VALLEY TRAVEL


no by Tom Phebey


the Tuscan hills, there's never a doubt you're getting aw/ay from it all. You reach the estate via a narrow


A


lane that zigzags its way up wooded hills before petering out into a bumpy dirt track. This tranquil haven is a million miles from crowded airports where only hours before we had queued and jostled. But the beautiful medieval city of


Lucca is only 20 minutes away by car and a little further, in the opposite direction, lie the coastal resorts of the Tuscan Riviera. First to greet us was turbine-tailed


Tabata, the black and white collie- style dog who surveys all comings and goings on the estate. He was followed closely by a miniature version called Ouartuccio, just three months old and experiencing the joys of a Tuscan summer for the first time. Podere Consani is more than just a


holiday retreat - it's an active equestrian centre, a wine-making business and grows loads of its own provisions. Running the whole enterprise is


Susan Beeby, who comes from a farming family In Nottingham and trained as a teacher in London and Leicester before taking a job with an English family in a beautiful villa near Lucca. Susan married a local geometra (mixture of an architect and surveyor) who specialises in restoring old buildings and they eventually bought Podere Consani (literally a smallholding farmed by the Consanis), slowly creating the scenic estate it is today. Shooing away the dogs, Susan led


my wife and I to La Capanna, one of two rustic holiday homes adjacent to the family home in the main farmhouse. La Capanna, a converted barn with


t Podere Consani, a small group of traditional farmhouses on a plateau in


plenty of beams and terracotta tiles, sleeps four in two double bedrooms and is set on two levels. The main floor consists of a large


sitting room and a kitchen leading directly onto the attractive swimming pool terrace where we spent many lazy hours. Downstairs, both bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms and access to secluded gardens. A complimentary basket of


groceries awaited us in the kitchen and Susan handed over a bottle of the house red before leaving us to our own devices, but with the option to call on her for help or advice at any time. It would be incredibly easy to pull


out the sunbeds, uncork the wine and not leave tranquil Podere Consani for a week. But there are sights to be seen, places to explore. We slipped into a routine that


involved exploring the local area and stocking up in the excellent local supermarket, while ensuring plenty of rest and relaxation beside the pool and strolling through the olive groves of Podere Consani. A short walk to the stables in the


early evening was a regular fixture, to inspect horses with very non-Italian names like Flapjack, Golden, Chancy, Chocolate and Lady Jane. A day out in historic Lucca is de


rigeur for any visitors to this north­ western quarter of Tuscany. Lucca was originally a Roman


military camp and little has changed since the Middle Ages when a network of narrow alleys and squares was constructed. The city of 85,000 inhabitants


boasts some of the best preserved Renaissance defences in Europe - massive walls built in the 1500s with roads around the top and barracks for soldiers inside. In baking sunshine we walked


through a gate in the imposing walls to find ourselves facing a labyrinth of little streets, mainly given over to


---------------- ^---------r A view of Lucca, Italy. (S)


pedestrians and cyclists, which are worthy of some serious exploration. Surprises abound - an innocuous


passageway suddenly gives way to the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, a huge enclosed oval space occupying the site of an amphitheatre built by the Romans in the second century BC. There are-no less than 100


churches in this compact city and plenty of specialist shops to browse. While visitors are welcomed, Lucca is thankfully not spoiled by tourism. In the other direction a 10-mile


strip of beachside resorts, stretching from Viareggio to Forte dei Marmi, is about 30 minutes by car from Podere Consani. With acres of flat golden sand


overlooked by craggy mountains inland, it's an ideal playground for young children. Viareggio is one of the most


popular seaside resorts in Italy. The long broad beach has some public areas but many sections are reserved


for the residents of the seafront hotels. This theme continues as you drive north to fashionable Forte dei Marmi, popular with artists and the Italian jet set. All the way the seafront is occupied by beach club after beach club, each promising multiple delights within. The one essential service on offer


is access to the beach, where a mini­ city of sunbeds and parasols, separated only by each club's boundary fences, stretches as far as they eye can see in both directions. We paid 15 Euros for a few hours


on sunbeds in this vast arena, and another 40-odd for a surprisingly good lunch of salad and seafood spaghetti, plus nicely chilled wine. Afterwards my wife took up the offer of a massage (10 Euros) from one of the Chinese girls who work the beach, and pronounced it the best she had ever had. A day's drive into the craggy


Garfagnana area to the north of Lucca takes us to medieval Barga, known as the most Scottish town in Italy. There was a mass exodus from


Barga to the central belt of Scotland In the early 19th century and many Scots trace their ancestry back to the Tuscan hill town. Cultural links flourish, and the cafe


eg 1 ' • * * i P ■j J H i :


owner who served us cappuccinos in the tiny central square demonstrated perfectly the adage that anyone who speaks English in Barga does so with a Glasgow accent. Driving back along the tight and


twisty lanes, we resolved to stop for a late lunch.


