Clitheroe, From The Castle 1927

Photo ref: 80530

More about this scene

We are looking north towards Kemple End. The first sod of the railway line at Clitheroe was cut on 30 December 1846. The large railway sidings that we can see here denote how important Clitheroe was as a distribution centre for this part of the Ribble Valley. After the livestock market on Monday (the sheep market), Tuesday and Friday, animals would head out all over Lancashire. The origin of the name Clitheroe is surrounded by doubts and mystery. The 'oe' at the end comes from the Old English 'hoh', meaning a hill or promontory. The 'Clith' part could come from OE 'clyde', stones or rocky. (The name had a 'd' in it until around 1650; the spellings 'Cliderhou', 'Clyderhowe' also appear in the past). 'The hill of lime or loose stones' is one meaning suggested in a recent book, or if we believe the name has a Celtic derivation, we end up with 'the shelter on a rock'; but no one can really pin the meaning down. One of Clitheroe's famous sons is Jimmy Clitheroe, who made us all laugh in the early days of radio - he really did come from Clitheroe. A family member keeps a cafe, Jimmy Clitheroe's, next to the market in the town centre; it has photographs and memorabilia all over the walls.

An extract from Heart of Lancashire Photographic Memories.