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102-711: Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire , was an English Wiccan , author, and amateur anthropologist and archaeologist . He was instrumental in bringing the modern pagan religion of Wicca to public attention, writing some of its definitive religious texts and founding the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca . Born into an upper-middle-class family in Blundellsands , Lancashire , Gardner spent much of his childhood abroad in Madeira . In 1900, he moved to colonial Ceylon . In 1911, he relocated to Malaya , where he worked as

204-530: A ceremonial county in North West England . It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Preston is the largest settlement. The county has an area of 3,079 square kilometres (1,189 sq mi) and a population of 1,490,300. After Preston (147,800),

306-608: A Wiccan group known as the Bricket Wood coven , he introduced a string of High Priestesses into the religion, including Doreen Valiente , Lois Bourne , Patricia Crowther and Eleanor Bone , through which the Gardnerian community spread throughout Britain and subsequently into Australia and the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Involved for a time with Cecil Williamson , Gardner also became director of

408-671: A book on the subject, he wrote Keris and Other Malay Weapons , being encouraged to do so by anthropologist friends; it would subsequently be edited into a readable form by Betty Lumsden Milne and published by the Singapore-based Progressive Publishing Company in 1936. It was well received by literary and academic circles in Malaya. In 1935, Gardner heard that his father had died, leaving him a bequest of £3,000. This assurance of financial independence may have led him to consider retirement, and as he

510-564: A civil servant. Independently, he developed an interest in the native peoples, writing papers, and even a book about their magical practices. After his retirement in 1936, he travelled to Cyprus and penned the novel A Goddess Arrives before returning to England. Settling down near the New Forest , he joined an occult group, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship . Through this group, he encountered

612-582: A continuous built-up area from Lytham St Annes to Fleetwood , including Blackpool, and further north is the Lancaster/Morecambe built-up area . The rest of the region is characterised by small towns and villages in the flat farmland surrounding the lower reaches of the Ribble , Wyre , and Lune and the sparsely populated uplands of the Forest of Bowland . The centre and south-east of Lancashire

714-709: A different persona is not restricted to Neopagans: Samuel Clemens' adoption of the name Mark Twain has been described as the adoption of a magical name. Before the emergence of Neopaganism similar pseudonyms appear to have been used by writers of grimoires such as The Book of Abramelin , attributed to the Rabbi Yaakov Moelin . In traditional forms of Wicca, such as Gardnerian or Alexandrian , Craft names are typically adopted primarily out of regard for their symbolism. Craft names may be carefully guarded and used only with members of one's own coven . Some Wiccans will use two different Craft names, one with

816-482: A fee. He would subsequently style himself as "Dr. Gardner", despite the fact that academic institutions would not recognise his qualifications. Planning to return to the Palestinian excavations the following winter, he was prevented from doing so when Starkey was murdered. Instead, he decided to return to Cyprus. A believer in reincarnation , Gardner came to believe that he had lived on the island once before, in

918-705: A letter of introduction, joined Sir Flinders Petrie who was excavating the site of Tall al-Ajjul in Palestine . Arriving in London in August 1932 he attended a conference on prehistory and protohistory at King's College London , attending at least two lectures which described the cult of the Mother Goddess . He also befriended the archaeologist and practising Pagan Alexander Keiller , known for his excavations at Avebury , who would encourage Gardner to join in with

1020-674: A local Malay woman. Through Cornwall, Gardner was introduced to many locals, whom he soon befriended, including members of the Senoi and Malay peoples. Cornwall invited Gardner to make the Shahada , the Muslim confession of faith, which he did; it allowed him to gain the trust of locals, although he would never become a practising Muslim. Cornwall was however an unorthodox Muslim, and his interest in local peoples included their magical and spiritual beliefs, to which he also introduced Gardner, who took

1122-588: A lot of time with family relations known as the Sergenesons. Gardner became very friendly with this side of his family, whom his Anglican parents avoided because they were Methodists . According to Gardner, the Surgenesons talked about the paranormal with him; the patriarch of the family, Ted Surgeneson, believed that fairies were living in his garden and would say "I can often feel they're there, and sometimes I've seen them", though he readily admitted

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1224-713: A national landscape. The major rivers of the county are, from north to south, the Lune , the Wyre , and the Ribble , which all flow west into the Irish Sea. The highest point in Lancashire is either Gragareth or Green Hill , both approximately 628 m (2,060 ft) high and located in the far north-east of the county. Lancashire was founded in the 12th century; in the Domesday Book of 1086 much of what would become

1326-462: A number of notable settlements along west to east of the M65 : including the city of Preston and towns of Blackburn , Darwen , Accrington , Burnley , Padiham , Brierfield , Nelson and Colne . South of Preston are the towns of Leyland and Chorley (which, with Preston, formed Central Lancashire New Town designated in 1970), as well as Penwortham , Skelmersdale and Ormskirk . The north of

