104-499: The East Lancashire line is a railway line in the Lancashire region of England, which runs between Preston and Colne , through Blackburn , Accrington , Burnley ( Barracks and Central ) and Nelson . The line formerly ran onto Skipton but this closed in 1970. It is operated by Northern . Services on this line stop at every station on the line, although Pleasington, Hapton and Burnley Barracks are now request stops only. It
208-507: 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 the eastern part of the Forest of Bowland . The west of Lancashire contains flat coastal plains:
312-527: A basal Permian unconformity into at least the western part of the Caernarfon Bay Basin. The timing of gas generation presents the greatest exploration risk. Maximum burial of, and primary gas migration from, the source rocks could have terminated as early as the Jurassic , whereas many of the tilted fault blocks were reactivated or created during Paleogene inversion of the basin. However, it
416-604: A continuation into British waters of Ireland's North Celtic Sea Basin, which has two producing gas fields. The basin comprises a south-easterly deepening half-graben near the Welsh coastline, although its internal structure becomes increasingly complex towards the southwest. Permian to Triassic, syn-rift sediments within the basin are less than 3 km (1.9 mi) thick and are overlain by up to 4 km (2.5 mi) of Jurassic strata, and locally also by up to 2 km (1.2 mi) of Paleogene fluvio-deltaic sediments. The basin has
520-530: 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
624-459: A corresponding dosage of radioactivity naturally occurring in the seafood consumed by this group of 148 μSv (0.0148 rem) and a total average dosage in Ireland from all sources of 3,620 μSv (0.362 rem). In terms of risk to this group, heavy consumption of seafood generates a 1 in 18 million chance of causing cancer. The general risk of contracting cancer in Ireland is 1 in 522. In
728-475: A direct link from Accrington and Burnley to Manchester via Rochdale . Lancashire Lancashire ( / ˈ l æ ŋ k ə ʃ ər / LAN -kə-shər , /- ʃ ɪər / -sheer ; abbreviated Lancs ) is 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
832-459: A large extent on whether the seabed is composed of rock , boulders , gravel , sand , mud or even peat . In the soft sediments seven types of community have been provisionally identified, variously dominated by brittle-stars , sea urchins , worms, mussels , tellins , furrow-shells , and tower-shells. Parts of the bed of the Irish Sea are very rich in wildlife. The seabed southwest of
936-462: 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
1040-665: A plan to reintroduce grey whales by airlifting 50 of them from the Pacific Ocean to the Irish Sea was claimed to be logically and ethically feasible; it has not been implemented as of 2013. The common or harbour seal and the grey seal are both resident in the Irish Sea. Common seals breed in Strangford Lough, grey seals in southwest Wales and, in small numbers, on the Isle of Man. Grey seals haul out, but do not breed, off Hilbre and Walney islands, Merseyside ,
1144-575: 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
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#17327930325851248-577: A proven petroleum system, with potentially producible gas reserves at the Dragon discovery near the UK/ROI median line, and oil shows in a further three wells. The Cardigan Bay Basin contains multiple reservoir targets, which include the Lower Triassic (Sherwood Sandstone), Middle Jurassic shallow marine sandstones and limestone (Great Oolite ), and Upper Jurassic fluvial sandstone, the reservoir for
1352-533: A series of dramatic changes over the last 20,000 years as the last glacial period ended and was replaced by warmer conditions. At the height of the glaciation, the central part of the modern sea was probably a long freshwater lake. As the ice retreated 10,000 years ago, the lake reconnected to the sea. The Irish Sea was formed in the Neogene era. Notable crossings include several invasions from Britain. The Norman invasion of Ireland took place in stages during
1456-626: A year. Holyhead port handles most of the passenger traffic from Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ports, as well as 3.3 million tonnes (3,200,000 long tons; 3,600,000 short tons) of freight. Ports in the Republic handle 3,600,000 travellers crossing the sea each year, amounting to 92% of all Irish Sea travel. Ferry connections from Wales to Ireland across the Irish Sea include Fishguard Harbour and Pembroke to Rosslare , Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead to Dublin. From Scotland , Cairnryan connects with both Belfast and Larne . There
1560-712: Is also a connection between Liverpool and Belfast via the Isle of Man or direct from Birkenhead . The world's largest car ferry , Ulysses , is operated by Irish Ferries on the Dublin Port–Holyhead route; Stena Line also operates between Britain and Ireland. "Irish Sea" is also the name of one of the BBC 's Shipping Forecast areas defined by the coordinates: Iarnród Éireann , Irish Ferries , Northern Ireland Railways , ScotRail , Stena Line and Transport for Wales Rail promote SailRail with through rail tickets for
