Burnley One-Place Study

Burnley is a town in Lancashire, in the North West of England, It is 21 miles (34 km) north of Manchester and 20 miles (32 km) east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun.

The town is located near countryside to the south and east, with the smaller towns of Padiham and Nelson to the west and north respectively. It has a reputation as a regional centre of excellence for the manufacturing and aerospace industries.

The town began to develop in the early medieval period as a number of farming hamlets surrounded by manor houses and royal forests, and has held a market for more than 700 years. During the Industrial Revolution it became one of Lancashire’s most prominent mill towns; at its peak it was one of the world’s largest producers of cotton cloth, and a major centre of engineering.

Burnley has a direct train service operating between the town’s Manchester Road railway station and Manchester’s Victoria station, via the newly restored Todmorden Curve, which opened in May 2015.

The picture here is of the Singing Ringing Tree which is a wind powered sound sculpture resembling a tree, set in the landscape of the Pennines, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Burnley town centre.