1428-534: A part of the build-up to the war, also volunteering for the Air Raid Wardens' Service . Fearing the bombing of the city, Gardner and his wife soon moved to Highcliffe , just south of the New Forest in Hampshire . Here, they purchased a house built in 1923 named Southridge, situated on the corner of Highland Avenue and Elphinstone Road. In Highcliffe, Gardner came across a building describing itself as

1530-566: A particular interest in the kris , a ritual knife with magical uses. In 1915, Gardner again joined a local volunteer militia, the Malay States Volunteer Rifles. Although between 1914 and 1918 World War I was raging in Europe, its effects were little felt in Malaya, apart from the 1915 Singapore Mutiny . Gardner was keen to do more towards the war effort and in 1916 once again returned to Britain. He attempted to join

1632-516: A plant at Springfields, Salwick operated by Westinghouse and Heysham nuclear power station is operated by British Energy . Other major manufacturing firms include Leyland Trucks , a subsidiary of Paccar building the DAF truck range. Other companies with a major presence in Lancashire include: The creation of Lancashire Enterprise Zone was announced in 2011. It was launched in April 2012, based at

1734-463: A previous life, subsequently buying a plot of land in Famagusta , planning to build a house on it, although this never came about. Influenced by his dreams, he wrote his first novel, A Goddess Arrives , over the next few years. Revolving around an Englishman living in 1930s London named Robert Denvers who has recollections of a previous life as a Bronze Age Cypriot – an allusion to Gardner himself –

1836-534: A rubber planter at the Mawo Estate at Membuket. However, he did not get on well with the plantation's manager, a racist named R. J. Graham who had wanted to deforest the entire local area. Instead, Gardner became friendly with many of the locals, including the Dayak and Dusun people . An amateur anthropologist, Gardner was fascinated by the indigenous way of life, particularly the local forms of weaponry such as

1938-439: A small fortune. Gardner's mother had died in 1920, but he had not returned to Britain on that occasion. However, in 1927 his father became very ill with dementia , and Gardner decided to visit him. On his return to Britain, Gardner began to investigate spiritualism and mediumship . He soon had several encounters which he attributed to spirits of deceased family members. Continuing to visit Spiritualist churches and séances, he

2040-513: A tea plantation named Ladbroke Estate in the town of Maskeliya , where he could learn the tea trade . In 1901 Gardner and the Elkingtons lived briefly in a bungalow in Kandy , where a neighbouring bungalow had just been vacated by the occultists Aleister Crowley and Charles Henry Allan Bennett . At his father's expense, Gardner trained as a "creeper", or trainee planter, learning all about

2142-990: Is based in County Hall in Preston , and has 84 councillors. The council has been controlled by the Conservative Party since the 2017 Lancashire County Council elections ; the 2021 elections they won 48 seats, the Labour Party won 32, and the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party won two each. The twelve districts of the non-metropolitan county are Burnley , Chorley , Fylde , Hyndburn , Lancaster , Pendle , Preston , Ribble Valley , Rossendale , South Ribble , West Lancashire , and Wyre . Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen are unitary authorities , meaning their councils combine

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2244-704: Is home to four universities: Lancaster University , the University of Central Lancashire , Edge Hill University and the Lancaster campus of the University of Cumbria . Seven colleges offer higher education courses. The Lancashire economy relies strongly on the M6 motorway which runs from north to south, past Lancaster and Preston. The M55 connects Preston to Blackpool and is 11.5 miles (18.3 km) long. The M65 motorway from Colne , connects Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn to Preston. The M61 from Preston via Chorley and

2346-482: Is limited at most schools in most districts, with only Fylde and Lancaster districts having mostly sixth forms at schools. The rest depend on FE colleges and sixth form colleges, where they exist. South Ribble has the largest school population and Fylde the smallest (only three schools). Burnley's schools have had a new broom and have essentially been knocked down and started again in 2006. There are many Church of England and Catholic faith schools in Lancashire. Lancashire

2448-880: Is now disused. Lancashire was historically the location of the port of Liverpool while Barrow-in-Furness is famous for shipbuilding . As of 2013, the largest private sector industry is the defence industry with BAE Systems Military Air Solutions division based in Warton on the Fylde coast. The division operates a manufacturing site in Samlesbury . Other defence firms include BAE Systems Global Combat Systems in Chorley, Ultra Electronics in Fulwood and Rolls-Royce plc in Barnoldswick . The nuclear power industry has