The exterior of Valentino in the


high hamlet of Fiano, not tar from our holiday base, was inauspicious to say the least and wealmost turned away. I'm glad we didn't because this


turned out to be the culinary highlight of the holiday. ■ Ushered through the cosy main


Piazza dell' Anfiteatro, Lucca, Italy. (S) 22 the Valley


rooms packed with noisy locals, we were seated in a pleasant (if a little


empty) conservatory and served interesting antipasti followed by succulent homemade ravioli with butter and sage, then a selection of the best ice cream I have ever enjoyed. Including wine, it cost 16 Euros a head. Back at Podere Consani it was time


to chill out again on those sunbeds. And time to reflect that there can't


be many other parts of Europe where spacious beaches, scenic mountains, lush countryside and medieval towns are all clustered together within such easy reach.


Key facts - Podere Consani, Tuscany


■ Best for: Couples and


families who want a peaceful base to explore ■ Tuscany's many delights. ■ Time to go: All year round.


The climate is pleasant and there's a distinct lack of tourism's excesses. ■ Don't miss: A visit to


beautiful Lucca and a walk around the old walls. ■ Need to know: Driving in


this area can be challenging. ■ Don't forget: A detailed


local map to navigate your way around the countryside.


Travel facts ■ Tom Phebey was a guest of


Simply Travel, which offers seven nights' self-catering at Podere Consani this summer from £599 (four sharing), including return flights and car hire. Ex-Manchester from £624. ■ Although Simply Travel


doesnit offer a Glasgow departure for Tuscany, It flies from various regional airports including Doncaster, Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Inverness, Belfast, Norwich and Exeter. ■ Simply Travel reservations:


0871 231 4041 and www.slmplytravel.co.uk


Trom r t a p " ' ' • P L


AND FINALLY by Gerald Searle


the Ribble Valley, I decided to delve more deeply into the effect on local communities of some of the bigger cotton mills. Obviously I could not expect the


Ab H


high drama of 1878, when the cotton trade, the military and the Swan and Royal combined to produce a unique event in the Valley's history. But, presumably, if something is unique, you can have only one anyway! According to "Industrial


Heritage", Mike Rothwell's history of industry in the Ribble Valley, Chipping's Kirk Mills, built specially to house 1,032 of Richard Arkwright's water-powered spinning frames and now occupied by furniture makers H.J. Berry, is considered the oldest cotton mill in the Ribble Valley and described by Chris Aspin in "The Water Spinners" as "one of the oldest factories in the world". However, in Clitheroe pride of


place goes to Low Moor Mill, because not only was it the first spinning mill to be built, in 1782, but also the first to install power looms, and, sadly, one of the first to close, although the site was put to good use when it was demolished in the 1950s to be replaced by the Riverside housing complex.


SILK MILL Cotton manufacture was


introduced in the last quarter of the 18th Century in the form of water-powered spinning factories and domestic handloom weavers' cottages. Therefore, possibly on the site of an old silk mill, Livesey, Hargreaves and Co., calico printers, built not only the mill but also much of what was to become Low Moor village, to house its employees. Indeed, by 1827 new owners Garnett and Horsfall also owned 145 cottages and even an "apprentice house", so the workers were still well cared for, although an incident in the previous year may have indicated otherwise! There was considerable unrest


about modernisation in the cotton industry in 1825 and a lawless mob, supposedly emanating from Colne and Barrowford, marched from town to town smashing mill windows and power looms. Low Moor Mill was a natural


target and with the gates barricaded, precautions were taken before the military was summoned from Burnley. The unsuspecting mob turned at St Paul's Church only to find the road occupied by not only a significant body of soldiers, but also a


piiiiii


■ THIS crossword is just for fun - no prizes are given. The solution will be in next month's issue of The Valley.


ACROSS 1. Make legal a cover that five had a meal Whittle Close with its commemorative blue plaque (s)


cannon. They suddenly realised the error of their ways! Another spinning mill with a


fascinating past is - or was - Waterloo. Built by Thomas Bracewell in 1858, it hosted a wide range of industries before it was demolished in the early 1990s to be replaced by Whittle Close, with its now ivy-clad blue plaque recording its unique place in the nation's history. Paper-making replaced spinning


in 1875 before it converted to weaving from 1880 to 1930. After the building had been vacant for 10 years The Lancashire Hosiery Co. acquired it until 1988 and in 1949 Atkinson's agricultural equipment joined them and even weaving returned briefly. So why, during the Second


World War, were complaints presented to the council about ear-splitting noise, rattling ornaments and even shattered windows? Noisy knitwear? Not according


to David Brooks's fascinating and exhaustively researched book "Vikings at Waterloo", which details the mill's special role in and around the war. Lancashire Hosiery's plans had


to be shelved in 1941 when the building was one of many in the region requisitioned for "shadow" factories when Rover in the Midlands was threatened by German bombing. When Lucas and Rolls-Royce also moved in, the mill was destined to play a major role in a story of international significance - the secret experimental development of the Whittle gas turbine aero-engine, prior to its production at Bankfield Shed, Barnoldswick. In the early years of the war


