River Calder

The River Calder rises near Cliviger in the Pennine foothills of Lancashire. It begins close to the sources of the West Yorkshire Calder and the River Irwell, then flows northwest through the steep Cliviger Gorge. Two small fish ponds supplied by the river lie near Pot Oven Farm. Near Holme Chapel the river passes St John’s Church and collects Green Clough. As the valley widens it is joined by Easden Clough before reaching Walk Mill. The Calder carries the history of local industry along its banks. Near Pot Oven Farm stand the remains of a blast furnace built around 1700, possibly the first of its kind in Lancashire. In the 1840s a third fish pond existed upstream of the two still seen today. A 15-arch sandstone railway viaduct built in 1847–48 carries the old East Lancashire Railway across the river at Burnley. The river once flowed past Gawthorpe Hall but was diverted in the 19th century and restored in the 1960s. Walkers can follow the river through Towneley Park where it passes Unity College and Fulledge Recreation Ground. Culverts carry the Calder under roads and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Burnley town centre. Near Whalley the river passes the ruins of Whalley Abbey and runs over the corn mill weir. An Archimedean screw hydropower station built in 2014 generates electricity at Whalley. The Calder finally meets the Ribble near Brockhall Village after winding past Altham, Padiham and other settlements.