2550-428: Is relatively urbanised, especially around the major settlements of Preston , Blackburn , and Burnley and near the border with Greater Manchester. The Central Lancashire urban area includes the city of Preston and the towns of Penwortham , Leyland and Chorley . A short distance east, Blackburn and Darwen are the first of several adjacent areas urban areas which stretch east toward West Yorkshire and south into

2652-496: Is still the home of flying schools, private operators and North West Air Ambulance. Manchester Airport is the main airport in the region. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is nearby, while the closest airport to the Pendle Borough is Leeds Bradford . There is an operational airfield at Warton near Preston where there is a major assembly and test facility for BAE Systems . Heysham offers ferry services to Ireland and

2754-658: Is that the Duchy administers bona vacantia within the County Palatine, receiving the property of persons who die intestate and where the legal ownership cannot be ascertained. The county palatine boundaries remain the same as the historic boundaries , ignoring subsequent local government reforms. Lancashire in the 19th century was a major centre of economic activity, and hence one of wealth. Activities included coal mining, textile production, particularly that which used cotton, and fishing. Preston Docks, an industrial port

2856-556: Is the county flower found on the county's heraldic badge and flag. The rose was a symbol of the House of Lancaster , immortalised in the verse "In the battle for England's head/ York was white, Lancaster red" (referring to the 15th-century Wars of the Roses ). A flag consisting of a red rose on a gold field was designed by the Friends of Real Lancashire , a pressure group which promotes

2958-555: Is the area to which the High Sheriff of Lancashire is appointed. As of 2023 these positions are held by Amanda Parker and David Taylor respectively. The ceremonial county is divided into sixteen constituencies for the purpose of parliamentary representation. The Duchy of Lancaster , the private estate of the sovereign, exercises the right of the Crown in the County Palatine of Lancaster. The most prominent effect of this

3060-399: Is the subject of some debate. Some treat the choosing of a name as a solemn and significant event while others regard the practice as an affectation to be ridiculed. Craft names of some famous Wiccans and other Neopagan witches include: Lancashire Lancashire ( / ˈ l æ ŋ k ə ʃ ər / LAN -kə-shər , /- ʃ ɪər / -⁠sheer ; abbreviated Lancs ) is

3162-525: The sumpitan . He was intrigued by the tattoos of the Dayaks and pictures of him in later life show large snake or dragon tattoos on his forearms, presumably obtained at this time. Taking a great interest in indigenous religious beliefs, Gardner told his first biographer that he had attended Dusun séances or healing rituals. He was unhappy with the working conditions and the racist attitudes of his colleagues, and when he developed malaria he felt that this

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3264-558: The British Empire ." Specialising in the import of hardwood , the company had been founded in the mid-18th century by Edmund Gardner (b. 1721), an entrepreneur who would subsequently become a Freeman of Liverpool . Gerald's father, William Robert Gardner (1844–1935) had been the youngest son of Joseph Gardner (b. 1791), after whom the firm had been renamed, and who with his wife Maria had had five sons and three daughters. In 1867, William had been sent to New York City to further

3366-551: The Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps , a local volunteer force composed of European tea and rubber planters intent on protecting their interests from foreign aggression or domestic insurrection. In 1907 Gardner returned to Britain for several months' leave, spending time with his family and joining the Legion of Frontiersmen , a militia founded to repel the threat of German invasion. During his visit, Gardner spent

3468-593: The Christiansborg Palace , Copenhagen , during which he gave a talk on the kris . Returning to Britain, he found that the climate made him sick, leading him to register with a doctor, Edward A. Gregg, who recommended that he try nudism . Hesitant at first, Gardner first attended an indoor nudist club , the Lotus League in Finchley , North London, where he made several new friends and felt that

3570-584: The Furness exclave . The new ceremonial county of Lancashire also gained land in 1974, as the urban districts of Barnoldswick and Earby , Bowland Rural District , and the parishes of Bracewell and Brogden and Salterforth from Skipton Rural District were transferred from the West Riding of Yorkshire . One parish, Simonswood , was transferred from the borough of Knowsley in Merseyside to

3672-606: The Isle of Man . As part of its industrial past, Lancashire gave rise to an extensive network of canals, which extend into neighbouring counties. These include the Leeds and Liverpool Canal , Lancaster Canal , Sankey Canal , Bridgewater Canal , Rochdale Canal , Ashton Canal and Manchester Ship Canal . The major settlements in the ceremonial county are concentrated on the Fylde coast (the Blackpool Urban Area ), and

3774-585: The Leighton Moss nature reserve. In the east of the county are upland areas leading to the Pennines. North of the Ribble are Beacon Fell Country Park and the Forest of Bowland , another National Landscape . Much of the lowland in this area is devoted to dairy farming and cheesemaking, whereas the higher ground is more suitable for sheep, and the highest ground is uncultivated moorland . The valleys of