1664-503: Is also possible that a secondary gas charge occurred during regional heating associated with intrusion of Paleogene dykes , such as those that crop out nearby on the coastline of north Wales. (Floodpage et al., 1999) have invoked this second phase of Paleogene hydrocarbon generation as an important factor in the charging of the East Irish Sea Basin's oil and gas fields. It is not clear as yet whether aeromagnetic anomalies in
1768-990: 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
1872-692: Is bounded to the north and south by Lower Paleozoic massifs . Only two exploration wells have been drilled so far, and there remain numerous undrilled targets in tilted fault block plays . As in the East Irish Sea Basin, the principal target reservoir is the Lower Triassic, Sherwood Sandstone, top-sealed by younger Triassic mudstones and evaporites. Wells in the Irish Sector to the west have demonstrated that pre-rift, Westphalian coal measures are excellent hydrocarbon source rocks, and are at peak maturity for gas generation (Maddox et al., 1995). Seismic profiles clearly image these strata continuing beneath
1976-518: Is closely associated with sediment activity, with muddy deposits on the seabed acting as sinks, soaking up an estimated 200 kg (440 lb) of plutonium . The highest concentration is found in the eastern Irish Sea in sediment banks lying parallel to the Cumbrian coast. This area acts as a significant source of wider contamination as radionuclides are dissolved once again. Studies have revealed that 80% of current seawater contamination by caesium
2080-704: 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
2184-482: 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
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#17327930325852288-517: Is no top-seal for reservoirs sub cropping the regional base Permian unconformity in the east of the basin, and Carboniferous strata crop out at the sea bed in the west. Previous exploration drilling in the Kish Bank Basin has confirmed the potential for petroleum generation with oil shows seen in a number of wells together with natural hydrocarbon seeps recorded from airborne surveys. New analysis of vintage 2-D seismic data has revealed
2392-880: 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
2496-428: 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
2600-465: Is sourced from sediment banks, whilst plutonium levels in the western sediment banks between the Isle of Man and the Irish coast are being maintained by contamination redistributed from the eastern sediment banks. The consumption of seafood harvested from the Irish Sea is the main pathway for exposure of humans to radioactivity. The environmental monitoring report for the period 2003 to 2005 published by
2704-496: 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
2808-658: 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
2912-556: 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
3016-555: 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
3120-541: The Bahama and King William Banks to the east and north of the Isle of Man and the Kish Bank , Codling Bank, Arklow Bank and Blackwater Bank near the coast of Ireland. The Irish Sea, at its greatest width, is 200 km (120 mi) and narrows to 75 km (47 mi). The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea (with St George's Channel) as follows, The Irish Sea has undergone
3224-873: The Douglas Complex the gas is piped by subsea pipeline to the Point of Ayr gas terminal for further processing. The gas is then sent by onshore pipeline to PowerGen 's combined cycle gas turbine power station at Connah's Quay . PowerGen is the sole purchaser of gas from the Liverpool Bay development. The Liverpool Bay development comprises four offshore platforms. Offshore storage and loading facilities. The onshore gas processing terminal at Point of Ayr. Production first started at each field as follows: Hamilton North in 1995, Hamilton in 1996, Douglas in 1996, Lennox (oil only) in 1996 and Hamilton East 2001. The first contract gas sales were in 1996. The quality of
East Lancashire line - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-530: 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
3432-556: 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
3536-487: The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway 's line to Skipton and Bradford. This 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (18.5 km) link closed in 1970. The Skipton–East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership campaigns to reinstate it. The section from Colne to Nelson was singled the following year, with the rest of the line to Gannow Junction being so treated in December 1986. In the 1870s the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway built
3640-585: 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
3744-615: 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
3848-585: 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 the county is treated as part of Yorkshire and Cheshire . Until
3952-591: 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
