although I’ve spent the last four months promoting August as Picnic Month in Lancashire, I can honestly say, it wasn’t my idea, it was Granny’s!
My parents were visiting from Northern Ireland so with five of us (Mum, Dad and three young ones) and two sets of grandparents, we were a party of nine, ranging from three years of age to (“just over”) 73 years young.
The Panopticon Picnic commenced at The Halo in Haslingden, where we treated all the little angels to chocolate biscuits. Between us, we know the landscape of Lancashire and Greater Manchester fairly well, but it still helped to have panels pinpointing what you could see from this viewpoint, as well as an interpretation board explaining the origin and purpose of the Panopticons and the significance of each individual one.
After just 20 minutes’ drive, we reached the Singing Ringing Tree at Crown Point near Burnley – the picnic at the Panopticon Tree, as it is now signed, bore us fruit and sandwiches. Each Panopticon can be accessed by an interesting walk or you can drive almost right up to them, ideal for any level of mobility. We took the short walk to the Tree, stopping every few paces to listen for the ringing!
Back in the car and within 30 minutes, a new landscape, a new Panopticon. This time, we split Frederick’s ice creams at the Atom in Wycoller. We couldn’t have timed it better as it was the only time all day when it rained while we were outdoors, so we took shelter in the Panopticon itself, giving us time to enjoy the views both through the circular viewing windows and via the steel sphere inside which reflects these views back to you.
The one constant on our visits was Pendle Hill which we could see starkly from every viewpoint, following us round the Panopticons like Mona Lisa’s eyes. We visited three very different locations; the adults particularly enjoyed the scenic walks and views while the children liked the unusual aspects of the landmarks themselves and each site was perfect for a picnic, not just for the scenic and novelty value but there are picnic benches and places to sit at every one. It was certainly a fun way to spend the day.
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