3876-615: The Lord-Lieutenant (termed now a ceremonial county ) covered the entirety of the administrative county and the county boroughs. It expanded whenever boroughs annexed areas in neighbouring counties such as Wythenshawe in Manchester south of the River Mersey and from Cheshire, and southern Warrington . It did not cover the western part of Todmorden , where the ancient border between Lancashire and Yorkshire passes through

3978-591: The M66 starting 500 metres (0.3 mi) inside the county boundary near Edenfield , provide links between Lancashire and Manchester, and the trans-Pennine M62 . The M58 crosses the southernmost part of the county from the M6 near Wigan to Liverpool via Skelmersdale . Other major roads include the east–west A59 between Liverpool in Merseyside and Skipton in North Yorkshire via Ormskirk, Preston and Clitheroe, and

4080-474: The Museum of Magic and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man , which he ran until his death. Gardner's role in the development of neo-pagan and occult communities was such that a plaque on his gravestone describes him "The Father of Wicca". Gardner's family was wealthy and upper middle class , running a family firm, Joseph Gardner and Sons, which described itself as "the oldest private company in the timber trade within

4182-464: The Napoleonic Wars , displaying them on the wall of his hotel room. As a result of his illness and these foreign trips, Gardner ultimately never attended school, or gained any formal education. He taught himself to read by looking at copies of The Strand Magazine but his writing betrayed his poor education all his life, with highly eccentric spelling and grammar. A voracious reader, one of

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4284-682: The New Forest coven into which he was initiated in 1939. Gardner portrayed the coven as a survival of the theoretical " witch-cult " discussed in the works of Margaret Murray —a theory that is now discredited. He supplemented the coven's rituals with ideas borrowed from Freemasonry , ceremonial magic , and the writings of Aleister Crowley to form the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca. Moving to London in 1945, he became intent on propagating this religion, attracting media attention and writing about it in High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954), and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). Founding

4386-590: The Ribble , Wyre and Lune , which all drain west to the Irish Sea . The Wyre rises in Bowland and is entirely within Lancashire, while the Ribble and Lune rise in North Yorkshire and Cumbria respectively. Many of Lancashire's other rivers are tributaries of the Ribble, including the Calder , Darwen , Douglas , and Hodder . The Irwell , which flows through Manchester, has its source in Lancashire. To

4488-971: The Royal Navy but was turned down due to ill health. Unable to fight on the front lines, he began working as an orderly in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in the First Western General Hospital, Fazakerley , located on the outskirts of Liverpool. He was working in the VAD when casualties came back from the Battle of the Somme and he was engaged in looking after patients and assisting in changing wound dressings. He soon had to give this up when his malaria returned, and so decided to return to Malaya in October 1916 because of

4590-443: The Victorian era , Lancashire has had multiple reforms of local government. In 1889, the administrative county of Lancashire was created, covering the greater part of the county. Multiple county boroughs were outside the county council control: Barrow-in-Furness , Blackburn , Bolton , Bootle , Burnley , Bury , Liverpool , Manchester , Oldham , Preston , Rochdale , Salford , St. Helens , and Wigan . The area served by

4692-486: The manufacture of textiles . The Lancashire coalfield was also exploited, with many collieries opening. By 1971 Lancashire had a population of 5,118,405, which made it the most heavily populated county in the United Kingdom after Greater London . During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the military zone of Roman Britain . The towns of Manchester , Lancaster , Ribchester , Burrow , Elslack and Castleshaw grew around Roman forts. In

4794-538: The "First Rosicrucian Theatre in England". Having an interest in Rosicrucianism , a prominent magico-religious tradition within Western esotericism , Gardner decided to attend one of the plays performed by the group; in August 1939, Gardner took his wife to a theatrical performance based on the life of Pythagoras . An amateur thespian, she hated the performance, thinking the quality of both actors and script terrible, and she refused to go again. Craft name The idea of using an alternate name as an attempt to develop

4896-406: The 10th century. In the Domesday Book , land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as " Inter Ripam et Mersam " and included in the returns for Cheshire . Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was then part of Cheshire, it is by no means certain. It is also claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire . The county

4998-442: The River Ribble and its tributary the Calder form a large gap to the west of the Pennines, overlooked by Pendle Hill . South of the Ribble are the West Pennine Moors and the Forest of Rossendale , where former cotton mill towns are in deep valleys. The Lancashire Coalfield , largely in modern-day Greater Manchester , extended into Merseyside and to Ormskirk , Chorley , Burnley and Colne in Lancashire. The highest point of

5100-425: The Singhalese natives and taking a great interest in their Buddhist beliefs. In December 1904, his parents and younger brother visited, with his father asking him to invest in a pioneering rubber plantation which Gardner was to manage; located near the village of Belihuloya , it was known as the Atlanta Estate, but allowed him a great deal of leisure time. Exploring his interest in weaponry, in 1907 Gardner joined