4056-629: The Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government building in London. An alternative flag consists of a red rose on a white field. This design had already been registered by Montrose in Scotland. Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a 46,007 km (17,763 sq mi) body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain . It is linked to the Celtic Sea in
4160-767: The North Atlantic at both its northern and southern ends. To the north, the connection is through the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Malin Sea . The southern end is linked to the Atlantic through the St George's Channel between Ireland and Pembrokeshire , and the Celtic Sea . It is composed of a deeper channel about 300 km (190 mi) long and 30–50 km (20–30 mi) wide on its western side and shallower bays to
4264-537: The North Channel to see if a tunnel between Ireland and Scotland was viable. Sixty years later, Harford Montgomery Hyde , Unionist MP for North Belfast, called for the building of such a tunnel. A tunnel project has been discussed several times in the Irish parliament . The idea for a 34-kilometre (21 mi) long rail bridge or tunnel continues to be mooted. Several potential projects have been proposed, including one between Dublin and Holyhead put forward in 1997 by
East Lancashire line - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-643: The North Lancashire Loop (also known as the Great Harwood Loop ), a 9-mile (14 km) route through Great Harwood , Simonstone and Padiham , which bypassed Accrington. The line between Padiham and Rose Grove opened in 1875; west of Padiham it opened two years later as a result of difficulties in constructing the embankments between Great Harwood and Simonstone. Regular use of the North Lancashire Loop ceased in 1957;
4472-504: The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) reported that in 2005 average quantities of radioactive contamination found in seafood ranged from less than 1 Bq/kg (12 pCi/lb) for fish to under 44 Bq/kg (540 pCi/lb) for mussels. Doses of man-made radioactivity received by the heaviest consumers of seafood in Ireland in 2005 was 1.10 μSv (0.000110 rem). This compares with
4576-646: 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
4680-499: 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
4784-556: 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 a national landscape. The major rivers of the county are, from north to south,
4888-453: The Wirral , St Annes, Barrow-in-Furness Borough, and Cumbria. The Irish Sea has been described by Greenpeace as the most radioactively contaminated sea in the world with some "eight million litres of nuclear waste " discharged into it each day from Sellafield reprocessing plants, contaminating seawater, sediments and marine life. Low-level radioactive waste has been discharged into
4992-783: The sea duck , common scoter , spend winters feeding in shallow waters off eastern Ireland, Lancashire and North Wales . Whales, dolphins and porpoises all frequent the Irish Sea, but knowledge of how many there may be and where they go is somewhat sketchy. About a dozen species have been recorded since 1980, but only three are seen fairly often. These are the harbour porpoise , bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin . The more rarely seen species are minke whale , fin whale , sei whale , humpback whale , North Atlantic right whales which are now considered to be almost extinct in eastern North Atlantic, sperm whale , northern bottlenose whale , long-finned pilot whale , orca , white-beaked dolphin , striped dolphin and Risso's dolphin . In 2005,
5096-467: 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
5200-573: The British engineering firm Symonds. At 80 km (50 mi), it would have been by far the longest rail tunnel on earth with an estimated cost approaching £20 billion. An offshore wind farm was developed on the Arklow Bank, Arklow Bank Wind Park , about 10 km (6.2 mi) off the coast of County Wicklow in the south Irish Sea. The site currently has seven GE 3.6 MW turbines , each with 104-metre (341 ft) diameter rotors ,
5304-457: The Dee Estuary and the estuaries are also important as nurseries for flatfish , herring and sea bass . Muddy seabeds in deeper waters are home to populations of the Dublin Bay prawn , also known as "scampi". The open sea is a complex habitat in its own right. It exists in three spatial dimensions and also varies over time and tide. For example, where freshwater flows into the Irish Sea in river estuaries its influence can extend far offshore as
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#17327930325855408-478: The Dragon discovery. The most likely hydrocarbon source rocks are Early Jurassic marine mudstones. These are fully mature for oil generation in the west of the British sector and are mature for gas generation nearby in the Irish sector. Gas-prone, Westphalian pre-rift coal measures may also be present at depth locally. The Cardigan Bay Basin was subjected to two Tertiary phases of compressive uplift, whereas maximum burial that terminated primary hydrocarbon generation
5512-411: 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 the manufacture of textiles . The Lancashire coalfield