Carlton Mill was requisitioned as a "dispersal" factory for the British Aeroplane Company, building Hercules engines in Clayton-le Moors, while Low Moor was a


training establishment for the Royal Engineers. However, it was Waterloo that became the real military "big noise", especially when the test houses were built for the development of what was apparently code-named the "Wizard" or "Whizzer". Born of Lancashire parents,


Frank Whittle flew in the RAF before applying for patents for his gas turbine engine in 1930. Limited official interest drove him to found his own company. Power Jets Ltd., in 1935. Finally, in 1940, the Air Ministry decided Rover should be involved in production and it in turn sub-contracted work to Lucas, so that by 1941, following the bombing of Coventry, both companies had staff working at Waterloo Mill. Unfortunately, it was to prove


an unhappy relationship. On May 21st, 1942, Whittle led a delegation to Clitheroe to try to resolve their problems, but it was only at the end of the year that significant progress was made. Many of the big hitters of aero-engineering development worked at Waterloo during the war, but it was a special meeting on December 19th over dinner at the Swan and Royal which finally secured a resolution. Three of the most powerful.


Rover boss Spencer Wilkes and Rolls-Royce supremos Ernest Hives and Stanley Hooker, struck a deal, summarised in Hives's famous offer: "I'll tell you what I will do. You give us this jet job and I will give you our tank factory at Nottingham." Thus, with Government approval, Rolls-Royce took over Rover's Clitheroe and Barnoldswick factories, and in return Rover received the Rolls- Royce Meteor tank engine factory in Nottingham. While Lucas had established a


fuel system development which occupied them in Clitheroe for


another 10 years. Rover gradually made way for Rolls-Royce, who initially planned to make Waterloo its Northern headquarters, but Bankfield quickly became the experimental and development centre, with all the top secret work therefore confined to Barnoldswick. The mill was de­ requisitioned in 1945 for use by Lancashire Hosiery, Rolls-Royce moved out in 1948 and Lucas finally transferred to Burnley in 1977.


However, Clitheroe hosted one


more historic meeting, in November, 1944, following a much happier return to Bankfield for Frank Whittle to see the RB40 engine, the first totally new Rolls- Royce turbojet to be designed, built and tested there. CELEBRATORY


Once again it was the Swan and


Royal that hosted the celebratory meal and it is even suggested that in the company of Whittle and Hooker, one of Waterloo's most accomplished employees, Adrian Lombard, used a tablecloth to design a yet more sophisticated engine, which quickly went into production with outstanding success. While Barnoldswick may claim


to be the birthplace of the modern jet engine, it was the experimental work at.Clitheroe's Waterloo Mill that was instrumental in a success that can be measured by the fact that the Gloster Meteor, powered by two Barnoldswick-built Rolls- Royce engines, was the first RAF


jet fighter and the only Allied jet to see operational service in the conflict - all stemming from that five shilling pub lunch! And so it produced a unique


event involving the cotton trade, the military and the Swan and Royal. Now that sounds familiar. But can you have two unique events that are the same? Clearly, in Clitheroe you can!


about(8) 5. Must one always tolerate this animal? (4) 9. Leaving document (4) 10. Thinking anxiously of chicken produc­ tion? (8) 11. Ill-treat a sailor by giving him employment (5) 12. One who can command a tidy screw? (7) 13. The cads' boss is made to do a somersault (4,4,5) 18. Impertinent rejoinder from the defence? (8) 19. About a hundred need to slim? It's true! (4) 20. Insignificant court action involving six (7) 21. Not what one would put on a pilot's birthday cake? (5) 22. Military storage vehicle? (4) 23. Helped to show what an idiot Edward is (8) DOWN


2. Friend from France is clever and altogether very pleasant (7) 3. Maltreated, though not well and put to some purpose (3-4) 4. Move the furniture round so the boot is on the other foot (4,3,6) 5. Pet lies about letter (7) 7. Pays attention to compliments (7) 8. Fashionable doctor and his food (5) 13. It's usually done at home (7) 14. Lots should be hammered here (7) 15. Having put the choir in confusion, dunderhead produces a flower (6) 16. The consequences of having personal estate (7) 17. Give authority for the silence to be broken (7)


SOLUTION TO OCTOBER'S CROSSWORD Across: 1 Charge-hands; 9 Aft; 10


Fisherman; 11 Tithe; 13 Netball; 14 Exempt; 16 Admits; 18 Respond; 19 Pagan; 20 Sprouting; 21 Bus; 22 Advertising. Down: 2 Hit; 3 Rifle; 4 Essene; 5 Abetted; 6


Demeaning; 7 Battle-dress; 8 Endlessness; 12 Treasured; 15 Produce; 17 Addict; 19 Pages; 21 Ban.


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the Valley 23 a wnizz


aving recognised last month the role of King Cotton in the prosperity of


Fun Crossword


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