5202-436: The UK. On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , southern parts of administrative Lancashire were transferred to the two newly established metropolitan counties of Merseyside and Greater Manchester . Widnes and Warrington , which did not form part of either new county but which were cut off from the rest of Lancashire, were transferred to Cheshire . In the north, the new county of Cumbria incorporated

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5304-430: The administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire . Lancaster, the historic county town , became a city in 1937. The administrative county was also the most populous of its type outside London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961. By the census of 1971, the population of Lancashire and its county boroughs had reached 5,129,416, making it the most populous geographic county in

5406-501: The airfields owned by BAE Systems in Warton and Samlesbury. Warton Aerodrome covers 72 hectares (180 acres) and Samlesbury Aerodrome is 74 hectares. Development is coordinated by Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Lancashire County Council and BAE Systems. The first businesses to move into the zone did so in March 2015, at Warton. In March 2015 the government announced a new enterprise zone would be created at Blackpool Airport , using some airport and adjoining land. Operations at

5508-534: The airport will not be affected. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire at basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling. Lancashire has a mostly comprehensive system with four state grammar schools. Not including sixth form colleges , there are 77 state schools (not including Burnley's new schools) and 24 independent schools. The Clitheroe area has secondary modern schools. Sixth form provision

5610-399: The archaeological excavations run by J.L. Starkey at Lachish . Here he grew particularly interested in a temple containing statues to both the male deity of Judeo-Christian theology and the pagan goddess Ashtoreth . From Palestine, Gardner went to Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Germany. He eventually reached England, but soon went on a visit to Denmark to attend a conference on weaponry at

5712-478: The beads and the coins. By the early 1930s Gardner's activities had moved from those exclusively of a civil servant, and he began to think of himself more as a folklorist, archaeologist and anthropologist. He was encouraged in this by the director of the Raffles Museum (now the National Museum of Singapore ) and by his election to Fellowship of the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1936. En route back to London in 1932 Gardner stopped off in Egypt and, armed with

5814-486: The block of flats at 32a Buckingham Palace Mansions. Fearing the cold of the English winter, Gardner decided to sail to Cyprus in late 1936, remaining there into the following year. Visiting the Museum in Nicosia , he studied the Bronze Age swords of the island, successfully hafting one of them, on the basis of which he wrote a paper entitled "The Problem of the Cypriot Bronze Dagger Hilt", which would subsequently be translated into both French and Danish, being published in

5916-420: The books that most influenced him at the time was Florence Marryat 's There Is No Death (1891), a discussion of spiritualism , and from which he gained a firm belief in the existence of an afterlife . In 1900, Com married David Elkington, one of her many suitors who owned a tea plantation in the British colony of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka ). It was agreed with the Gardners that Gerald would live with her on

6018-408: The centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410 AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged , a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria from the north of the River Ribble and the Kingdom of Mercia from the south, which both became parts of England in

6120-431: The ceremonial counties of West Yorkshire , Cheshire , Merseyside , Greater Manchester and Cumbria : Boundary changes before 1974 include: The ceremonial county of Lancashire is divided into fourteen local government districts . Twelve are part of the two-tier non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, which is administered by Lancashire County Council and twelve district councils. Lancashire County Council

6222-403: The ceremonial county is Gragareth , near Whernside , which reaches a height of 627 m (2,057 ft). Green Hill near Gragareth has also been cited as the "county" top . The highest point in the historic county is Coniston Old Man in the Lake District , at 803 m (2,634 ft). The north of the ceremonial county is less densely populated than the south, especially inland. The Fylde coast forms

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6324-472: The city. He entered into the second and third degrees of Freemasonry within the next month, but this enthusiasm seems also to have waned, and he resigned the next year, probably because he intended to leave Ceylon. The experiment with rubber growing at the Atlanta Estate had proved relatively unsuccessful, and Gardner's father decided to sell the property in 1911, leaving Gerald unemployed. That year, Gardner moved to British North Borneo , gaining employment as

6426-400: The connecting A565 to Southport ; the A56 from Ramsbottom to Padiham via Haslingden and from Colne to Skipton; the A585 from Kirkham to Fleetwood ; the A666 from the A59 north of Blackburn to Bolton via Darwen ; and the A683 from Heysham to Kirkby Lonsdale via Lancaster. Several bus companies run bus services in the Lancashire area serving the main towns and villages in

6528-426: The county is predominantly rural and sparsely populated, except for the city of Lancaster and the towns of Morecambe and Heysham , the three of which form a large conurbation of almost 100,000 people. Lancashire is home to a significant Asian population, numbering over 70,000 and 6% of the county's population, and concentrated largely in the former cotton mill towns in the south east. The Red Rose of Lancaster