5616-651: The East Irish Sea Basin is at a mature exploration phase. Early Namurian basinal mudstones are the source rocks for these hydrocarbons. Production from all fields is from fault-bounded traps of the Lower Triassic formation, principally the aeolian Sherwood Sandstone reservoir, top-sealed by younger Triassic continental mudstones and evaporites . Future mineral exploration will initially concentrate on extending this play , but there remains largely untested potential also for gas and oil within widespread Carboniferous fluvial sandstone reservoirs. This play requires intraformational mudstone seal units to be present, as there
5720-702: The Irish Sea and its surrounding coastline, ranging from flower-like fan-worms to predatory swimming crabs to large chameleon -like cuttlefish . Some of the most significant for other wildlife are the reef-building species like the inshore horse mussel of Strangford Lough, the inter-tidal honeycomb worm of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria and Lancashire , and the sub-tidal honeycomb worm of the Wicklow Reef . These build up large structures over many years and, in turn, provide surfaces, nooks and crannies where other marine animals and plants may become established and live out some or all of their lives. There are quite regular records of live and stranded leatherback turtles in and around
5824-401: The Irish Sea are of international importance for birds. They are vital feeding grounds on migration flyways for shorebirds travelling between the Arctic and Africa. Others depend on the milder climate as a refuge when continental Europe is in the grip of winter. Twenty-one species of seabird are reported as regularly nesting on beaches or cliffs around the Irish Sea. Huge populations of
5928-408: The Irish Sea as part of operations at Sellafield since 1952. The rate of discharge began to accelerate in the mid- to late 1960s, reaching a peak in the 1970s and generally declining significantly since then. As an example of this profile, discharges of plutonium (specifically Pu ) peaked in 1973 at 2,755 terabecquerels (74,500 Ci) falling to 8.1 TBq (220 Ci) by 2004. Improvements in
6032-411: The Irish Sea. This species travels north to the waters off the British Isles every year following the swarms of jellyfish that form its prey. Loggerhead turtle, ridley sea turtle and green turtle are found very occasionally in the Irish Sea but are generally unwell or dead when discovered. They have strayed or been swept out of their natural range further south into colder waters. The estuaries of
6136-414: The Isle of Man is particularly noted for its rarities and diversity, as are the horse mussel beds of Strangford Lough. Scallops and queen scallops are found in more gravelly areas. In the estuaries, where the bed is more sandy or muddy, the number of species is smaller but the size of their populations is larger. Brown shrimp , cockles and edible mussels support local fisheries in Morecambe Bay and
6240-483: The Middle Jurassic section. The Liverpool Bay Development was BHP 's largest operated asset. It comprises the integrated development of five offshore oil and gas fields in the Irish Sea: Oil is produced from the Lennox and Douglas fields. It is then treated at the Douglas Complex and piped 17 km (11 mi) to an oil storage barge ready for export by tankers. Gas is produced from the Hamilton, Hamilton North and Hamilton East reservoirs. After initial processing at
6344-411: The North Channel of around six months with peak concentrations off the northeast Irish coast occurring 18–24 months after peak discharge. Less soluble elements such as plutonium are subject to much slower redistribution. Whilst concentrations have declined in line with the reduction in discharges they are markedly higher in the eastern Irish Sea compared to the western areas. The dispersal of these elements
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#17327930325856448-442: 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
6552-434: The UK, the heaviest seafood consumers in Cumbria received a radioactive dosage attributable to Sellafield discharges of 220 μSv (0.022 rem) in 2005. This compares to average annual dose of naturally sourced radiation received in the UK of 2,230 μSv (0.223 rem). Discussions of linking Britain to Ireland began in 1895, with an application for £15,000 towards the cost of carrying out borings and soundings in
6656-436: 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
6760-400: The adjoining shores , the seabed and the open sea itself. The information on the invertebrates of the seabed of the Irish Sea is rather patchy because it is difficult to survey such a large area, where underwater visibility is often poor and information often depends upon looking at material brought up from the seabed in mechanical grabs. However, the groupings of animals present depend to
6864-430: 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
6968-501: 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
7072-534: 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
7176-408: 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