6630-420: The county is treated as part of Yorkshire and Cheshire . Until the Early Modern period the county was a comparatively poor backwater, although in 1351 it became a palatine , with a semi-independent judicial system. This changed during the Industrial Revolution , when the county rapidly industrialised; until 1974 it included both Liverpool, a major port, and Manchester, which with its surrounding towns dominated

6732-822: The county with some services running to neighbouring areas, Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Merseyside and West Yorkshire . Some of these include: The West Coast Main Line provides direct rail links with London, Glasgow and other major cities, with stations at Preston and Lancaster . East-west connections are carried via the East Lancashire Line between Blackpool and Colne via Lytham , Preston, Blackburn , Accrington and Burnley . The Ribble Valley Line runs from Bolton to Hellifield with regular passenger services running as far as Clitheroe via Darwen and Blackburn. There are connecting lines from Preston to Ormskirk and Bolton, and from Lancaster to Morecambe , Heysham and Skipton . Blackpool Airport are no longer operating domestic or international flights, but it

6834-524: The couple settled into a bungalow at Bukit Japon in Johor Bahru . Here, he once more became involved in Freemasonry, joining the Johore Royal Lodge No. 3946, but had retired from it by April 1931. Gardner also returned to his old interests in the anthropology of Malaya, witnessing the magical practices performed by the locals, and he readily accepted a belief in magic . During his time in Malaya, Gardner became increasingly interested in local customs, particularly those involved in folk magic and weapons. Gardner

6936-410: The couple's third son, Gerald Brosseau Gardner, was born on Friday 13 June 1884. A fourth child, Francis Douglas Gardner, was then born in 1886. Gerald would rarely see Harold, who went on to study law at the University of Oxford , but saw more of Bob, who drew pictures for him, and Douglas, with whom he shared his nursery. The Gardners employed an Irish nursemaid named Josephine "Com" McCombie, who

7038-458: The district of West Lancashire in 1994. In 1998 Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen became unitary authorities , removing them from the non-metropolitan county but not from the ceremonial county . As the new boundary changes came into effect on 1 April 1974, a government statement in The Times newspaper stated: “They are administrative areas and will not alter the traditional boundaries of counties”. The three main rivers in Lancashire are

7140-445: The eastern part of the Forest of Bowland . The west of Lancashire contains flat coastal plains: the West Lancashire coastal plain to the south and the Fylde in the centre. The north-western coast is hilly and contains part of Arnside and Silverdale , a national landscape . The east of the county is upland, with the West Pennine Moors in the south-east and the Forest of Bowland in the north-west; Bowland has also been designated

7242-442: The entire journey, something that annoyed the passengers. In 1935, Gardner attended the Second Congress for Prehistoric Research in the Far East in Manila , Philippines, acquainting himself with several experts in the field. His main research interest lay in the Malay kris blade, which he unusually chose to spell "keris"; he eventually collected 400 examples and talked to natives about their magico-religious uses. Deciding to author

7344-645: The excavations at Hembury Hill in Devon , also attended by Aileen Fox and Mary Leakey . Returning to East Asia, he took a ship from Singapore to Saigon in French Indo-China , from where he travelled to Phnom Penh , visiting the Silver Pagoda . He then took a train to Hangzhou in China, before continuing onto Shanghai ; because of the ongoing Chinese Civil War , the train did not stop throughout

7446-484: The functions of a district and county council. They were formed in 1996, before which each district was part of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire. Both authorities currently have a majority Labour administration. The ceremonial county itself only has a minor administrative functions, being the area to which the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire is appointed; the shrieval county has the same boundaries and

7548-514: The general public (or the Neopagan community) and one with their covenmates. Wiccans who choose to conceal their religion to avoid religious discrimination may use a craft name when speaking to the press. The use of Craft names as online handles for Neopaganism- or Wicca-related groups and discussions has become increasingly common. The use (or over-use) of "outer court" Craft names (to be used outside of initiates-only or "inner-court" settings)

7650-528: The growing of tea; although he disliked the "dreary endlessness" of the work, he enjoyed being outdoors and near to the forests. He lived with the Elkingtons until 1904, when he moved into his own bungalow and began earning a living working on the Non Pareil tea estate below the Horton Plains . He spent much of his spare time hunting deer and trekking through the local forests, becoming acquainted with

7752-544: The historic county, and registered with the Flag Institute , a vexillological charity, in 2008. The flag has been flown from public buildings within the historic county boundaries on Lancashire Day (27 November), including from County Hall in Preston , St Helens Town Hall , the in the parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham which were previously in Lancashire. It has also been flown from

7854-652: The interests of the family firm. Here, he had met an American, Louise Burguelew Ennis, the daughter of a wholesale stationer; entering a relationship, they were married in Manhattan on 25 November 1868. After a visit to England, the couple returned to the US, where they settled in Mott Haven , Morrisania in New York State. It was here that their first child, Harold Ennis Gardner, was born in 1870. At some point in

7956-463: The island, only returning to England for three or four months in the summer. According to Gardner's first biographer, Jack Bracelin , Com was very flirtatious and "clearly looked on these trips as mainly manhunts", viewing Gardner as a nuisance. As a result, he was largely left to his own devices, which he spent going out, meeting new people and learning about foreign cultures. In Madeira, he also began collecting weapons, many of which were remnants from

8058-839: The journals of the Société Préhistorique Française and the Vaabenhistorisk Selskab respectively. Back in London, in September 1937, Gardner applied for and received a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Meta Collegiate Extension of the National Electronic Institute, an organisation based in Nevada that was widely recognised by academic institutions as offering invalid academic degrees via post for

8160-485: The largest settlements are Blackpool (141,100) and Blackburn (124,995); the city of Lancaster has a population of 52,655. For local government purposes, Lancashire comprises a non-metropolitan county , with twelve districts, and two unitary authority areas: Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool . The county historically included northern Greater Manchester and Merseyside, the Furness and Cartmel peninsulas of Cumbria, and part of northern Cheshire , but excluded

8262-405: The majority of Chorley. Elsewhere it is less extensive but covers the areas between the major settlements to prevent their convergence both with each other and with the nearby Merseyside and Greater Manchester conurbations. There is a further area of green belt in the north of the county, between Lancaster, Morecambe , and Carnforth . Some settlements within the historic county boundaries are in

8364-413: The middle of the town. During the 20th century, the county became increasingly urban with Warrington (1900), Blackpool (1904) and Southport (1905) becoming county boroughs, with many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were particularly complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs – Lees Urban District formed a detached part of

8466-457: The next two years they moved back to England, by 1873 settling into The Glen, a large Victorian house in Blundellsands in Lancashire , north-west England, which was developing into a wealthy suburb of Liverpool. It was here that their second child, Robert "Bob" Marshall Gardner, was born in 1874. In 1876 the family moved into one of the neighbouring houses, Ingle Lodge, and it was here that

8568-586: The nudity cured his ailment. When summer came, he decided to visit an outdoor nudist club, that of Fouracres near the town of Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire , which he soon began to frequent. Through nudism, Gardner made a number of notable friends, including James Laver (1899–1975), who became the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the Victoria and Albert Museum , and Cottie Arthur Burland (1905–1983), who

8670-507: The possibility that it was all in his imagination. It was from the Sergenesons that Gardner discovered a family rumour that his grandfather, Joseph, had been a practising witch , after being converted to the practice by his mistress. Another unconfirmed family belief repeated by Gardner was that a Scottish ancestor, Grissell Gairdner, had been burned as a witch in Newburgh in 1610. Gardner returned to Ceylon in late 1907 and settled down to

8772-513: The primary plot of A Goddess Arrives is set in ancient Cyprus and featured a queen, Dayonis, who practices sorcery in an attempt to help her people defend themselves from invading Egyptians . Published in late 1939, biographer Philip Heselton noted that the book was "a very competent first work of fiction", with strong allusions to the build-up which proceeded World War II . Returning to London, he helped to dig shelter trenches in Hyde Park as

8874-640: The routine of managing the rubber plantation. In 1910 he was initiated as an Apprentice Freemason into the Sphinx Lodge No. 107 in Colombo , affiliated with the Irish Grand Lodge . Gardner placed great importance on this new activity; In order to attend masonic meetings, he had to arrange a weekend's leave, walk 15 miles to the nearest railway station in Haputale , and then catch a train to

8976-608: The royal cemetery of Kota Tinggi , and the jungle city of Syong Penang. His finds were displayed as an exhibit on the "Early History of Johore" at the National Museum of Singapore , and several beads that he had discovered suggested that trade went on between the Roman Empire and the Malays, presumably, Gardner thought, via India. He also found gold coins originating from Johore and he published academic papers on both

9078-649: The south of France. After several more years spent in the Mediterranean , in 1891 they went to the Canary Islands , and it was here that Gardner first developed his lifelong interest in weaponry. From there, they then went on to Accra in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana ). Accra was followed by a visit to Funchal on the Portuguese island of Madeira ; they would spend most of the next nine years on

9180-410: The valleys leading to Greater Manchester, the others being Accrington and Rossendale and Burnley . West Lancashire in the south-west is rural with the exception of Skelmersdale , which forms part of Wigan urban area . The North West Green Belt covers a large part of the south and centre of the county, including all of the non-urban areas in the boroughs of West Lancashire and South Ribble and