7280-431: 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
7384-403: 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
7488-648: 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
7592-426: 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
7696-944: 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
7800-515: 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
7904-426: The east. The depth of the western channel ranges from 80 m (260 ft) to 275 m (900 ft). Cardigan Bay in the south, and the waters to the east of the Isle of Man , are less than 50 m (160 ft) deep. With a total water volume of 2,430 km (580 cu mi) and a surface area of 47,000 km (18,000 sq mi), 80% is to the west of the Isle of Man. The largest sandbanks are
8008-408: The freshwater is lighter and "floats" on top of the much larger body of salt water until wind and temperature changes mix it in. Similarly, warmer water is less dense and seawater warmed in the inter-tidal zone may "float" on the colder offshore water. The amount of light penetrating the seawater also varies with depth and turbidity. This leads to differing populations of plankton in different parts of
8112-484: 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
8216-753: The greatest wildlife resource of the Irish Sea lies in its estuaries : particularly the Dee Estuary , the Mersey Estuary , the Ribble Estuary , Morecambe Bay , the Solway Firth , the Firth of Clyde , Belfast Lough , Strangford Lough , Carlingford Lough , Dundalk Bay , Dublin Bay and Wexford Harbour . However, a lot of wildlife also depends on the cliffs, salt marshes and sand dunes of
8320-544: 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
8424-649: The late 12th century from Porthclais near St. Davids , Wales , in Hulks , Snekkars , Keels and Cogs to Wexford Harbour , Leinster . The Tudors crossed the Irish Sea to invade in 1529 in caravels and carracks . In 1690 the English fleet set sail for the Williamite War in Ireland from Hoylake , Wirral , the departure becoming permanently known as King's Gap as a result. Because Ireland has neither tunnel nor bridge to connect it with Great Britain ,
8528-405: 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
8632-413: 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
8736-560: The north, England to the east, Wales to the southeast, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the west. The Irish Sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, as well as fishing and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear power plants . Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland is over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes (17,000,000 long tons; 19,000,000 short tons) of traded goods. The Irish Sea joins
8840-447: The partners are currently advancing a focused work programme in order to better understand and hopefully mitigate these risks. However, given its location in shallow water and close proximity to shore, the prospect is of great interest as exploration drilling, together with any future development costs, are likely to be low. Below is a list of cities and towns around the Irish Sea coasts in order of size: The most accessible and possibly
8944-654: The presence of a large undrilled structural closure at Lower Triassic level situated about 10 kilometres (6 mi) offshore Dublin. This feature, known as the Dalkey Island exploration prospect, may be prospective for oil, as there are prolific oil productive Lower Triassic reservoirs nearby in the eastern Irish Sea offshore Liverpool. Whilst the Dalkey Island exploration prospect could contain about 870 million barrels (140,000,000 m ) of oil in place, this undrilled prospect still has significant risk and
9048-777: The route closed completely in 1964, with only the section from Rose Grove to Padiham Power Station remaining until 1993. Trains from Preston to Colne usually begin at Blackpool South , on the Blackpool branch line , which makes the whole length of the line a total of 50 miles (80 km). Services via the Roses line routing encompass the Calder Valley line semi-fast trains from Blackpool North stopping at Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley Manchester Road, heading towards West Yorkshire , currently terminating at York . Since May 2015, trains from Blackburn to Manchester Victoria via Todmorden also uses this route, providing
9152-401: The sea and varying communities of animals that feed on these populations. However, increasing seasonal storminess leads to greater mixing of water and tends to break down these divisions, which are more apparent when the weather is calm for long periods. Plankton includes bacteria, plants ( phytoplankton ) and animals ( zooplankton ) that drift in the sea. Most are microscopic, but some, such as
9256-551: The south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Channel . Anglesey , North Wales , is the largest island in the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man . The term Manx Sea may occasionally be encountered ( Welsh : Môr Manaw , Irish : Muir Meann Manx : Mooir Vannin , Scottish Gaelic : Muir Mhanainn ). On its shoreline are Scotland to