9282-465: The warmer climate. He continued to manage the rubber plantation but after the end of the war, commodity prices dropped and by 1921 it was difficult to make a profit. He returned again to Britain, in what later biographer Philip Heselton speculated might have been an unsuccessful attempt to ask his father for money. Returning to Malaya, Gardner found that the Borneo Company had sacked him, and he

9384-579: The west of the county are the Fylde coastal plain and West Lancashire coastal plain , which lie north and south of the Ribble Estuary respectively. Apart from the coastal resorts these areas are largely rural and devoted to vegetable crops. Further north is Morecambe Bay . In the northwest corner of the county, straddling the border with Cumbria, is the Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape, characterised by its limestone pavements and home to

9486-453: The woman he was to marry; Dorothea Frances Rosedale, known as Donna, a relation of his sister-in-law Edith. He asked her to marry him the next day and she agreed. Because his leave was coming to an end very soon, they married quickly on 16 August at St Jude's Church, Kensington , and then honeymooned in Ryde on the Isle of Wight , before heading via France to Malaya. Arriving in the country,

9588-544: Was due for a long leave in 1936 the Johore Civil Service allowed him to retire slightly early, in January 1936. Gardner wanted to stay in Malaya, but he conceded to his wife Donna, who insisted that they return to England. In 1936, Gardner and Donna left Malaya and headed for Europe. She proceeded straight to London, renting them a flat at 26 Charing Cross Road. Gardner visited Palestine , becoming involved in

9690-508: Was entrusted with taking care of the young Gerald; she would subsequently become the dominant figure of his childhood, spending far more time with him than his parents. Gardner suffered with asthma from a young age, having particular difficulty in the cold Lancashire winters. His nursemaid offered to take him to warmer climates abroad at his father's expense in the hope that this condition would not be so badly affected. Subsequently, in summer 1888, Gerald and Com travelled via London to Nice in

9792-399: Was established in 1182, and came to be bordered by Cumberland , Westmorland , Yorkshire, and Cheshire. It was divided into the hundreds of Amounderness , Blackburn , Leyland , Lonsdale , Salford and West Derby . Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the detached part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel , and Lonsdale South. Since

9894-726: Was forced to find work with the Public Works Department. In September 1923 he successfully applied to the Office of Customs to become a government-inspector of rubber plantations, a job that involved a great amount of travelling around the country, something he enjoyed. After a brief but serious illness, the Johore government reassigned Gardner to an office in the Lands Office while he recovered, eventually being promoted to Principal Officer of Customs. In this capacity, he

9996-575: Was highly critical of much of what he saw, although he encountered several mediums he considered genuine. One medium apparently made contact with a deceased cousin of Gardner's, an event which impressed him greatly. His first biographer Jack Bracelin reports that this was a watershed in Gardner's life, and that a previous academic interest in spiritualism and life after death thereafter became a matter of firm personal belief for him. The very same evening (28 July 1927) after Gardner had met this medium, he met

10098-402: Was made an Inspector of Rubber Shops, overseeing the regulation and sale of rubber in the country. In 1926 he was placed in charge of monitoring shops selling opium , noting regular irregularities and a thriving illegal trade in the controlled substance; believing opium to be essentially harmless, there is evidence indicating that Gardner probably took many bribes in this position, earning himself

10200-525: Was not only interested in the anthropology of Malaya, but also in its archaeology. He began excavations at the city of Johore Lama, alone and in secret, as the local Sultan considered archaeologists little better than grave-robbers. Prior to Gardner's investigations, no serious archaeological excavation had occurred at the city, though he himself soon unearthed four miles of earthworks, and uncovered finds that included tombs, pottery, and porcelain dating from Ming China . He went on to begin further excavations at

10302-638: Was the Curator of the Department of Ethnography at the British Museum . Biographer Philip Heselton suggested that through the nudist scene Gardner may have also met Dion Byngham (1896–1990), a senior member of the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry who propounded a Contemporary Pagan religion known as Dionysianism. By the end of 1936, Gardner was finding his Charing Cross Road flat to be cramped and moved into

10404-954: Was the last straw; he left Borneo and moved to Singapore , in what was then known as the Straits Settlements , part of British Malaya . Arriving in Singapore, he initially planned to return to Ceylon, but was offered a job working as an assistant on a rubber plantation in Perak , northern Malaya, and decided to take it, working for the Borneo Company . Arriving in the area, he decided to supplement this income by purchasing his own estate, Bukit Katho, on which he could grow rubber; initially sized at 450 acres, Gardner purchased various pieces of adjacent land until it covered 600 acres. Here, Gardner made friends with an American man known as Cornwall, who had converted to Islam and married

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