9360-409: 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), 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
9464-460: The southeast of Caernarfon Bay are imaging a continuation of the dyke swarm into this area too, or whether they are instead associated with deeply buried Permian syn-rift volcanics . Alternatively, the fault block traps could have been recharged by exsolution of methane from formation brines as a direct result of the Tertiary uplift (cf. Doré and Jensen, 1996). The Cardigan Bay Basin forms
9568-889: The train and the ferry. The British ship LCT 326 sank in the Irish sea and was discovered in March 2020. In September 2021, the British Navy ship HMS Mercury was discovered; it sank in 1940. The British ship SS Mesaba was sunk by the Imperial German Navy U-118 in 1918 and discovered in 2022. This ship is well known for sailing near the Titanic and for attempting to warn the Titanic about dangerous icebergs. The Caernarfon Bay basin contains up to 7 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi) of Permian and Triassic syn-rift sediments in an asymmetrical graben that
9672-469: The treatment of waste in 1985 and 1994 resulted in further reductions in radioactive waste discharge although the subsequent processing of a backlog resulted in increased discharges of certain types of radioactive waste. Discharges of technetium in particular rose from 6.1 TBq (160 Ci) in 1993 to a peak of 192 TBq (5,200 Ci) in 1995 before dropping back to 14 TBq (380 Ci) in 2004. In total 22 petabecquerels (590 kCi) of Pu
9776-410: 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
9880-460: The various species of jellyfish and sea gooseberry , can be much bigger. Diatoms and dinoflagellates dominate the phytoplankton. Although they are microscopic plants, diatoms have hard shells and dinoflagellates have little tails that propel them through the water. Phytoplankton populations in the Irish Sea have a spring "bloom" every April and May, when the seawater is generally at its greenest. Crustaceans , especially copepods , dominate
9984-594: The vast majority of heavy goods trade is done by sea. Northern Ireland ports handle 10 million tonnes (9,800,000 long tons; 11,000,000 short tons) of goods trade with the rest of the United Kingdom annually; the ports in the Republic of Ireland handle 7.6 million tonnes (7,500,000 long tons; 8,400,000 short tons), representing 50% and 40% respectively of total trade by weight. The Port of Liverpool handles 32 million tonnes (31,000,000 long tons; 35,000,000 short tons) of cargo and 734,000 passengers
10088-464: The water in Liverpool Bay was historically contaminated by dumping of sewage sludge at sea but this practice became illegal in December 1988 and no further sludge was deposited after that date. With 210 billion cubic metres (7.5 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 176 million barrels (28,000,000 m ) of petroleum estimated by the field operators as initially recoverable hydrocarbon reserves from eight producing fields (DTI, 2001),
10192-516: 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
10296-465: The zooplankton. However, many animals of the seabed, the open sea and the seashore spend their juvenile stages as part of the zooplankton. The whole plankton "soup" is vitally important, directly or indirectly, as a food source for most species in the Irish Sea, even the largest. The enormous basking shark , for example, lives entirely on plankton and the leatherback turtle 's main food is jellyfish. A colossal diversity of invertebrate species live in
10400-547: 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
10504-729: Was designated by the Department for Transport as a community rail line in November 2006. The line was built by the Blackburn and Preston Railway and the Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington and Colne Extension Railway . Both companies were absorbed by the East Lancashire Railway on 3 August 1846 and 21 July 1845 respectively. The East Lancashire Railway was, in turn, absorbed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 13 May 1859. The line connected end-on at Colne with
10608-573: Was discharged over the period 1952 to 1998. Current rates of discharge for many radionuclides are at least 100 times lower than they were in the 1970s. Analysis of the distribution of radioactive contamination after discharge reveals that mean sea currents result in much of the more soluble elements such as caesium being flushed out of the Irish Sea through the North Channel about a year after discharge. Measurements of technetium concentrations post-1994 has produced estimated transit times to
10712-399: 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
10816-588: Was probably around the end of the Cretaceous , or earlier if Cretaceous strata, now missing, were never deposited in the basin. Despite the Tertiary structuration, the Dragon discovery has proved that potentially commercial volumes of hydrocarbons were retained at least locally in Cardigan Bay. In addition to undrilled structural traps, the basin contains the untested potential for stratigraphic entrapment of hydrocarbons near synsedimentary faults, especially in
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